New Government in Holland.

[damocles]

Minister Kurt Hurgens arrives at Buenos Aires as his port of embarkation. in the NUS to represent the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He disembarks from the liner KSS Antwerp a bit bewildered. He has to reactivate the moribund KoN embassy to the NUS. Bad planning that is not to send staff with him. Later maybe he can set up a local staff of KoN expatriates to fill in until the foreign office sends more help, but first he must do two things,

-find the NUS Foreign Ministry and present his credentials and be certified. After asking for directions in broken Spanish and several days wandering, he finds the Ministry and is formally greeted and certified by a very puzzled deputy minister who had sent people out to look for the lost Hollander when the reception party missed him at the boat.  

-find or at least establish a Dutch Consulate.

Here the NUS Ministry is of more help than the KoN Foreign Ministry has been. They find an old abandoned small hotel for him in the capital and assign him a typist as an assitant, whose Dutch is non-existent, but whose French is good enough for Meister Huergens to understand.

Kyrt has a limited expense account (The Landsraad are SKINFLINTS) so he quickly uses up most of what funds he has to fix the hotel's roof, have the place cleaned and repainted, hire workers to electrify the building, and generally convert the hotel into a small embassy. His first cables to den Hague are requests for more money and for at least a couple of Spanish speaking aides.

Anders Welsen sends him a message that more or less tells Meister Huergens, "Live within your budget and hire someone local to teach you Spanish!"  

So like many a KoN diplomat short on funds and out in the cruel Nverse, Kyrt wheels and deals for furnishings, supplies, and local people who he hires to do the embassy work that he cannot by himself do.*

This does not go unnoticed..........

* The art of diplomacy is doing the impossible with nothing.

Metternich.

[damocles]

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That ordnance, and 1000 tons of ammunition to go with it on credit.

Enough to supply a Korp for two months.

================================

Offices of NvR in den Hague.

People work hard these days. NvR is one of them.  The Ukraine wheat arrives on schedule by ship and barge and late by train. OHB's manager will find himself counting bananas in Surinam for that one.   Coded cables from the NUS's Embassy new activated shows that Anser Welsen thoroughly bungled that mission.  

Colonel  Geiner sends in memo after memo about some Bavarian officer who he claims is a military genius and who he wants to set to the task of re-organizing the Landmacht, while some Major Hind claims the same Landmacht is hopelessly obsolete and officered by idiots, including specifically Colonel Geiner.  

Herzog is missing and so is van Seik and his whole enormous staff. Meanwhile another shipment leaves Antwerp.

NvR just prays that everybody and everything comes together IN TIME.

[damocles]

Some time prior to his mysterious disappearance, Guntar Herzog goes about his business. There is a a lot he does in the local Vienna textile and fashion markets and shops where he conducts much residual commerce as a buyer and seller of textiles. Much of it is actually very profitable because he IS what his visa says he is, a Hollander in the clothier and fashion trades.........among other things. Some of his deals though are more than just the usual negotiations over wools and linens.

Take the case of Minister Prince Pu Lun......        

Guntar Herzog thus sends a cable to den Hague. Two days later a Holland Railroad Transit Company (De Openbare Doorgang van Holland Amt) or ODH train arrives with a chef from de Soit a very famous Dutch restaurant noted for its Asian Cuisine, and a Chinese language teacher from the MVB Language School and this:

 

a Dutch wall clock.

Chef Juso will prepare this for Guntar and his esteemed guest and his entourage:



Beijing Duck

and this:


   
Almond semolina pudding with red currant sauce by make life sweeter!
Its a classic Dutch dessert called amandel griesmeelpudding met bessensapsaus

Guntar invites Prince Pu Lun to a classic Vlaams Hoog Feest at his suite at the Sache. The Prince to Herzog's surprise accepts.

At the meal, after the presentation of the gift,  the taciturn Hollander follows the Six Steps of Confucius (as instructed by his "language teacher" until its time to discuss the serious matters. That is when the great Prince is satisfied that the Xirong in front of him is not a totally culture-less barbarian. Its curious that the Prince eats only from what portion Guntar first eats, and then only after what must be a food taster who tests it first. There is Middle Kingdom trust here, that and the reputation of the Dutch? Guntar speaks.  

Guntar: "Your Highness. The world is a cruel master to those who have not the means to secure their honor. As Sun Tzu said 'When the leader is morally weak and his discipline not strict, when his instructions and guidance are not enlightened, when there are no consistent rules, neighboring rulers will take advantage of this.' This is as true for us, who serve Queen Wilhelmina  as it was for your August Kingdom when some of its servants failed its Emperor. We failed our Queen in our duty. Now we try to make amends for this. Part of that duty is the reason I am here....to offer our small assistance to your August Middle Kingdom"

Prince Pu Lun speaks through his interpreter. The man who speaks for the Prince speaks perfect German. This is fortunate as Herzog's crash course in Chinese is restricted to the carefully rehearsed words that he speaks by rote from the speech his "teacher" prepared for him to say. He does not even know if he speaks the words with the correct inflection. So much could go wrong here with a misplaced word or wrong inflected syllable. From the corner of his eye, he checks with his "teacher". That man is as impassive as the Prince.

