New Government in Holland.

[damocles]

Nicholas van Rijn.

Nicholas van Rijn looked out of his Rikstag office.  There wasn't much to say now as he looked upon the medallion of state office on its velvet-lined tray. It was a hold-over custom from the old House of Orange when the Stadtholder gave the medallion to his chief minister and hatchet man among the Trades Guilds The queen's emissary had thus presented him the medallion as her summons to become her new First Minister.  With the help of the Social Democrat Alliance and the Moslem Reform Party, he, with the Constitution Party he led; now had the ruling political coalition in the Rikstag and the dubious "honor" to build a new government after the tangled web of affairs Maistricht Hoen made of things, starting with the Siam business, that brought on the No Confidence Vote for the faltering Liberals.

The reparations from that business with Siam still hurt the Kingdom. Hoen was directly not responsible, as the one who urged the war: that was Han Melenik, but as Melenik's stooge; Hoen was the one ousted as First Minister. Melenik, van Rijn would deal with another way than he did with Hoen. A stooge one votes out.....A warmonger one shoves out-especially a failed warmonger.

One simply does not start wars. Those wars lost are usually bad for business, and the aftermaths of such failed lost wars always mean lost markets. Melenik would be offered a post in the Suriname* as chief railroad ministe. He'd better take it, or he might find himself explaining to the press some things that van Rijn arranged to happen in Melenik's name, things still secret. If they got out? There were/are Dutch ways to deal with troublemakers like Melenik.  

There were also much better uses for the Riksdollars Melenik wasted, van Rijn noted. The budgets for the last three years reflected HIS economic priorities, but still Melenik's Liberals had wasted the R$ on foolish ships and guns when the whole kingdom needed controlled investment in infrastructure. (See Sim Reports as published, D.)  

* Edited to conform to current reality. D.

[The Rock Doctor]

Welcome aboard!

Gentle reminder:  if this post is pre-1917, then Mr. Melenik can take work in the Kongo; post-1917, the Kongo belongs to Gran Colombia and they may not want him...

[damocles]

Antony Fokker:





Success!

CREW   1
ENGINE   1 x 100hp Oberursel U.1 9-cylinder rotary engine
WEIGHTS
    Take-off weight   635 kg   1400 lb
DIMENSIONS
    Wingspan   9.52 m   31 ft 3 in
    Length   7.30 m   24 ft 11 in
    Height   2.89 m   10 ft 6 in
PERFORMANCE
    Max. speed   134 km/h   83 mph
    Ceiling   3500 m   11500 ft

This plane promptly crashes killing its pilot. NOT GOOD, Antony. Need to hire a crazy man who loves to fly, who is lucky, so Antony can work the bugs out. Where would he find one? 

Its only a proof of concept plane to the Riksflotte, but DGPVO seems very interested despite the crash. Fokker had been working for the Germans..... Antony has some fences to mend to fix that little problem here in his own home country. Maybe if he could convince the Constitutionalists Coalition, that civil aviation was the wave of the future and that aircraft manufacture was part of any infrastructure plans they might make?   

*He will.  ;D

[maddox]

If a French Pilot is accepted, I have Fonck who can fly anything that stays in one piece.

[TexanCowboy]

Just don't hire Manzo.... ;)

[damocles]

Food Riots.

Why did Hoen do it? Why did he sell off the Kongo? It just amazes van Rijn that Melenik's stooge did that thing. Like the Siam reparations, there was nothing to be done but adjust to the new reality of inflation and scarce grain supplies.

Then there is Fokker. He, a Dutchman, worked for the GERMANS. Now at last he brings a flying machine to the United Provinces and it crashes killing the queen's cousin? Its a political disaster if van Rijn cannot fix it.

There is Renee' Fonck, possibly the finest aviator alive. He might be able to handle the Fokker planes, until Antony Fokker works out the design flaws. NvR has plans for Meneer Fokker, that involve the current balance of trade issues. He needs that man to succeed. So NvR writes to the French premier, to ask a little favor....

Grain and a pilot: Menelik must answer for a lot.
         
Edited to correct for French government.

[maddox]

It's Premier, Premier Galpoux in this case, who's going the last HY before elections.

[damocles]

Renee Fonck tries to land the contraption.



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He gets it down on the grass in one piece, but he curses at the mechanics who rush up to put the engine fire out.

"The Obereusel is unsafe!" he roars. "Fokker, have some Dutchman go to Bavaria and buy one of their planes you designed that I can fly without being cooked, or at least get their BMW engines!" He stalks off to the converted barn that is the plane hanger for Holland's nascent Riksluchmacht.

Antony Fokker looks at the expatriate Irishman next to him. "This is what I have to put up with? Bolcke was never like this!"            

Wainwright just shakes his head. "The Riksflotte plans to put floats under that thing and also start takeoff and landing experiments from ships? I thought that you were sensible people."

Fokker grimaces.

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

Meanwhile in Amsterdam:

Nicholas van Rijn looks at the new budget estimates. In addition to the tanks and the aircraft that the Rikswehr wanted from Bavaria  (technology in exchange for Dutch engine tech) there was the gift NRDN radio station to the RRC. Expensive to mend fences after the wreckage of the war.

What could he do about the Pacific? He sent out a general proposal, and had sent out feelers to other nations.

The note he received from the New Swiss Government he crumpled up in frustration. He began to see exactly what the previous Dutch foreign minister warned him about....opportunistic aggressors he called them.

