National Militaries of the Allied Nations Member States

The Allied Nations, as an alliance of dozens of nations across the world, is the World's No. 1 superpower in terms of military strength. However, though the Allied Nations do maintain a sizeable force under their direct command in the form of the Peacekeeper Divisions, the bulk of the Allied Nations' military strength is concentrated in the national armies, air forces and navies of the various member states that make up the Allied Nations. These military forces answer to their nations' governments, but all fight under the banner of the Allied Nations in the name of freedom and democracy.

Army

British Army

Strength: 1,270,000

Considered the bastion of Europe during the Second and Third World Wars, Great Britain was the staging ground for all Allied operations in Northern Europe during World War III, primarily the amphibious landings needed to break the Soviet positions in Northern France.

Built around traditions of leadership and of close-knit regimental formations, the British Army forces are known for precision strategic and tactical planning of operations down to the placement of squads during operations, as well as a famed tendency for almost extreme cool under fire, most famously exemplified by the designs of British tanks to always include hot plates for making tea.

An interesting factor in the British Army is the still held belief that regiments are to be drawn from single areas, exemplified by the famous Guards Division, with units in the division recruited almost exclusively from the areas of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, as well as the famous Coldstream Guards, which defended Windsor during Soviet aerial assaults. The British Army also recruits from foreign populations as well, with regiments still drawn from the Gurkha people of Nepal, known as vicious warriors with close-combat skills on-par with even Imperial shinobi.

Canadian Mobile Command

Strength: 49,000 (Circa 1960)

The military forces of Canada have recently undergone a radical shift among many member nations of the Allies. In an effort to streamline their command and control, the Canadian government has completely reorganized the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Royal Canadian Navy, to be placed under the aegis of the newly created Canadian Armed Forces. The hope is that the Canadian Armed Forces can become a national analogue to the Peacekeepers, though it has recently been noted that there is a noted erosion in the national military's espirit de corps.

Training in the regionally isolated regions of their home, the Canadian Army has developed a reputation as an expert force of navigation, along with wilderness and low-temperature combat. More fascinatingly, since World War I the Canadian military has become a respected and justly feared force of shock troops capable of breaking through any enemy resistance in pursuit of their objectives. Records of the Canadian assault of Caen illustrate the sheer tenacity of the Canadian military against overwhelming odds and elite enemy formations.

At present, the Canadians are on of the most heavily deployed forces around the world. Primarily focused on acting as Allied-affiliated peacekeeping forces, the Canadian government has noted that this has kept the Canadian military well-trained in practical battlefield experience without the heavy losses being suffered by military forces more involved in Vietnam. Currently the Canadians have been deployed with ANEF I, AN Operation in the Congo, AN Peacekeeping Force Cyprus, AN Peacekeeping Force Cuba, and AN Peacekeeping Force Haiti. Canadian forces involved in such operations are noted as being consummate professionals that will not hesitate to fight when called to.

Of note is the Canadian Rangers, a sub-command of the Canadian Army that primarily operates in the wilderness, and at times above the Arctic Circle. It is rumored that the Allied Nations eye these men and women with jealousy, as such forces would be able to function with relative ease in the brutal winters of the Soviet Union.

Chinese National Revolutionary Army

Strength: Unknown (25 million as of last estimate)

The Republic of China had been at war with the People's Republic of China for nearly forty years, and allied with the Allies for about twenty. As their war against communism raged, the "Blue Chinese" had received thousands of surplus munitions and war machines, first from various democratic nations and later from the Allied War Surplus Inititative. For both strategic and propaganda reasons, the NRA was on the top of the list for a couple of decades, but various other conflicts have strained the amount of materiel that has been available in recent times until the NRA was reduced to WWII or even WWI equipment.

The Nationalists had been fighting an almost purely defensive war for a decade, and it showed in their equipment and tactics. World War One-like trench lines stretched for miles across the countryside, supplanted with more modern bunkers, tactical missile emplacements, and armoured support.

