Gran Colombia, H1/08

[The Rock Doctor]

1 January 1908

The Republic of Gran Colombia wishes to update all maritime powers on access restrictions to Gran Colombian ports and the Darien Canal.

To avoid undue disruption to the Gran Colombian economy, Gran Colombia has restored DKB, Dutch, and Hapsburger rights to use port facilities at Esmeraldas, on the Pacific Coast.  Other Pacific Coast ports in the greater Gran Colombia region remain closed to these powers at this time.

In the interest of fairness to both sides of the current conflict, Gran Colombia has therefore restored New Swiss access to the port of Bridgetown, on the island of Barbados, in the Caribbean.  All other Caribbean ports remain closed to New Switzerland at this time.

The port of Valparaiso, Coquimbo is now under Gran Colombian jurisdiction.  This port shall remain open to the DKB due to ongoing essential infrastructure development work by the DKB in the territory.  The port shall be closed to all other belligerents.

Port facilities in the new territory of the Cook Islands are closed to all armed vessels belonging to belligerent powers.  To avoid undue disruption to the economy of the Cook Islands, unarmed New Swiss merchant shipping shall be permitted to make call at Penryhn Island, while unarmed merchant shipping belonging to DKB and allied belligerents shall be permitted to make call at Rarotonga.

The Darien Canal remains closed to all belligerents at this time.

Gran Colombia reminds all belligerents that continued access to port facilities, as outlined above, is dependent on peaceful and respectful use of the facilities and their surrounding waters.

[The Rock Doctor]

4 January 1908:  Cartagena

"You're going to hate me", Vice-Admiral de Irujo told his superior, as he set down a stack of papers on Admiral Ruiz' desk.

Ruiz sighed.  "Let me guess:  delays with the Triunfantes."

"Ideally, yes", de Irujo replied.

"So what now?"

de Irujo produced a roll of large paper and untied the string wrapped around it.  Spreading the paper on Ruiz' desk, de Irujo weighed down the corners with some of the shell casings that Ruiz kept around for such occasions.  "There are three reasons, and they boil down to what happened in the Solomon Sea a few weeks back.  The DKB built some small battleships, with sub-standard guns, and lost half of them to normal Swiss pre-dreads with normal-sized guns.  We don't want to be in the same position as the Brandenburgers once the Triunfantes are in service.  We want them to be as effective as possible.  Six months will make a difference."

"Agreed - in principle", Ruiz said.  "So, the reasons?"

"First - we're on the verge of a practical oil-spray system for boilers.  It shows every sign of being more effective than simple coal-fired boilers, and reduces the weight of the bunkerage.  We can apply that saving elsewhere.

"Second, the guy we picked up from Rio is very bright.  He's re-designing the main battery gunhouses to eliminate the sighting hood.  You'll recall that was the primary reason we went with Insano's - sorry, Triunfante's - side-by-side forward battery arrangement.  We can get a more efficient gun layout by shifting to an A-B-superfiring arrangement with these new gunhouses.  That will in turn allow us to refine the hull form forward, allowing for something more slender and seaworthy.

"Couldn't we just integrate the new gunhouses into the existing design?", Ruiz asked.

"Certainly - but we'd still have the inefficient layout forward.  With this new arrangement, we can employ full twelve-gun broadsides."

"Very well.  The other issue?"

"The other reason is that we're developing a new fifty caliber gun for the twelve inchers.  If we maintain our current schedule, we'll have to fit the existing forty caliber weapons to Triunfante and Porfiado.  If we delay Triunfante by six months, the gun design should be completed around the time we launch her.  That gives about eighteen months to cast and install the guns - tight, but manageable.  I want to delay Porfiado a full year, giving another six months' margin for the gun production to catch up."

"Then we start running into the Matadors' schedule", Ruiz noted.

"It isn't an issue, I've checked the numbers."

"Can you re-design that quickly?"

"Absolutely.  We have a half-brother to the existing design that does feature the A-B superfiring arrangement, but with the old gunhouses and the blast effect issue.  We just need to tinker with the gunhouses to make it fully effective.  The only real work to be done is in adjusting the machinery and bunkerage space to accommodate the oil-spray and fuel storage.  We can do that."

"I remember that one.  We had some superstructure issues with it."