The spokesman more or less tells Herzog back exactly what he said, but from the Middle Kingdom's point of view which is cautious and noncommittal.        

Guntar: "What we can do depends on what your August Realm decides. We are not ones to tell you what you, yourselves know. Maybe if a few others and I could join your entourage as attendants to your honored peerage we  could accompany you back to your great land for the pending wedding that is for your August Personage. There we together could discuss amongst secure and familiar surroundings our mutual adversity in this world and mutual advantage of facing it together?"

At this point, Guntar Herzog hands the Prince's spokesman the letter that he has carried on his person for this very moment. As expected, the spokesman opens the letter to check for treachery and to check its content for other meaning. He finishes reading the letter and then leans over to the Prince and whispers in his ear. The Prince nods just once and then reads the letter himself.

Guntar waits......it seems an hour but only takes a few (five?) minutes.

Prince Pu Lin: "You may accompany me as part of my entourage, Herr Herzog, and we will discuss "the silk trade" as we journey....."

SUCCESS! Again with the carefully rehearsed Chinese.  
             
Guntar: "With profound thanks for your attention, I go to prepare our half of the journey."

=========================================

Soon.

===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== ===== =====

Another ODH train arrives, this one a special train, one of the ones Queen Wilhelmina uses when she makes a pilgrimage around the stadt or when she goes to visit the other stadtholders who are her peers in Europe (Not happened recently because of that fool, Hoen)  

This time the entourage that boards is decidedly not of the Dutch Royal House.....and then the train pulls out of the  Südtiroler Platz and heads back for Bavaria and then it disappears..... As does Guntar Herzog, and two hundred other people aboard that train. They just "vanish".

Not even Nicholas van Rijn who set this all in motion a year ago, when he set to throw Hoen out of power, knows where they are or when they will appear again.

Its one of the many things he cannot control.
=================================================  
Near the Namur test range, a Generaal-Majoor Albert van Seik, in his office opens a letter bearing the First Minister's wax seal. He reads the letter, grunts once in disgust, and waves the staff officer who brought the letter to him away.  Generaal van Seik lights a Turkish cigarette, a habit he picked up among the Ottomans and sets the letter alight. He waits for it to ash and then he mixes the ash in his favorite tulips. Waste nothing, not even ash.

He calls in his adjutant, issues a brief string of sensible orders, and then.......he disappears. Next day, those who expect him to look over the latest GBW-2 modifications on the parade field are surprised to see him nowhere to be found. An intense quick base search reveals nothing. The Landmacht Politei and Staft Politei both open immediate investigations. Generaal van Seik is not that important in the scheme of things, but after all he is a generaal. Those types just don't disappear.

[damocles]

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Still no armored cars yet.  :(

[Walter]

 

a Dutch wall clock.

Dang! That really looks familiar. :)

[ctwaterman]

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Still no armored cars yet.  :(

Evil Laugh... No Problem I will deploy some for you...

Charles

[damocles]

More coded radio traffic.

$$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$

And the reply

$$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$ $$$$$

Sent in the clear.

Idiots!



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And more ships leave Antwerp.

[damocles]

From the Press Office of the Koninklijke Marine

The following ships have been assigned to the 11th Squadron as TG 11  for the purposes of anti-piracy patrol and increased security in the East Indian Ocean, NOI Philippine and South China Sea Area.*

Antwerpen   Antwerpen class
Amsterdam   Antwerpen class
Flanders    Flanders class
van Amstel  van der Zaan class  
Hang Tuah   van der Zaan class  
plus TBJs and AOs as required for operations.

1. Standing instructions are to come to the aid and rescue of any neutral shipping attacked by pirates in the covered patrol region. Under the 1919 Naval Law a non-belligerent NEUTRAL ship in International Waters that flashes the signal "RRR" when attacked by pirates will be assisted if time practicable.

2. In these troubled times of war, it is incumbent upon all civilized nations to remain true to International Law and recognized conventions against piracy, smuggling, and the slave trade.

===============================================

From the Office of Queen Wilhelmina II, Stadthalder and sovereign of the United Provinces.

"We thank our cousin sovereign, Kaiser Stefan II, Stadthalder, of the Habsburger Kaiserreich for joining in this our contribution to the peace and personally thank him for his courage in taking this action on the behalf towards maintaining that peace, at least upon the seas."  

