As the Eritrean Rebellion continues, SEU continues to pour funds into it. Advisors and the occasional military officers come and go. However, the losses are heavy. Asians stand out among the Middle Easterners, and SEU is forced to send more and more men. Some never come home. As losses mount, Rhee Syng Man's popularity slowly begins to drop. He is no doubt capable, but he is corruptible. Rumors abound he has taken bribes; it wouldn't be the first time; he has taken bribes as a revolutionary and was nearly booted out of his third-in-command post twice, only escaping thanks to his genius and intelligence. While these rumors are untrue, they further damage his already battered reputation. His most significant backer refuses to say anything about him, to aid or hurt. Rhee's going down no matter what at this point. As of now, SEU manages a healthy 5.8% GDP growth rate due to several factors. One, Russia is experiencing a population boom. Two, SEU is taking steps to increase fertility in China. Three, SEU's middle class is enormous and buying more stuff. After a while, it'll be somewhere around 3.7%. SEU is trying really, really hard to make sure the population increases, and it's working.
Watch as I introduce the most influential tank design ever in New Nations, and the second-best SEU tank in comparison to its contemporaries. The best is yet to come; it'll take SEU 40 years before they finally create a design so incredibly perfect as this. In between, they'll compete but they won't dominate. The T-54/55. It has completely rearranged the T-34's insides, making it far more ergonomic. It has a 100mm gun. Everyone else has a 75-76mm gun. The D-10 100mm gun has a high muzzle velocity and can destroy enemy tanks with ease. Its 7.62mm machine gun (in some models, there is a 12.7mm Heavy Machine gun) has proved itself to be a reliable weapon of war, gunning down many a SNE and Caliphate soldier. With a speed of 48km/h, it may be slower than the T-34. However, it is just as fast as the M4 Saladin and faster than the SNE Panthers. Small, easy to operate and easy to produce, it fits the SEU doctrine like a glove. Its firepower, armor, and reliability is all excellent, speed is comparable to other nations and ergonomics are suboptimal, though not to T-34 levels. In any case, the T-54 is clearly a powerful tank that can defeat any non-heavy tanks. The Black Army/SEU Army has decided to abandon all T-34 production in favor of this new tank, and they will entirely phase out the T-34 in 3 years as the infrastructure converts to T-54/55 production. SEU's military now all have new toys. The Navy gets new Destroyers, better Radar, and the revolutionary Supercarrier. The Army gets AK-47s and T-54s. The Air Force gets Carrier-based Su-4s and MiG-15s, both excellent jet fighters. And if they want, they can sell it. SEU wants to export 300 T-54 units to UBR, and the rest of the Soviet Union is getting older T-34 tanks that SEU needs to get rid of fast, to make room for the T-54. As a matter of fact, SEU sometimes just gives them away when the other USSR states can't afford any more. Now, this shows that SEU favors UBR as a partner because it's the UBR that gets the latest and greatest, while other Soviet states have to settle for older, leftover equipment from the two titans. For example, the other Soviet states don't get the MiG-15, no. They get older SEU Fighters, propeller planes. UBR gets lots of MiG-15s. As a matter of fact, SEU wants to sell them their latest Destroyer, the Sydney-Class, the older Dokrip-Class Destroyer goes to the other Soviet states. UBR gets AK-47s, the other Soviet states have to settle for SVT-40s. A lot of them are still using Nagant M1895s, while UBR gets Marakovs. Yeah, SEU really needs UBR on its side and has been going to lengths to make sure of that. Now SEU will get back to what it really wants to do. Stimulating the Economy and building the ideal strong middle class. While SEU has a growing middle class, it is not so "middle" when you compare it to the Saudi Caliphate or SNE. Many are still poor; indeed, SEU's whole goal is to make their country less "lower middle class", because that's what's been passing for middle class in SEU. Having an enormous population is not always a good thing; however, that just means more workers to slurp up resources and to build a working middle class; after all, that is the end goal. Build a working Middle Class. To this end, private companies have had regulations lowered for investing in certain less-rich areas and regulations for investing in already-rich areas tightened to give them disincentive. SEU hopes to invest in the less affluent areas and to breathe life into these areas. It is working out, to an extent. In any case, SEU is doing all it can to lower its inequality; SEU gives massive corporate shareholders and CEOs an ultimatum. 3 options. 1. Invest in Local Economies and get huge tax breaks. 2. Pay 90% taxes. 3. Die. Now, no business owner wants to pay 90% taxes. Neither do they want to die. So they instead invest. It works out fine, (reasonably). Some flee, some try to stash their assets offshore, but most of them are thrown in Gulags. There is no place one can run from the SEU laws, and there is no safe haven from the long arm of justice. It is of note that most of the time, SEU is rather business-friendly, as long as said business takes place within SEU, or the Soviet Union. Regulations are rather loose, working hour laws are lax, and workplace safety regulations are not very tight, but when the SEU Government wants them to do something, they do it or go to Gulag. For example. Wages; they pay overtime, they pay the minimum wage, or you guessed it, they go to Gulag. It's actually quite effective as a motivation tool. Who knew threats of Gulag could be so potent?