"Manageable.  We'll reduce its footprint by building upward", de Irujo replied.

"It's going to leave a real gap in our schedule for the last half of this year, though", Ruiz observered.  "Does the Ejercito have any interest in filling that gap?"

"I asked my procurement colleage there.  He tells me that they're expecting to start re-tooling the whole organization next year, so they're not keen on buying anything in significant numbers now.  So I'm proposing to just move up some other projects we'd already identified, stuff for which no additional design work is needed."

"Such as?"

de Irujo gestured at the rolled-out sheet of paper; it was a long table with shaded blocks drawn into it:  a list of slipways and their building schedules.  "The easiest one doesn't appear here:  bumping forward the gun installations for Cartagena.  We've already got the guns in storage, the site's been surveyed and cleared.  I could get that started in three months if I wanted to, so a July start is no issue at all.  Next, move up the third and fourth Galapagos class by six months.  Ditto for a pair of Iscuandes and El Bancos.  Depending on the exact numbers, I could probably bump ahead a few more patrol boats or minesweepers to round things out."

"I don't imagine the politicians are going to be happy that we're deferring battleships to build patrol sloops", Admiral Ruiz commented.

de Irujo frowned.  "Remind them that we're building these new sloops so we can enforce our sovereignty over these new, remote territories they've insisted on buying.  That ought to shut them up."

Ruiz stared at the construction schedule.  "Alright.  Show me a revised design for the Triunfantes and I'll make a decision."

[swamphen]

The DKB built some small battleships, with sub-standard guns

I was going to protest this assessment, but seeing as I've lost the whole class in two months of war, I'm not really in the position to do so...

[The Rock Doctor]

8 January 1908:  Cartagena

"I'm pleased to say that our representative in the United Norman Kingdom has acquired fourteen surplus UNKN warships for scrapping", Industry Minister de Soto advised the President and his colleagues. 

"Cost?", the President asked.

"Six million Bolivars", de Soto replied.  "Marginally above our intended rates, but necessary to secure the bid."

"There was competition?", Minister Escalante asked.

"The DKB was present, as was a presumed New Swiss representative under alias.  We assume this because the latter proposed that we function as a middle-man and sell the vessels to New Switzerland", de Soto replied.  "Obviously that would damage our reputation as honest businessmen, so our man declined."

"So what did we buy?", Ricardo Alizandro inquired.

"Four protected cruisers and ten torpedo-boats.  They will arrive in the second half of the year, and we will begin to realize income from their scrapping in the second half of next year, or possibly 1910."

"I'm surprised the DKB didn't try a little harder", Ricardo noted.

"They were after a pair of old battleships.  Given that we already have six being scrapped or waiting their turn, our man thought he would have to get into a bidding war that wasn't worthwhile.  Once he withdrew his offer for the battleships, the Brandenburger trumped their own offer, but left the cruisers and torpedo-boats alone."

"How much did they pay?"

"Eleven million."

"Perhaps what we might have earned from the auctioning of the Audaz class", Foreign Minister Torres commented.  "It is not, I trust you would agree, an amount worth the possible risk involved." 

de Soto sighed.  "Yes..."  His proposal to auction off the old battleships had died when Torres threatened to resign from the cabinet if the auction went ahead.  The President had blinked and ordered the ships put into mothballs, to be cut up once the four old French ships had been dismantled.  "At any rate, it's a good amount of scrap.  We can put it to good use."

"Glad to hear it.  There was some indication that we're pushing back our battleship construction again?", the President remarked, looking to his uncle.

"That's right.  I was asked to defer the two units six months and one year respectively", Ricardo confirmed.  "Given the changes that will be made, I though it was acceptable and authorized it.  We're moving ahead other projects with minimal lead times - patrol craft, the fortress here, and so forth.  We'll suffer no production setbacks overall, just change up the sequencing some."

"You should have asked me about that", Rey replied.  "But that's fine.  Benicio - what's new in the Pacific?"

"Heavy fighting is reported on Taiwan between the Middle Kingdom and Swiss forces and Taiwanese civilians", Benicio Delgado said.  "We offered to negotiate a surrender of the Swiss but the Middle Kingdom isn't negotiating with them this time around. 