There was the New Zion problem again about to explode into war. Holland sticking her nose into that kind of briar bush  is what cost the Dutch so heavily last time. Still.... The balance of power in Africa was about to be upset as it had in the Pacific and by the same instigators. Why did that fool Hoen give up the Kongo again?        

What to do?  

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

Bavaria mission.

Aircraft:



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Tanks:



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The tank looks to be a monster but the tech boost is the important thing. 

[damocles]

Nederlandse Vliegtuigenfabriek (NVF or just Fokker)

Notables.

Antony Fokker, owner and CEO.
Tony "Wrongway" Wainwright", CFO and ombudsman.
Renee' Fonck current test pilot.
Dr. Albert Plesman, chief designer.




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

NvR nodded absently as Fokker explained hs plans. "So in effect we start with Baltic Confederacy designs?" He paused, "Second choice Confederacy designs?"

Fonck spoke up. "It will get Holland into the air, until Fokker can get our own designs to work."

     

[damocles]

Dutch Naval Command, Jakarta. Small office.

Pytee Hiet reads the message and then burns it to dust. "MVB, Amsterdam sends us their love and commands us to give NRDN all assistance possible. That includes radio engineers and signalers."

Jans  Hilvius shrugs. "We don't  have enough for our local forces, where and why should we provide for NRDN?"

Hiet blows the dust across the desk so that it scatters. "We don't have enough of anything, but still we must do....so how do we do it?     

Hilvius has a bright idea. "Same as we do for the undereducated recruits we seek here for the Riksflotte and Rikswehr. We open a fleetschul or Landmachtschul and teach them.

"I suppose Amsterdam will want us to teach the Noians how to fly next?" Hiet has that sudden awful feeling even as he says it.

Hilvius smiles: "No pilots. No planes, we have to have at least one of each to start..... We just need to find and hire."   
 

[damocles]

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The rather unimpressed collection of Dutch colonels and majors listen to the Bavarian captain give his enthusiastic speech. "This is the future of warfare!"

The Dutch-built monster belches smoke and flame, lurches to a stop, there is an enormous clang, something pops loose; more smoke and flame, it catches fire, and suddenly hatches pop open as a half dozen men tumble out and run for their lives as the monster sighs to itself, and burns on the polder.

"Future of warfare?" Henrik Edson snorts. "One kilometer and it breaks down. We were promised a pantser blokkenwagen, and we get a flaming paperweight."

"Don't laugh, Major. You have the honor of raising our first regiment of pantsers." Colonel Anser tells him.           

[damocles]

Current RLM air strength as of 2H1919

Fokker D-V (from Bavaria), 500 aircraft. (fighter)
Fokker J-1 500 aircraft. (fighter)
Fokker R-2 500 aircraft (recon aircraft)
Fokker W-1 500 aircraft.(naval seaplane)

RLM bases.                         D-V              J-1              R-2         W-1            Air Brigades
Amsterdam (1+3*)              72               72              72            72              1st
Flyssen  (1+3*)                   72               72              72            72              2nd
Jakarta  (1+3*)                   72               72              72            72              3rd    
Ullapool (1+2*)                   72               72              72            72               4th  
Singapore (1+2*)               72               72              72            72               5th
Surabaya  (1+2*)               72               72              72            72               6th

Totals                            52 + 48      452+48       452+48      452+48  
* Each air force base can call on the services of near by civil flying fields as satellite airfields. These are built and maintained as part of the civil air ministry(Note in wartime would be taken into RLM base service). There are 15 such civil airfields.      

The RLM organizes in air brigades attached to a corps or fleet regional command.    

There are currently six such air brigades.  

[Sachmle]

Present compliments of Nobody's BBC code program

RLM bases		D-V	J-1	R-2	W-1	Air Brigades
Amsterdam (1+3*)		72	72	72	72	1st
Flyssen  (1+3*)		72	72	72	72	2nd
Jakarta  (1+3*)		72	72	72	72	3rd
Ullapool (1+2*)		72	72	72	72	4th
Singapore (1+2*)		72	72	72	72	5th
Surabaya  (1+2*)		72	72	72	72	6th
Totals		452 + 48	452+48	452+48	452+48

[damocles]

NvR reads the telegram from Glorious France. The French premier answers his request for grain. The Nationale Politie almost overwhelmed in the Flanders provinces keep sending in reports of workers communes rising up demanding "bread".  Things were calmer in Antwerp where the Marines replaced the Rikswehr garruson that proved to officered by unreliable holdovers from the Hoen government.

The question was how much grain would Holland need? 18.5+ million people at a 1/2 kilo a day was 287,000,000 kilograms per month for the next three months. Nobody in the Hoen government had considered, it took 9,250 tons of grain a day to feed the Dutch. The Kongo was Holland's grainery.

Nicholas van Rijn knew that it took 1 freighter load of grain each  and every day  from overseas to add to what Holland could grow herself. 5000 tons short was 5000 tons short . So Glorious France would supply the shortfall. She would sell the 5000 tones a day at about what it cost Holland to ship it. Cash and carry.  

Which presented another acute problem....Holland did not have hopper cars and locomotives enough to, even with French help, move more than 3000 tons of grain a day from France to the Zeeland provinces. There would still be a 2000 ton shortage.

Longterm, the solution was simple. Holland needs another grainery to replace the Kongo.

Another food source, but where?
==================================================
And once again, Sechmle, thank you!                

[maddox]

Logical conclusion, make a deal with the new owners of Kongo.

Otherwise, Egypt could be another source, the Nile is the Breadbasket of the world.  One of the reasons Glorious France can provide a part of the Grain needed is the good relations with the former Caliphate of Caïro.