Introducing, the MBT-10 Omega. An entirely different design from the Saladin, and enough to battle a T-54 easily, the Omega has promising results. It has a 87 mm gun, although being smaller than the T-54/55's, it has much better piercing and penetrable capabilities with the superior APDS shell, as well as better automatic stabilization which allows firing on the move and superior accuracy. It's armour features an interesting shape, with a sloped front of 110 mm, and sides thick enough at 60 mm, with a 152 mm frontal turret. It's armour is made in full cast, and it uses some spaced armour methods. Its turret is a hexagonal shape, fitted with storage boxes and a lot of room to accommodate a 3 man crew with ease and comfort ability. It has electrical traverse with a backup crank, and a 7.62 mm Arabic Machine Gun located in the frontal glacias and a 10.8 mm Arabic Gun on the turret, excellent in killing infantry. It uses a torsion bar suspension which gives a massive increase in ride comfort ability, maneuverability and resistance in Caliphate terrain. It has a massive V-12 engine which is easy to produce, easy to fit and repair and over all just good. Its speed though isn't very fast, as it runs at 39 km/h with 48 tons of weight. The MBT-10 Omega has a great fast firing high piercing 87 mm gun, with great armor/hull turret design with mediocre speed. However, it is the best in Caliphate climates, even though it is slower than a T-54, it will 100% of the time beat them in a terrain maneuverability contest, and frankly, the Caliphate NEEDS to be good at maneuvering in their terrain, and they always will be. Another thing going for it is its comfort ability, allowing 4 crew members adequate space and a pleasure ride in bumpy terrain... Well, the most pleasure from driving over rough terrain. SEU tanks are absolutely awful at crew comfort, and driving in a T-54 for long amounts of time is proved as painful, and above that, you have to be very short as well, most likely under 5'6 feet tall. The T-54 has better production ability and ease of just producing quickly. Although it is much faster than the Omega, the Omega has better piercing capabilities and gun stabilization, as well as better manuverability in rough terrain. The armour matches, more or less.
Ibn Saud has pushed for the growth of the population, advocating for decreasing infant mortality rates, increasing fertility and increasing food income. The population of the Saudi Caliphate is nearly at 110 million, estimators say that it may increase by five folds OOC: in 2017 it will be nearly 569 million. Saharan work camps are seeing an increase in numbers. Literally the desert equivalent of Gulags, Eritrean rebels, Ashqar Rebels, South Nubian Rebels, Ramses 12th Rebels, and Persian Immortal rebels are sent to camps spanning all the way through Libya, Algeria and even in Niger. The camps are brutal, hard labour is induced, and conditions are poor, most of the work is doing useful work of course, constructing military equipment and various household units at "Free labour camps" There are 2 levels. The first level is more lenient, they mostly reside near Northern Libya and have considerably better conditions, they are usually for minor defectors such as rioters, minor rebels and criminals. The second level is the worst, so bad that many workers there literally die from the work. Their spots are reserved for rebellion organizers, acts of treason, murder, religious crime and the other offenses. Sharia Law is highly effective, it does crush the humanity, but it controls the population very well, and Ibn Saud finds that using the people who should have died in Sharia Law's case as literal slaves are perfect. They mostly work in poor factories producing military vehicles parts, plane parts, and all the simple highly producible parts of any military industrial force, pushing the Saudi Caliphate's industrial powerhouse. The Eritrea rebellion is slowing down, with the region under heavy deadlock the efforts for Independence are little to effect, along with South Nubia. The Saudi Caliphate is good at crushing rebellion, but the SEU is good at starting rebellion.