"The Swiss raided the Brandenburger wireless station on Easter Island.  There's speculation amongst my analysts that they might have intended to carry on to Coquimbo, had they not aborted due to battle damage.  That might have been problematic.  As it was, nothing happened - but if we do acquire additional territory in the Pacific, we'd be well advised to announce it as soon as possible."

"I wanted the convoy to be at sea by the time we announced Coquimbo", Ricardo pointed out.  "Didn't want the Peruvians getting ideas."

"They did not interfere, though", Torres stated.

"I don't know if they were buying what you were selling, but no, they didn't bother our convoy at all", Ricardo agreed.  "I'm told the hand-over went smoothly, and that the DKB cruiser on station went off to replace the one the Swiss sank at Easter."

"To get back to the topic", Delgado interjected, "I did want to make note of one thing.  Minister de Soto can probably confirm this.  We have seen a lot of Iberian naval traffic going through the Darien Canal lately.  They may have some plans we are not aware of.  Given that our policy is to close the canal to belligerents, I would put to you that we have a problem if Iberia enters the war, regardless of which side it would join."

"Which is what?", Rey Alizandro asked.

"Which is - I'm guessing - that if we close the Darien to the Iberians when they're at war, they might close the lower Amazon to us if we get into a war", Ricardo suggested.  "Shit."

Delgado nodded.  "Perhaps we need to have a conversation with the Iberian ambassador."

"Perhaps we do", Minister Torres agreed.

[The Rock Doctor]

18 January 1908:  Avarua, Cook Islands

Capitan de Fragata Rafael San Martino leaned against the waist-high railing running along the edge of the tender Malachite's main deck, watching as the steam launch puttered out to the DKB tramp freighter.  The Ramstein was only the fourth vessel to put into Avarua since he and his diminutive squadron had arrived three weeks earlier, making for something of a dull day-to-day routine.  He fully expected to learn that the Brandenburgers were here to load up some fruit and fish before heading on their way; there certainly seemed to be little else to acquire here.

His first multi-ship command had started off in frustration - he had two separate harbours to watch over and patrol the rest of the islands - yet only two sloops to do this with.  The math hadn't been working for him.  Finally, he'd brought the subject up over dinner with the captain of the Campeon.  Capitan Ferrelo had reminded him that he actually had three ships, not two, and that had allowed him to formulate a working plan which survived a review by Ferrelo as well as his three officers.

So Malachite was anchored off Avarua, with a steam launch and marine constable squad from each sloop now attached to her, managing the inspections for this location.  The sloop Puerto Berrio was up at Penryhn with a launch and a squad of constables, managing the inspections there.  The other sloop, Lerida, was by now up in the northwestern part of the chain, visiting each island in turn, the final launch and constable squad aboard her.  In a few days, Lerida would replace Puerto Berrio, which would come back down for a few days of replenishment and maintenance alongside Malachite before setting out on a patrol of her own.

It would eat up coal, but the Armada seemed willing to live with that if it meant an aggressive patrol schedule could be maintained.  A bi-monthly visit from an Armada collier was sufficient to keep his bunkers full and gradually create a small stockpile ashore.

"Rather tranquil for a war zone", Commander Lincoln's voice murmured from behind.  The tender's commanding officer joined San Martino at the railing as the distant steam launch reached the Brandenburger and the first marine constable began clambering up a rope ladder.

"We're in the eye of the storm", San Martino replied.  "I'm hoping we stay there.  If somebody wants us out of here, it won't take a lot of effort."

Lincoln nodded.  Malachite carried just a few smallish guns, and neither of the sloops could accomplish much more than a low-speed, two-fish torpedo attack in the worst case.  There wasn't much for shore defences, either, just the army battalion's two attached field guns pointing seaward. 

"Granted, we're here to show the flag and be a tripwire", San Martino added.  "Not to fend off an invasion by somebody determined to seize control of...some fruit and fish."

"We can do that", Lincoln agreed.  "My gut says it's not an act of war we'll have to cope with, but a series of attempts to cut corners on our neutrality.  You'll be constantly balancing political directives, economic necessities, and other factors everytime somebody drops anchor here.  Did you get on somebody's bad side, or what?"

San Martino grunted.  "That's a distinct possibility."