Infantry in the National Revolutionary Army were organized in large battalions, and not put into squads like other modern infantry. They were relatively well equipped, being issued USM-01 carbines or M-1 Garand rifles. Rear-line battalions had to do with Karabiner 98ks or similar bolt-action rifles, while some veteran front-line battalions had been issued the rare USM-02 carbines or even FN FAIL assault rifles. Each man was also given at least three mines to plant on the battlefield.

For anti-tank weaponry, infantry were generally issued "Panzerbüchse" 39 anti-tank rifles, although some had access to RDM-9s or PF60 "LAW"s. They were also responsible for carrying and setting up portable steel and instacrete bunkers to protect themselves and other soldiers.

Blue Chinese armour divisions were likewise organised for mass defence rather than the primarily offensive tactics used by most nations and armies. Tanks and vehicles often went weeks without moving from a single fortified spot, lobbing shells at advancing waves of Communist forces, and therefore were also divided into battalions based on what location they were covering. Mastiffs and Bulldogs made up the bulk of these battalions, along with some Colberts, Peacocks, and Matildas. These tanks had much of their mobility or camouflage stripped away in preference to larger weaponry, often making them little more than self-propelled guns. Lighter vehicles such as Rangers or Whippets were used to transport men and munitions between supply dumps and the front lines.

The Blue Chinese also had several battalions dedicated solely to fire support; these operated weapons platforms and artillery that had been towed into positions by trucks (or requisitioned tractors), pulled by mules, or sometimes just dragged by anyone who happened to be nearby. These fire support pieces included multiple-machine gun platforms, direct or indirect fire artillery pieces, and tactical missile launchers.

French Army

Strength: 2,000,000 (75,000 foreign volunteers)

During the Third World War, the French Army suffered heavily, with an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Soviet Army and the subjugation of France under the Soviets. Though France has since been liberated by Allied forces, the French Army is still recovering from the heavy losses it sustained during the war.

Currently, the French military has focused on defensive operations, focused on holding whatever ground has been taken in the face of overwhelming assault. This can be seen in their equipment; infantry squads are equipped with quickly deployable foxholes, and are trained to employ them for cover whenever they need to hold a position from assault. Similarly, French fortifications are generally impressive, and French engineers are noted for their skill in rapidly erecting field fortifications. However, in recent years the trend seems to be shifting more towards mobile warfare. In particular, many are arguing against the construction of a new Maginot Line; the cost of maintenance, not to mention construction would draw funds away from other parts of the army, such as armour and aircraft. Additionally, the new line would be helpless against the Soviets' ballistic missiles.

The French are also known for their tendency to recruit willing foreign volunteers to supplement their forces, still retaining their Foreign Legion despite attempts to merge the Legion into the Peacekeepers. Currently, the majority of these volunteers are Polish, Hungarian, and Czech, though all nationalities are still accepted into the Legion.

Currently, the French utilize the MAS-49, FN-MIN and M64 in their infantry divisions, with older weapons such as the MAS-36 issued to reserve forces. In terms of vehicles, the French employ the AMX-30 main battle tank, as well as the Panzer VI Mastiff.

Imperial German Army

Strength: 3,650,000

When Russia first invaded Eastern Europe in 1949, the German military unveiled its revitalized armoured corps by employing the Mastiff tank, Bulldog tank destroyer and Whippet half-track in battle against the Soviet armies, stalling them in Germany and blunting the Soviet advances made on their forces as best as possible.

Currently, the German military is a world leader in mechanised warfare (behind the Soviets themselves), making heavy use of armoured vehicles and infantry transports. Despite the severe casualties made during the Third World War, the German military has been rapidly rebuilt, many of the members volunteers. Though known for their armoured and mechanised forces, the actual majority of land-based forces are infantry and support forces.

Also, compared to other armies, the German Army, or Heer, is known for its usage of machine guns with a heavier rate of fire than other Allied nations, as well as heavier calibre mortar units placed organically in infantry formations. This has allowed German forces to take and hold ground that other nations would consider either unassailable or indefensible.

