The British invasion initially caught Dublin off guard. Having grown complicit in their neutrality, Parliament seemed to forget that Ireland’s position had been tenuous at best. They were of the notion that Britain would never launch such an invasion, not before substantial preparations could be made, but in the end, Parliament proved to be incorrect in their assessment. Immediately upon hearing the news, the Prime Minister would address the Parliament, and with their consent, proclaim a wartime unity government for national salvation. Party lines matter little in the face of a British invasion, and the Parliament would pass The Final Act, conferring emergency powers to the Prime Minister and placing the island under martial law. After receiving these powers, the Prime Minister would push forward the Wartime Protection initiative, decentralizing power and relocating numerous government offices to compounds across the nation. This partial evacuation of Dublin would be kept secret so as not to impact civilian morale. It would help prevent the catastrophic decapitation of the Irish government and high command in the case of British strikes. (I think it's reasonable to assume this wouldn’t much affect government efficiency, as working remotely is already highly normalized today. In fact, it might be antiquated of me to even assume all government agencies were centralized in Dublin before this act, but I digress.) Additionally, mobilization would begin as soon as the war began. At peacetime, the Irish army is no larger than 90,000 men; the PM would also be able to call up an additional 120,000 reserves. Furthermore, another 560,000 volunteers and 800,000 conscripts would be called up, though their training will take months at best. To temporarily augment this smaller force, the Air Force’s reserve drone fleet has been reactivated. While outdated and considered slow by modern standards, the fleet (along with Ireland’s much smaller, ‘modern’ fleet of craft) would help augment the firepower capabilities of the current army when not being used for bombing or intelligence missions. While rationing has been the norm in Irish society since the days of the First Junta and WW3, the government would enact further austerity measures. The Domestic Oversight Board would be issued a new series of initiatives and policies by the Prime Minister and his own War Committee to implement. The D.O.B. would see a massive expansion and would be awarded special powers to better implement war austerity policies. Agroponics facilities and their overseers would receive various subsidies to expand production, along with government contracts to shift production towards high-yielding, high-calorie crops that can feed soldiers and civilians alike. Meanwhile, the majority of industrial facilities manufacturing civilian goods considered to be non-essential would immediately be compelled to take up similar contracts, manufacturing and designing new weapons, munitions, and fuel for the war effort. All quotas would be raised, and government resource stockpiles would be strategically opened up to manufacturers so that output could be expanded. Logistically speaking, fuel, food, and equipment would be heavily prioritized, and the majority of the state’s resources would be delegated to protecting the production and transportation of these goods so that the Armed Forces might fight another day. The use of the National High Speed Rail network would enable the timely transportation of resources, but would also leave the railway a very appealing target, and so the government would take the measures necessary to defend the ‘arteries of the republic’. Trains would be mounted with concealable, automated point defense systems, a costly but crucial endeavor that would ideally protect the train itself from attack, while also discouraging assaults on the rail itself. Military guards would also be installed near critical junctions and bridges, aiming to prevent the sabotage of the network by covert enemy operations. The Prime Minister’s first major order to the frontline troops in the North would be to tactically withdraw from battle, avoiding direct combat with the British whenever possible. As they would withdraw, they would strategically blow up bridges, roadways, and airports, aiming to slow the British advance markedly. Irish civilians would be evacuated via the National High Speed Rail from Belfast, Derry, and Lisburn, though many civilians and municipalities would end up in British hands before evacuation orders could be enacted (This will somewhat work in my favor, as I will explain). Following these evacuations, railhub managers along the northern branch of the rail would use government-loaned munitions to destroy their sections of the railway, cutting the north off from the south of the country.
Urban centers would be turned into ‘fortress cities’ with Irish units distributed throughout, typically creating engagement areas in places with defendable, durable infrastructure to protect cities and terrorize any invading force. Missiles and rocket positions would be established surrounding chokepoints and roadways, so that Irish forces could target armored vehicles and enemy logistics. Ideally, these tactics would help to bog down British forces, making any urban campaign a brutal, costly slog that heavily impacts morale. Seeing the British utilization of bombing campaigns in the North to undermine Irish positions, the military would prioritize anti-air technology heavily. While production would take time to supply all Irish units and major hubs with the various forms of anti-air needed, limited stockpiles would be deployed along the front and around major industrial centers. All forms of anti-air, whether that be static emplacements, moveable guns, automated cannons, or even portable equipment for use by soldiers, would be employed. In terms of electronic warfare, mobile squads would utilize jammers and interceptor drones to fight back against enemy drones and other loitering munitions. Though they would not be able to be everywhere at once, they would be deployed along the most crucial sectors of the front, and wherever intelligence would indicate concentrations of British forces to be. Irish interference would target British sensors to try to disorient the enemy (along with preventing retaliation). Irish unit tactics would quickly evolve to accommodate the less-than-advantageous position of the Republic in the face of the marginally more advanced and numerically superior British army. Shock-and-fade tactics would become the standard, with small, disciplined, and mobile Irish units constituting themselves briefly to assault the enemy, withdrawing before the British could react. Dispersing the Irish Defense Force’s units into these smaller, better-trained, lighter units would also help negate the risk of catastrophic loss. Even if the British could successfully capture and liquidate a unit, numerous others would be lingering in the periphery, ready to strike when most prudent. On the civilian side of things, a strong resistance movement would arise, albeit gradually. Alienated by the British invasion, whether because of patriotism or British brutality against Irish civilians, many would turn to sabotage, partisan warfare, and espionage to undermine the British occupation. Any hubs not crippled by the evacuation would quickly become active targets of the resistance. The Irish government would directly sponsor this, deploying agents of the IMIS to train these resistance elements and garner support for revolts across the North. On the other side, most wouldn’t be so quick to simply comply, although some in the North would collaborate. These collaborators would become alienated from greater Irish society and would be targeted by resistance groups, however, providing a general incentive not to work with the occupier. In the non-occupied portion of the country, spirits and nationalist fervor would run high. Long a part of the Irish identity, the oppression at the hands of the British and English centuries ago has become semi-mythical in Irish culture. This would play well into the movement, as feuding factions among the populace would set aside their differences and comply with the doctrine of defense and total war. Some would remain skeptical, but, having little other choice but to participate, most would submit to the war effort. Weekly addresses and broadcasts from the Prime Minister would be used to garner morale and remind the Irish people that “The war is not yet lost!” _____________________________________________ Credit to @NO ONE for the music :p (It don't exist :lazy:) Hey! Long time no see! So, it took me a long time to respond, I was BUUUUUUSSSSYYYY. If this feels incomplete (most notably, it doesn't address the French aid or the counterattack), then that is because it IS. Scratch literally would not let me paste anything more than this. Expect a second part shortly. Also, the art is a tad NOT related to the project :\ I had to use this from smth else I was working on because I don't have the time to make new art rn. So yeah, read the yap if you dare (This is me being vague btw, I could've yapped at least 10 pages if I felt I was 'trying' :insufferable_nerd:). Bye now !