[swamphen]

And so, like the titular insectivore in the game of Whack-a-Mole, the Armada's favourite whipping-boy pops up in yet another cesspool.  ;D

[The Rock Doctor]

At least he's catching the occasional promotion on the way.  Of course, the Cook Islands wouldn't be a suitable command for a "teniente".

[The Rock Doctor]

25 January 1908:  Cartagena

General Halcon ingested a large slug of coffee, the fuel that was keeping his motor running at this late hour.  Minister Alizandro had advised him earlier in the week that he'd have to finalize the Ejercito Revitalization Plan by tomorrow, so it could be presented to the Cabinet.  This would allow the necessary funds for the ERP to be captured in the 1909 budget planning cycle, which was already starting up despite the fact that the 1908 budget had only just been implemented.

"Bureaucrats", he grumbled, in a tone usually reserved for Peruvians and Anahuac.

Halcon's fundamental problem was that Finance had allowed for one-time upgrades in equipment across the board, but intended to keep his operational budget the same - despite the fact that the upgrades would result in higher operating costs given the Ejercito's current disposition.  "Either more units have to be placed in reserve status, or I've got to cut the number of units in total", he'd told Ricardo Alizandro.

Alizandro had gone back to the Cabinet to fight the good fight; he'd come back to tell Halcon, "The Cabinet prefers to cut the total number of units; they reckon it'll be good for the economy if we're not paying for too many young men to sit around with guns in their hands."

"How many?", Halcon had asked.

"They want 350,000 drummed out", Ricardo had responded, nodding as Halcon flinched. 

"Well, it's not like we're fighting the Anahuac any more", Ricardo had noted.  "The largest non-friendly army on our borders is Peru, and they've only got five or six corps in total.  Make it work - we're not going to win this one."

Now he had to find a way to cover Gran Colombia's defensive needs while implementing a twenty-five percent cut in his manpower.  Seven corps were going to get the axe - and this despite new territory in the Pacific and Coquimbo to cover.

He didn't bother looking at the Darien Defensive Line; there was no point.  Though he could keep them in reserve, two corps were required to man the line's defensive works, and he'd be unable to sell cuts to it given its political, military, and economic significance.

Elsewhere, though, he'd made some progress.  He had four cavalry corps, and very little use for them; by and large, the terrain wasn't suitable for large-scale cavalry usage, and each infantry corps had its own organic regiment already attached for scouting and so forth.  Now, there was a corps split between Jamaica and Cuba - that would be useful because the terrain was not so bad, and their mobility would help them respond to any attempting invasions.  So he'd leave that one alone, leave another corps in reserve in the pastural lands of the mainland interior, and cut the other two. 

Cordilleran corps...he had five now.  Two facing the Peruvians, one in the Darien Isthmus, one in the Heartland, and another in the Guyana highlands.  If he had to cut one unit, it'd be the Heartland corps - the Second, according to the TO&E.  Put one of the Peruvian corps in reserve, and the same with the Guyana-based corps, since the highlands were wholly within Gran Colombia and it seemed unlikely that the Iberians would be attacking that way anytime soon.  So that was a third unit cut.

Jungle corps totalled six.  He need the one in eastern Ecuador to cover against the Peruvian equivalent around Iquito.  There were two in the Amazon Basin, two up in Venezuela and Guyana, and one on the Isthmus.  If pared down to five, he'd need one each in Ecuador, Amazonas del Sur, Guyana, and the Heartland.  The fifth would be in reserve status:  coincidently, V Cordilleran Corps, based at Mitu, was conveniently located for movement into Amazonas del Sur or up to the coast via railway, so that meant one of the two units in Venezuela and Guyana were going to go.  That was four units cut.

This left him with the infantry and Coquimbo's mixed-bag corps. As a minimum, he needed nine corps to do the jobs necessary, leaving him with one more unit than he was allowed.  "Damnation", he growled.

Wait, hang on - he flipped through the documentation.  Yes, his list included the conversion of one corps to an amphibious-trained, light infantry formation.  Admiral Ruiz had been fighting for control of that unit, and he'd been successfully resisting it.  If he gave in now, it'd be an embarassing about-face - but the Armada hadn't been ordered to cut its manpower, had it?  Giving Ruiz the amphibious unit would leave him with the nine corps he really needed, while allowing for the amphibious capability that his staff officers argued was needed somewhere in the military.