================================================

In a parallel note, the Habsburg Auslaenderministerium announces that:
"In the Service of peace and after consulting its Allies, the Habsburg Monarchy accepted the offer of the United Nederlands to partake in joint Anti-Piracy patrols in the general South-East Pacific Area. The Far Asian Squadron formed by the KKK for the occasion consists of ... "

SMS Siligia - battleship

SMS Sankt Florian - AC
SMS Svaty Vaclav - AC
SMS Svaty Sava - AC
SMS Svaty Vlah - AC

"In a related note, the KKK announced the dispatch of the SMS Juan de Austria and SMS Tegetthoff, accompanied by a division of small cruisers, for a training mission in the Arabian Sea."  

=================================================

Koninklijke Marine, Singapore (Orden) Sent in the clear.

1. The Habsburger Kaiserreich Marine (KKK) has dispatched a squadron to our region of responsibility waters to conduct joint and separate anti-piracy and peace patrols.

2. This East Asia Squadron is known to us administratively as TG 12 and as a part of the 11th Squadron.

3. It is to be logistically based, supported, and sustained as if it were an element of the  Koninklijke Marine but remains under the orders of the Habsburger Kaiserreich Marine operationally

4. The bases, anchorages and berths assigned for their use are Singapore and Surabaya.

5. The Peace Patrol Liaison Kommandant (11th Squadron) is  hereby established at Batavia.

a. A KM liaison  team headed  by Kapitein ter Zee Ernedotte Zwilling will with its Habsburg counterpart (to be assigned) will conduct joint coordination planning for KM forces with the KKK. That team will operate the joint headquarters at Batavia  

b. The deputy commander for the KM liasion team assigned is  Majoor Song Nuk Do of the KM Marines.

c. By request of the KKK the working languages are French and German between the two taskgrupen assigned to the 11th Squadron (provisional) and at the Liaison Kommandant.  

6. That is all.

* Restricted areas off limits to this command are contained in secret appendices. Needless to say, if you are in New Swiss waters and Jack the Red attacks you, you are just out of luck...... ;)  

[Desertfox]

Austrian ships in the Pacific AND the Arabian Sea? Two areas where Austria has absolutely no business being in? That is just asking for trouble...

Don't cry if I accidently mistake your ships for Italians. Especially, since the Swiss Fleet might NOT be heading towards Africa...

[ctwaterman]

Austrian ships in the Pacific AND the Arabian Sea? Two areas where Austria has absolutely no business being in? That is just asking for trouble...

*ROTFLMAO*

WoW Kettle..... Pot.... Black.... *Nuff Said*

[damocles]

Don't bite off more than even you can chew, Foxy.  

[Borys]

OOC
To keep all things in the same place.


The Habsburg vessels will follow the Dutch rules:

1. Standing instructions are to come to the aid and rescue of any neutral shipping attacked by pirates in the covered patrol region. Under the 1919 Naval Law a non-belligerent NEUTRAL ship in International Waters that flashes the signal "RRR" when attacked by pirates will be assisted if time practicable.

2. In these troubled times of war, it is incumbent upon all civilized nations to remain true to International Law and recognized conventions against piracy, smuggling, and the slave trade.

Plus:
- Any ships approaching Habsburg warships closer than 3 nautical miles may be be fired upon without warning; The "may" becomes "will" when:
- no flag visible;
- no radio communication established;
- no reaction to flag and/or blinker signals;
Any of the above also increases the range of "fire at Captain's discretion" to that of visual flag communication.


The above ROE is not publicised, nor otherwise circulated. Only the relevant officers are privy to this.

[damocles]

"- Any unannounced ships approaching 11th Squadron warships closer than 6000 meters as measured by rangefinder or radiowaaierapparaat may be be fired upon without warning; The "may" becomes "will" when:
- no flag visible;
- no radio communication established;
- no reaction to flag and/or blinker signals;
Any of the above also increases the range of "fire at Captain's discretion" to that of visual flag communication, which depends on your optical fire control to see the enemy and visual identify him by his naval heraldry.
- The first shot will be a cross the bow shot warning. The next if needed will be for effect."

Kapitein ter Zee Ernedotte Zwilling finishes reading the orders to her liaison team.  

"I expect that the Habsberg Kaiserreich taskgrupe has similar instructions. We are on a mission of peace, but we know that the situation here  is now extremely grave. Use common sense and don't create incidents by exceeding the self-defense rules of engagement or their exact intent. Understand?"    

====The above ROE is not publicised, nor otherwise circulated. Only the relevant officers are privy to this.

****To keep on the same page in this storyline, since Borys will run a lot of it for me.

[P3D]

OOC
To keep all things in the same place.


The Habsburg vessels will follow etc. etc...

Why bother? Everyone knows Austria will eventually declare war on one of the parties.  ;)

[Borys]

OOC
I'm tempted to bat my eyelashes at you in retribution for such a slur!
:D
Borys