The UBR is starting to develop its own navy independent from that of the SEU's. Eventually, our entire militaries will be separated, but for now, baby steps. Just the navy. We are beginning to start developing and making this corvette: Lodz-Class Corvette 1,041 tons displacement full load 15 knots maximum speed 1 127mm SEU Dual-Purpose guns 2 40mm Bofors AA guns 2 7.62mm Machine guns 2 depth charge throwers 2 depth charge rails Reasonably cheap as per Soviet doctrine, this is a gunboat. There's honestly nothing to be said about this ship, it is versatile as antiaircraft and antisubmarine warfare vessels. Also, we're going to start developing a 6"/49 caliber gun for light cruisers.
UBR is just trying to move away from the SEU and the USSR in general, as the general consensus about the SEU/USSR in the UBR is, "they've made some questionable decisions". However the government is very happy that the SEU is sharing war toys with them. The people of the UBR and the government both keep changing their opinions, creating a very unstable love-hate relationship. The reality is, that the UBR relies on the SEU, and that isn't going to change. Politicians don't realize this yet, but they are sure to soon.
SEU doesn't care what UBR does as long as they don't pull an India. That's caused SEU enough problems, and SEU doesn't need the Socialist faction to be spilt into even more pieces. SEU's opinion: just don't mess things up even more, we're in a bad spot. SEU might be an economic powerhouse, but they're rather divided. They need UBR to watch their back.
Here are some in-depth looks at what each of the ministries are doing currently, because I had 3 hours to myself and had no idea what to do, so I wrote this out. Ministry of Fishing, the Baltic Sea, and Waterways (FBSW) The FBSW and the Ministry of Children, Education, and Research (CER) are working together to make educated decisions on fishing rules and regulations to slow down the recently rapid decline of fish populations in the Baltic. Having been very important to Baltic culture for many years, it is very important that the fish population be steady for the years to come. Many scientific researchers from the CER say that the practices of trawling and discarding are the most harmful to populations of sealife, so the FBSW is putting some of its strictest policies on these. Ministry of Agriculture, Health, Care, and Food (AHCF) The AHCF is working with the Ministry of the Environment (MotE) in an initiative to buy back property from farmers near cities and urban areas and properly allocate it to groups and agencies that will, in an environmentally friendly way, build parks, houses, businesses, and other buildings to fuel the ever-expanding population of the UBR. Ministry of Law Enforcement and Justice (LEJ) The LEJ has noticed the dissatisfaction and violence increase among prisoners and prison guards, so the LEJ is developing new "open jails", where minimal (but still some) supervision is in place. Prisoners won't be locked up in cells where they are uncomfortable, but rather be able to roam around the prison grounds and feel more free. There will still be measures in place to prevent prison escapes, but the LEJ feels this design will be better for everyone. Ministry of the Environment (MotE) The MotE is working with the Ministry of Labour and Jobs (MLJ) to create jobs in the sustainable energy field, with things such as hydroelectricity, geothermal power, and wind power. The UBR is trying to phase out coal and oil electric plants as they are not good for the environment. Ministry of Children, Education, and Research (CER) The CER is establishing a series of low-cost public universities in large cities across the country. These universities lead students on a path towards research, government jobs, and jobs that have a gap in demand (teachers, doctors, etc). Ministry of Finances (MoF) The MoF is attempting to reduce the national debt by limiting national expenditures and reducing the budgets on departments that don't need so much money. Also, government salaries are far too high, so the MoF is going to reduce them to be closer to the average civilian's salary. Ministry of Labour and Jobs (MLJ) The MLJ seeks to reduce unemployment by creating more government jobs in the field of research, the sciences, diplomacy, and many other jobs. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (FAT) The FAT is excited to chow down on trade opportunities with other countries. After all, the UBR relies on trade and foreign relations to survive. They are also working with the Ministry of Law Enforcement and Justice (LEJ) to gain intelligence on other countries. Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Entertainment (TCE) One of the TCE's (commonly called the "Miscellanea Department") responsibilities is to study cities, their impact on the area, and the area's impact on the citizens. One study done in conjunction with the Ministry of Children, Education, and Research (CER) found that the country's current capital of Gdynia has no opportunity for expansion. Therefore, they are in the process of studying several other viable national capitals, including Riga, Stockholm, or Turku.