"Well, the hell with it, then", he murmured to himself.  "I'll take one for the team."  He reached for pen and paper, and starting writing a memo to Ricardo Alizandro and Admiral Ruiz.

Sir,

As part of my development of the Ejercito Revitalization Program, I have reviewed the mission requirements of the proposed Amphibious Corps.  Although I initially disagreed with arguments for Armada jurisdiction over this function, as expressed by Admiral Ruiz, I have subsequently concluded that incorporation of the Corps into the Armada would allow for better integration of the land and sea components of an amphibious operation.  It is therefore my recommendation that the recently formed XI Infantry Corps, based in Jamaica and incorporating a number of ex-Island Commonwealth Marines, be transferred to the Armada upon implementation of the ERP and re-configured as an amphibious assault formation.

[The Rock Doctor]

30 January 1908:  Appearing in the business section of newspapers world-wide

The Republic of Gran Colombia seeks contact with interested parties who are willing and able to conduct business on technological matters. 

Specifically, Gran Colombia seeks to acquire knowledge, samples, and information in the following fields:

-Operational experience in maintaining up to 67% of one's army in reserve status [Army Reserves 1905]

-Specimens and plans for the latest aeroplanes [HTA Craft 1906]

-Specimens and plans for contemporary internal combustion engines [IC Engines 1905]

-Submissions for other technical information or devices, not mentioned above, are also welcomed.

Please contact the Industrial Attache at your nearest Gran Colombian embassy, or write to Minister Sebastien de Soto at the following address...

[The Rock Doctor]

3 February 1908:  Puerto Enrico, Amazonas del Sur

The newly built port was a study in functionality.  All steel, brick, and right angles, it was clear that the architects had designed it to employ the minimal amount of imported items from the Heartland, and for ease of construction.  The only Bolivars spent on aesthetics had gone towards a monument commemorating the port's namesake, the late president.

The surrounding town wasn't much to look at either.  Rows of simple wooden homes and shops had replaced the old rubber plantation, the "roads" in between being little more than channels of shin-deep red mud.  Closer to the shore, tin-clad wooden warehouses had sprung up to house imported and exported goods.  Even the train station was, at this point, little more than a long platform, ticket office, and maintenance shop.

For the lone man standing in the middle of a mucky street, drenched by the afternoon downpour, it almost resembled Heaven.

There had been nothing like this in his three and a half years in the Darien Isthmus.  He'd spent twelve hours each day digging by hand where the Ministry of Industry didn't want to risk a steam-shovel.  He'd watched his fellow laborers fall to disease, snakebites, mudslides, or just lose the will to live. 

There'd been nothing like this at Pimichin, where he'd been transported after the Darien's completion.  It had been a smaller, more isolated project, but with the same disinterested guards, distasteful meals, and diseased swamps.  Only the threat of being buried alive by mudslides had been eliminated, by the area's gentle topography.  On the other hand, after that one profoundly awful afternoon, they'd all lived in fear that another Anahuac war party would erupt from the jungle and start another slaughter. 

After Pimichin's completion, the same thing that marked the end of the Darien's construction had been repeated there:  particularly troublesome or unproductive workers had disappeared by the hundreds and thousands, and those considered reliable had been transported west to help build the next project.  This time around, it had been the Mitu - Puerto Enrico Railway, a narrow steel ribbon hacked out of the living rain forest of central Amazonas del Sur.  Hours upon hours of carrying steel rails or heavy wooden ties, driving in spikes with sledgehammers, sawing through trees wider than he was tall. 

The rails had all been laid when, three days ago, he'd been among those summoned to the office compound after shift.  Nervous - remembering past projects completed - they'd waited for the project director to arrive and inform them of their fate.

He'd stood before them, clipboard in hand, and said, "Thanks to your hard work, we've finished laying the rails.  The bridge has months to go, but there simply isn't room for everybody to work on it.  So your time here is over."

At that point, a short, stout man in a white suit and straw hat had entered the compound, eliciting a variety of reactions - none positive - amongst the assembled men.  After silently observing - or perhaps revelling in - the fear and anxiety of the laborers, the Straw Hat had said, "Each of you here has been serving out a sentence of thirty years' hard labor for crimes against the Republic.  President Rey Alizandro has, in his infinite wisdom and mercy, determined that your unfailing hard work and dedication to the success of these projects warrant a second chance.  Therefore, you are now being released - on parole - effective immediately.  I am here to advise you on the two options you now have.

