Pentagoet Work in Progress

PENTAGOET S.A.

WORK IN PROGRESS

The following graphic histories are being researched and prepared for future publication:

The Austerlitz Campaign	1805	The Austerlitz Campaign saw the destruction of the Third Coalition against Napoleon in a climatic battle between the French Army and the allied army of the Austrians and Russians. The resultant peace, dictated by Napoleon, redrew the map of Europe and ended formally the Holy Roman Empire. As a battle, it was as dramatic as it was sweeping in its scope; Austerlitz was a tactical triumph for the French Emperor.
France 1914	1914	The Imperial German war plan for dealing with the French Republic and the Russian Empire was to knock out France in a forty-day campaign before turning on Russia. The German plan further called for a wide sweep through Belgium to envelope and crush the French Army. Time was of the essence, and Germany didn't expect Belgium to resist, or that Great Britain would intervene. The German plan nearly succeeded, and the summer of 1914 saw a dramatic campaign in France, the consequences of which we still feel a century later.
White Wing-Masher	1966	Operation Masher, later renamed White Wing for public relations reasons, illustrates the U.S. approach to fighting the early stages of the American period of the Vietnam War. This was a massive airmobile operation involving the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, ARVN formations and units from the Republic of Korea, all against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. This operation will be used to examine the early stages of the American involvement in Vietnam.
The Verdun Campaign	1916	Starting in February of 1916, the German Army focussed on the French salient protecting the French city of Verdun to 'bleed white' the French Army and force that country out of the war. Using massive amounts of artillery, The German offensive nearly succeeded, but was stopped by a massive French effort, led by General Pétain. It remains the most savage and bloodiest campaign in warfare, and was France's supreme sacrifce in World War I.
The Somme Campaign	1916	To assist the French Army, being pinned to the defense of Verdun, and suffering terrible attrition, the Allied planned an attack on the German defenses on the Somme River. This was to be an Anglo-French effort, the British deploying for the first time the divisions of amateurs - 'Kitchener's Army' - raised in 1914 and training since. It became more and more a British event because of the losses at Verdun. Allied leadership expected it to rupture the German front and end the war. When it started on 1 July 1916, it proved to be the worst day in the history of the British Army. But, the British persisted over the next four months in trying to break through the enemy defenses.
The Fall of Malaysia	1941-2	While the war raged in Europe, Great Britain economized on the defense of its territories on the Pacific rim. The keystone of its defenses east of India was the fortress of Singapore, and the British believed that they had made it impregnable. They did not expect much threat from the Japanese Army. When war came, the Japanese landed and drove back Imperial forces in a brilliantly planned and executed blitzkrieg. Despite good soldiers, and defensible terrain, British complacency and poor leadership led to a strategic defeat which had profound and irreversible effects on the European presence in Asia.
Normandy 1944	1944	This history will track the Allied movements from pre-invasion planning and build-up, through the critical landing periods, into the stalemate of late June and early July and up to the breakout at Saint Lo.
The Battle of Leyte Gulf	1944	When General MacARTHUR's Allied forces landed on Leyte Island in the Phillipines in October 1944, the Japanse planned a massive naval counter-attack to reverse situation and force the Allies to negotiate a peace. They gathered their carefully husbanded naval forces - and their hoarded fuel supplies - and staged these forces forward without the Allies learning of them. When ther attack was sprung, the result was the largest naval battle in history which nearly saw the desruction of the amphibious armada carrying the liberators.
The 1967 Arab-Isreali War	1967	As tensions rose in 1967 between Israel and its neighbors, and between their respective backers, the United States and the Soviet Union, Isreal prepared for conflict. Through careful planning, good training and leadership, and some luck, Isreal confounded expectations, and Arab plans, by launching a pre-emptive attack on its stronger and well-equipped enemies. In six days, the Isreali armed forces changed the situation in the Near East.