The Federation has put massive amount of research into radar that being said theirs SUCKS so they are pulling out everything they have and results in 1 year
Ibn Saud has ordered speed in nuclear production. Why? They see the SEU as a massive threat, and have decided that if they were to be attacked, they would bomb the crap out of them. The Caliphate takes in plenty of world class scientists, engineers and physicists, especially Jewish ones. Talks are being made about using their nuclear reactors to make a nuclear power plant to generate useful energy, and talks are being made on putting a nuclear warhead on an X-2, but it would have to be the X-3 model which is only being envisioned, and not on paper yet. The Caliphate has also annexed the Chagos Archipelago and started plans to build a naval base. They want to increase a their reach in the Indian Ocean to protect themselves better
SEU has ordered MiG-15 production be increased, to better protect themselves against Caliphate Nuclear Weapons. In addition, SEU has decided to create a new model of 127mm gun that is 54 Calibers long, and to replace all extant SEU 38-Caliber 127mm guns with these new versions. As the 38-Caliber weapons have proven themselves to be effective AA weapons, SEU will use them. SEU has also obtained manufacturing rights for 40mm AA guns from the UBR firm Bofors, giving them handsome royalties in exchange for SEU manufacturing a crap ton of them. SEU loves the Bofors 40mm AA gun, and rightly so. Without UBR's design firms, SEU would be left without a good, high-quality AA gun for defense of the skies. SEU wants 90% of Saudi Caliphate Nuclear bombers shot down. Meanwhile, the Tu-4 is being armed with Nuclear weapons as well. As SEU's primary bomber, it has proved itself a reliable and easy-to-manufacture workhorse.
Hey, hey, hey. We don't want another WW. Despite the UBR's obvious favoritism towards the SEU, and the fact that the UBR cannot really stop Bofors, the UBR believes that armaments are not a very practical solution. If the Caliphate and the SEU accept, one of the UBR's allies, Slovenia, has agreed to host a conference in Ljubljana with several neutral countries to moderate discussions between the Caliphate and the SEU.
SEU swallows its pride, and agrees. UBR is really the only nation that can sway it diplomatically. SEU and the Caliphate have fundamentally differing ideologies, and SEU knows little will come of this conference. However, they at least want to appear to like peace.
Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, the Caliph of the Saudi Caliphate agrees to the meeting in Slovenia. He however, is not really as humble as one would think, and would like to bring his exotic pet tiger, as well as his gold plated Rolls Royce to the meeting. He also orders aged wine from Spain (Not Italy, he hates that place) and some more delicacies. That oil has made him very rich, and made his ego even richer.
Rhee Syng-Man detests the Caliph, as he is the opposite of a model Socialist Leader. Negotiations and talks go badly when both parties vehemently hate each other.
Ibn Saud jokes about Rhee Syng-Man and his failed rebellions. Yes, they know exactly who is causing the rebellions.
As long as that tiger is kept under intense supervision, it is hesitantly agreed that the tiger, along with everything else, is fine. The meeting should take place in 5 posts (1084).
SEU is very skeptical of the Tiger, and demands it removed. SEU spreads propaganda stating Saud is greedy and an egomaniac, which is true to some extent. No one in the public liked him anyway, so it works well. SEU criticizes his lack of modesty and the fact that he lives in a giant palace. If Rhee-Syng Man tried to live in a giant palace, he would be impeached. It's set for failure.