"If you walk out the north exit of the compound, you will be given forty Bolivars and allowed to ride in a box car back to Mitu, at which point you may proceed on your own as you see fit.  I'm sure you all think you'll soon be back home for a joyful reunion with your loved ones.  Think twice; you disappeared years ago and are probably believed to be dead.  Your wives will have remarried; your children will have forgotten you.  Your jobs will have been filled, and your skills will be outdated.  You may get home and find you do not belong there.

"So, if you instead walk out the south exit of the compound, you will be taken across the river by boat and given forty Bolivars, a small basket of vegetables, and a voucher.  Walk along the right-of-way until you reach Puerto Enrico.  At Puerto Enrico, or one of the other settlements listed on the voucher, you may visit the local landsman and exchange the voucher for ten hectares of virgin rain forest.  This will be a place for you to start over again, as a farmer or rancher, furthering Gran Colombia's grand plan to settle this region.

"You have five minutes to make your decision, and let me remind you once more:  you have not been released; you are on parole."

After four minutes of thought, he'd walked south.  The boat had delivered him to the south shore of the river, as promised, and he'd received his package.  He'd spent a few minutes along the shore, finding a piece of driftwood to use as a walking stick and defensive weapon, and starting walking.

Now here he was, formerly an out-of-shape newspaperman and now a lean, muscular laborer, in a port that hadn't existed when he'd started laying track, in a territory that hadn't been Colombian when he'd been arrested.  Guillermo Renaldo stood in the pouring rain, thanked God for watching over him all that time, and contemplated how to begin re-living life.

[The Rock Doctor]

17 February 1908:  Cartagena

"Welcome to Cartagena", President Rey Alizandro greeted his newest governor, Domingo Iglesias.

"Thank you, President Alizandro", Iglesias replied, a bit fidgety after his long train ride from Esmeraldas.  If the man really did spend two hours a day walking his plantation, as his dossier indicated, Rey could hardly fault him for some nervous energy.  "I'm pleased to be here."

"I'm glad you were able to come.  Your schedule must be busy", Rey replied.

"Yes, but having a good team helps take the pressure off - your decision to allow us to retain a fair bit of internal autonomy is helpful, since we don't have to change too much of what we normally do", Iglesias said, declining the offered cigar with a slight shake of his head. 

The two men chatted for several minutes as aides brought in briefing binders, maps, beverages, and fruit. When the last underling had closed the door behind her, leaving the two leaders to themselves, Rey asked, "So - how is the mood in Coquimbo?"

"Nervous", Iglesias answered flatly.  Seeing Rey's startled expression, he added unapologetically, "You asked.  Gran Colombia has a reputation, which may or may not be deserved, of abusing the rights of its citizens.  That's why we didn't petition you in 1905.  This whole deal with the Kaiser has surprised and upset a lot of people."

"It's a legitimate transaction between two states", Rey replied somewhat defensively.

"That's not entirely true", Iglesias said.  "We are not a trifle to be handed over to whomever fancies it.  We are a third of a million people making an honest living on their land.  That being the case, one or both governments should have consulted us prior to any agreements being struck."

"Nobody complained in Amazonas del Sur, or Cuba, or Jamaica...", Rey countered.

"Were they in a position to?", Iglesias inquired.  "Probably not."

Rey had to think a bit.  "Very well", he muttered eventually.  "I take your point.  But it's not like we can undo the transaction - nor is Coquimbo able to strike out on its own."

"No arguments there", Iglesias concurred.  "So we need to talk about how to ensure this works out for us both."

"Which is?"

"For a start, investment.  You've undoubtedly read up on our economy.  It's taken a real beating since the Darien Canal opened up - far less traffic going around the tip of the continent.  Valparaiso is really suffereing as a result.  Having the Brandenburgers finish the railway was a good start on on setting up Valparaiso as an export town, but we also need to get some more exports.  Fruit and wine are great, but the world's not exactly clamouring for it.  Frankly, we want to give our mining sector a swift kick in the rear."