Typically, German forces are armed with FN FAIL assault rifles, with the MP 45 SMG or Beretta 59 pistols as their holdout weapons. Infantry platoons are also equipped with their own organic heavy weapons, namely the MG-49 and M64.

Armoured forces in Germany are known for their heavy armour and armaments, as well as the engineering expertise that Germany has come to be known for. Alongside the Panzerkampfwagen VI and Panzerkampfwagen VII, the Germans also utilize the Jagdpanzer III and Panzerjäger 64 Wolfhound Ausf. C tank destroyers, the Flakpanzer 45 for anti-air duties, and the Whippet half-track and Zobel IFV for infantry support actions. Interestingly, German manufacturers have attempted to create superheavy armoured units meant to combat the Soviet's stranglehold on the concept, though most attempts have proven less than satisfactory there is reason to believe that the Reichswehr will soon see it's own "Uberpanzer".

Indian Army Corps

Strength: 5,750,000

Now the largest standing military of any Allied Nations member, the Indian Army was trained along the same lines as the British army, with a heavy focus on leadership and standardised organisation. There are four separate army groups for the Indian Army. Northern Command patrols and defends the mountainous regions bordering what was China and Tibet. Central Command focuses on the Indian national territories, primarily in a logistical and command and control role. Eastern Command coordinates Indian actions in the areas of Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, and Western Command, sending forces to support operations to action in the Middle East, primarily Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani border with Afghanistan.

Combat doctrine focuses on two separate forces; holding and strike. Holding forces are to pin the enemy in place during possible enemy attack, while strike forces move into position to target the enemy's weaknesses at the Indian commander's choosing. Due to the size of the Indian Army, this dual-strike strategy has shown success against Atomic Kingdom forces that have attempted to engage Indian troops.

Another trait leftover from the British Army is the concept of regiments filled with certain types of troops. The Indian Army possesses a large number of ethnic regiments, such as the Rajput Regiment or Sikh Light Infantry. While some in the Allied Nations question such organisational doctrine, Indian infantry regiments have proven that they are loyal soldiers long before the Allied Nations came into existence as soldiers under the British Army, spurred on by their own martial cultures.

For small arms, the Indian Army utilises the M-1 Garand (though better equipped regiments have access to assault rifles like the FN-FAIL), as well as a locally produced variant of the Browning Hi-Power pistol; Bren LMGs are used for squad based machine gun fire. For anti-vehicle and anti-armour duties, the Indian Army uses a variety of weapons, from anti-tank rifles to disposable rocket launchers. Armoured support is provided by Beagles, modified Armadillos, and Crocodile hovertanks, though the Indians also employ a number of locally produced vehicles for various roles, from tank destroyers to combat engineering vehicles.

Curiously, the Indian Army has also started to use locally produced variants of Soviet weaponry, claiming that the Soviet principles of reliability and standard assembly will allow all Indian Army forces to benefit from Soviet advances, with Indian representatives in the Allied parliament continuing to deflect claims of infiltration or subterfuge. To date, the Indian Army has started to employ variants of the ADK-45 and the RPGL-7.

Italian Army

Strength: 80,000 men

Though Italy is effectively under the complete control of the Mediterranean Syndicate, nominally the country is still led by its elected government. Though this government is so heavily corrupted by the Syndicate as to be nothing more than a mouthpiece for it, and too impotent to do anything even if it wasn't, but it still helps the Syndicate to maintain a veil of legitimacy.

Similarly, the Italian armed forces have long since been reduced to a fraction of their former selves; progressively downsized due to a lack of funding over the years, the Italian Army has also been weakened by heavy corruption, an incompetent military leadership (most generals with any semblance of competency had the common sense to work for Legion Security instead), and a severe lack of discipline.

Indeed, when the Soviets invaded during World War III they effortlessly crushed the Italian Army, with many personnel choosing to surrender or even defect to the Soviet side. Indeed, one of the Soviet Union's generals later remarked that "he could have taken over the entire country by himself". The one good thing about these mass defections and surrenders was that the Italian Army's combat strength was preserved, with very few soldiers killed in action and most of its equipment left intact. This was fortunate, considering that the army doesn't have the funds to buy replacements if they're destroyed.

