EBC Evening Report
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Part Three of our interview with Republican Army veteran Sergeant Howard Campbell.
PART 3: The Second European Campaign and the Fall of the Grand Alliance
EBC: After some abortive colonial expeditions, we set our sights on the continent. What was that contest like?
HC: The 2nd European Campaign was the most destructive and devastating conflict this nation has ever known. The kinds of casualty figures that were inflicted in those battles - sometimes as high as 65% - were absolutely unheard of.
EBC: And what do you believe to be the cause of this?
HC: It was really a number of factors that contributed to our nation being completely unprepared for this type of warfare. First, the strategic and tactical knowledge of our general staff could not keep up with the changing face of battle, including technology, and the skill of our opponents. Second, the intelligence failures plagued our operations throughout the campaign and caused the deaths of thousands of brave Republican soldiers. It was appalling; I can remember when we were ordered to charge the Russian positions at the Battle of Low Level; it was slaughter, pure and simple. Horrifying. I'll never forget the faces of those boys as the Russian guns mowed them down.
EBC: In the face of all this, do you believe the government made the right decision to go to war?
HC: Well, at the time, I don't think anyone could have stopped it. National fervor was rampant, and the people probably would have deposed the Leader if He had refused to go to war. I know I was right behind them, ready, eager, and willing to fight. No one thought the Conflict would become as global as it did.
EBC: By the end, the Republic was at war with a coalition of nations, including Russians, Germans, French, in addition to several other minor nations. What led to such a situation? How did the Republic come to such a time?
HC: First of all, I don't believe "coalition" would be quite the right word; those nations rarely, if ever, acted in unison against us. But no one can deny that we certainly had to fight all of them, a feat which the Republic could never hope to maintain. With the exception of the French, we came into contact with our enemy because of disputes over territory on the continent.
EBC: What was so special about the French?
HC: The fact was that we had begun the Conflict in a full military alliance with them. They had been reliable, powerful allies in the 1st European Campaign, so naturally we expected the same, again, this time. This was reinforced by several territorial guarantees to us, reinforcing our belief that they would come to our aid once again.
EBC: So what happened?
HC: To this day, I'm still not sure. Perhaps they believed the prize to be too great to pass up. Perhaps it was a spur of the moment type thing. Perhaps they had been planning it all along. All I know is, one day we get orders from command to attack French positions in the area. We were completely stunned. We verified the orders three times before we proceeded. It was totally unexpected.
END OF PART THREE
Thanks for tuning in. And that's the news for tonight. Don't forget to tune in tomorrow night for Part Four of the interview - "The French Question" - same time, same network: "It's the E, E, EBC - Eddie Broadcasting Corporation"
PART 3: The Second European Campaign and the Fall of the Grand Alliance
EBC: After some abortive colonial expeditions, we set our sights on the continent. What was that contest like?
HC: The 2nd European Campaign was the most destructive and devastating conflict this nation has ever known. The kinds of casualty figures that were inflicted in those battles - sometimes as high as 65% - were absolutely unheard of.
EBC: And what do you believe to be the cause of this?
HC: It was really a number of factors that contributed to our nation being completely unprepared for this type of warfare. First, the strategic and tactical knowledge of our general staff could not keep up with the changing face of battle, including technology, and the skill of our opponents. Second, the intelligence failures plagued our operations throughout the campaign and caused the deaths of thousands of brave Republican soldiers. It was appalling; I can remember when we were ordered to charge the Russian positions at the Battle of Low Level; it was slaughter, pure and simple. Horrifying. I'll never forget the faces of those boys as the Russian guns mowed them down.
EBC: In the face of all this, do you believe the government made the right decision to go to war?
HC: Well, at the time, I don't think anyone could have stopped it. National fervor was rampant, and the people probably would have deposed the Leader if He had refused to go to war. I know I was right behind them, ready, eager, and willing to fight. No one thought the Conflict would become as global as it did.
EBC: By the end, the Republic was at war with a coalition of nations, including Russians, Germans, French, in addition to several other minor nations. What led to such a situation? How did the Republic come to such a time?
HC: First of all, I don't believe "coalition" would be quite the right word; those nations rarely, if ever, acted in unison against us. But no one can deny that we certainly had to fight all of them, a feat which the Republic could never hope to maintain. With the exception of the French, we came into contact with our enemy because of disputes over territory on the continent.
EBC: What was so special about the French?
HC: The fact was that we had begun the Conflict in a full military alliance with them. They had been reliable, powerful allies in the 1st European Campaign, so naturally we expected the same, again, this time. This was reinforced by several territorial guarantees to us, reinforcing our belief that they would come to our aid once again.
EBC: So what happened?
HC: To this day, I'm still not sure. Perhaps they believed the prize to be too great to pass up. Perhaps it was a spur of the moment type thing. Perhaps they had been planning it all along. All I know is, one day we get orders from command to attack French positions in the area. We were completely stunned. We verified the orders three times before we proceeded. It was totally unexpected.
END OF PART THREE
Thanks for tuning in. And that's the news for tonight. Don't forget to tune in tomorrow night for Part Four of the interview - "The French Question" - same time, same network: "It's the E, E, EBC - Eddie Broadcasting Corporation"