"Explain?"

"About forty years ago, our region was the world's leading producer of copper.  Prices went down considerably as iron and steel-hulled ships replaced wooden ones, but are now resurging in electrical equipment such as wires.  We haven't been able to take advantage of this upswing because the USA was coming apart and not investing in new smelters, new mines, and so forth.  A geological survey would be useful too - some kind of program that studies the various deposits and looks to predict where others may be."

"I'm surprised the DKB wasn't interested in this", Rey mused.

"They didn't need to be - they have the copper belt in Zambia situated more conveniently.  Gran Colombia doesn't have such a resource - in fact, the big copper producer in the Americas is up in Rohan, and you probably don't want to rely on them for imports."

"True.  So you'd want the railway extended north from Santiago?"

Iglesias shook his head.  "No sense in that - smarter to run a few east-west lines to the coast from the major producing areas, then load on to ships from there.  So a real port is needed.  Coquimbo itself is not a bad site.

"We were planning on building a new port in the Cook Islands", Rey replied.  "We could add one after that.

"I recommend comparing the economic impacts of our port and theirs before you schedule it that way", X remarked. 

"Very well", Rey conceded.  "Your population's not very large - can you supply the work force needed, or are we looking at bringing in people?"

"If we want to resume mining at all eleven thousand or so workings, absolutely - but that'd be stupid.  It makes more sense to close a lot of the artisanal works and concentrate on developing large tonnage operations where we can make the most of mechanization.  Apart from being efficient, it also serves our interest of not getting overwhelmed with strangers.  Bring in a few folks from the old USA or DKB or even here over the next decade - say a couple hundred thousand - and we'll be content."

"We'll have to deploy some troops to defend the area, then - a population that small can't support a large military presence."

Iglesias nodded.  "I've heard that a division is to be based in-country - a cavalry regiment, infantry regiment, and two cordilleran regiments.  Figure we can be good for half the manpower of each.  You can rotate in the rest.  I assume you'll deploy a squadron of some kind to Valparaiso."

"Not a large one - some patrol craft, and nothing larger than a protected cruiser."

"Well, we only had the Prinz Adalbert last year, so I can't complain too loudly."  Iglesias sighed.  "The Peruvians will just have to remember there's more where they came from."

[The Rock Doctor]

18 February 1908

This is a general notice to advise marine traffic in the southern Caribbean of Gran Colombian naval and land exercises, scheduled to commence 21 February 1908.

Exercises shall be conducted on and around Trinidad, Tobago, and the mainland south of these islands.  Foreign shipping is requested to avoid use of Gran Colombian territorial waters in this area, and is advised to be vigilant for manuevering formations of warships in international waters near the same.

Use of inert training rounds is expected in some situations; although these rounds lack any explosive content, damage may be sustained by objects struck by the same.  Armada vessels avoid use of inert rounds where other marine traffic is present, but marine traffic should be certain to take measures to remain visible to Armada units in the area at all times as a contingency.

[Carthaginian]

ADVISORY

From: the Office of the First Sea Lord
To: all Confederate vessels at sea

Re: Gran Colombian Naval Exercises

For an undetermined amount of time, GC naval/Marine elements will be conducting live-fire drills in and around Trin/Tob area. Nature of exercises undetermined. Avoid OpArea at all cost; report all GC Ops taking place outside specified OpArea to allow other Grey elements to avoid them.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES ARE ANY GRAY ELEMENTS TO APPROACH GOLD UNITS UNTIL EXERCISES ARE DECLARED COMPLETE.

[The Rock Doctor]

Does this mean I'm "Blue"?

[Carthaginian]

Does this mean I'm "Blue"?

LOL... actually, France is 'Blue.'
GC is 'Gold', Rohan is 'Green', the UNK is 'Red', and the DRM is 'Crimson.'*

That's the only color codes that the CSA has ATM... we don't have any for European/Pacific countries just yet, but the increased interactions between nations in different theaters is necessitating it.

And the colors mean nothing.
'Blue' doesn't mean 'bad guys.' :)



*Since the DRM used to be ruled by the 'Cult of the Eye', I chose Crimson as their color based on Stephen King's references to the 'Crimson King' in the Dark Tower series. His sigul was a crimson eye.