South Africa is liberated, where do we go from here?

Day 906, 07:56 • Published in Australia Australia • by Aeros
SUMMARY

The Southern War, which saw South Africa PTO’d and taken over by Argentina and Brazil has come to a successful end, with the last Argentine bastion in Limpopo falling to the South Africans. In Europe, Croatia and Hungary appear to have both run out of steam, while Romania and Serbia are struggling over what remains of Bulgaria. In Asia, Indonesia is once more attempting to break the United States blockade in Southern Thailand.


SOUTH AFRICA AND AUSTRALIA

Last March, Harvad University, and by extension, Brazil, swore that South Africa would never be free again. Through furious efforts that saw Northern Cape freed just before Congressional elections, and the own efforts of Australia to try and push back against the Brazilians and Argentines, South Africa was able to make steady progress. After the Western Australia fiasco that stripped us of our border for a time, South Africa was able to continue the effort conventionally, with substantial assistance from the United States and EDEN. The end result is now quite evident. Argentina and Brazil have been expelled from South Africa and Indonesia was unable to hang on to Western Australia. I think it would be fair to say we have won this particular war, though both nations must now remain vigilant for another attempt by our mutual enemies.


Both South Africa and Australia stand at the Crossroad

South Africa and Australia have the dubious tactical distinction of being gateway nations. Of critical importance in eRepublik warfare is the ability of a country to establish a presence in Multiple theaters. For the eWorlds most strategically placed country, the United States, this is no issue. If they want to be in Asia, they swap though Japan via their home region of Hawaii. If they want to be in Europe, they just jump the pond. If they want to go to South America, they just go through Spain. Most other countries are not quite so blessed by geography. One of those countries is Brazil, now on the rise as a world power. If Brazil wants to get to the Asian theater, there is only one way to go, and that is through South Africa and Australia. On the reverse side of things, if Indonesia wants to get to South America, they must also pass through Australia and South Africa. Same goes for pretty much any Asian or South American nation. Just as Japan is the gatekeeper between Asia and North America, we are the Southern Hemispheres gateway and must always keep this in mind. Being small and highly strategic militarily is not always a good thing.


This rock will feed many hungry Hungarians

As if the cursed blessing of Geography was not enough, both Australia and South Africa are poised to be “blessed” with half the worlds supply of Titanium. This material will be used in the manufacturing of most weapons on the up coming version 2 of eRepublik. Australia is in the process of developing a robust Land sector to meet the up coming voracious demand for this resource. As Australia will come into possession of two of these regions, they are going to become an object of desire for enemies and allies alike. The Senate of Australia has actually preempted some of this with the “Native Territory Protection Act”, found here: http://72.52.142.23/~auserepu/community/index.php?topic=8164.0]

Of course, Australia possess a much more robust population and military then does South Africa, so we can afford to be a bit more discretionary with our territory. For South Africa, one of the smallest nations in eRepublik by population, they are set to be cursed with three High Titanium regions. You can expect to see at least two of those regions loaned out to an EDEN nation, most likely Spain and the United States, simply because those two are the nearest major powers. This would also have the added benefit of keeping the regions away from Brazil and Argentina. Accomplishing it would be another matter entirely.

THE TITANIUM WAR

Getting the USA and Spain into South Africa will most likely be the very first war to break out in Version 2, and Australia would be wise to start making plans for it. The operation would have to be two fold. Spain would use its enormous stack of MPP’s to bash through Brazil and drive for the South African border, while the USA attempts to use its depleted MPP stack in the Indonesian war to gain a border with Australia and swap into Western Australia and on into South Africa. Both operations would require attacking the native territories of Brazil and Indonesia. Ideally, when this is done, it is always good to try and wipe out the country attacked in order to cancel the activated MPP’s.

For Australia, the Indonesian operations would have to be successful for the Americans right off the bat. If the attack stalls, we would be forced to initiative block the Indonesians in order to prevent a counter attack that could see the Indo’s regain control of Karnataka using their own activated MPP list. No doubt this is something the Indonesians have already thought, because any lay person can see just how things will go when version 2 comes along. Australia would be a critical component of any operation involving getting EDEN countries to South Africa, so you can bet trying to get rid of Australia is very high on the agenda for the Phoenix Alliance.


FINAL THOUGHTS

We may have managed to regain Western Australia from the Indonesians, but we should not let this victory make us complacent. Though the Indo’s lost militarily, they still have a good shot of taking us down politically. Australian politics are very fractious, and this makes our country an ideal target for PTO’s. Party President elections are tomorrow, so the top 5 parties should be very careful who they elect. We don’t want a top 5 suddenly fronting an entire list of Indonesian Senators. Politics aside, we also need to be prepared for the coming war with Indonesia and Brazil.

Everyone remembers how the first battle of Western Australia put every other fight in eRepublik history to shame for its time. We can expect more of that. Expanding our military capability and bringing more new players into it should be a matter of critical national importance. Improving unit cohesion will be even more important, as Version 2 will all but demand squad based coordination on the battlefield. This is part of the reason why I accepted Crowded Houses request to be his Deputy Prime Minister, as military structure is definitely something that needs to be looked at. The coming strife is also why I can understand the current Prime Ministers frustration with international militias poaching new Australian Citizens. Simply put, our country needs every able body in its own military. We have some tense days ahead of us, and we are going to need to be ready.