With only a trickle of funding to get by on over the years, it also comes as no surprise that the Italian Army's equipment is woefully out of date. Infantry platoons usually find themselves equipped with obsolete bolt action rifles; for dealing with tanks they can hope to have an anti-tank rifle at best, if they are lucky enough to have any anti-tank weaponry at all. Notably, many small arms are also defective and of poor quality.

In the area of mechanised units, the primary main battle tank of the Italian Army is the pre-World War II era M15 medium tanks, armed with 40mm cannons and protected by armour so thin that even the Talos is considered better protected. These couldn't be expected to stand up to Soviet Rhinos or even Anvils, though the army also has a few old Mastiff tanks from World War II. Motorised transports of any kind are rare, so most soldiers have to walk. Most of the army's anti-tank guns are obsolete, anti-aircraft weapons are too few in number, and artillery is next to nonexistent.

Still, though the Soviet invasion during the Third World War clearly showed that the Italian Army was utterly impotent when it came to an actual war, the Syndicate finds uses for them. Most of the time, this consists of doing jobs that aren't profitable for companies like Legion Security to do.

Despite this, the Italian military has one area of expertise: its famed Alpine Corps, light infantry specialising in ground warfare at high altitudes, and the one section of the Italian Army budget that even the Syndicate fears to cut, if only to give the Italian Army some sliver of effectiveness.

United States Army

Despite the massive defections to the Confederate Revolution (some estimates put the full defections at over 28%), the United States Army is still a formidable fighting force. With swift armour divisions, specialized infantry forces and organic air assets for supporting ground operations, the US Army is still a big green machine among big green machines.

From 1775 on, the US Army has been America's primary means of self-defense against aggression, even from itself. Able to recover from losses easily, the sheer number of soldiers the US can field often meant in previous wars that battles were simply won by surrounding and pummelling the enemy into oblivion. However, after the massive losses in World War II, the Army quickly reconsidered this doctrine. Instead, a renewed focus on integration of combined arms was enacted. Armour, infantry, and air elements trained to work in concert with each other on the field. Even so, soldiers have sometimes been sighted with severely dated equipment; American forces in Vietnam are often seen utilizing WWII era rifles and fatigues. Notably, the US Army also goes out of its way to provide for soldiers' morale, organizing USO events (with host Bob Hope!) in rear-line areas for front line units.

An interesting factor in the US Army is the use of National Guards. Often funded wholly or partially by states, the National Guard is used for domestic emergencies including containment of civil insurrection, disaster relief, and even being called on by the government to be deployed internationally. However, these units also have been some of the most numerous in defections to the Confederacy. While the upper echelons of the military have been desperately attempting to stem the desertions, many national guard units still remain, ready to be called on just in case.

Currently, the US Army equips their soldiers with ARM-12, MX-15, M1911 pistols and M-67 fragmentation grenades. Specialists often carry weapons like the MM-2 grenade launcher, or late-model M2-4 flamethrowers in tropical climates, due to the dense foliage. While many international observers have taken issue with the usage of flame weapons, the US Army has sworn by its effectiveness in the dense jungles where Viet Cong cover can quickly be burned away.

Air Force

Turkish Air Force

The Republic of Turkey is a country of significant geostrategic importance. Located at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, it is an important member of the Allied Nations, its geographical position making it an excellent place for the Allies to station strategic bombers. Indeed, Turkey houses many of the Allies' bombers, as well as one of the largest air forces in the Allied Nations.

The second largest Allied air force in Europe (behind only the Royal Air Force), the Turkish Air Force is a modern, highly capable force. Aside from supporting a large fleet of Century Bombers, it is rumoured that a number of Turkish airfields are home to the experimental XB-3 Mesofortresses, while one particular airbase in Turkey has the distinction of being one of only two airbases in Europe to support the deadly Artemis bombers. For air defence, Turkey maintains a sizeable inventory of Apollos, which is supplemented by Hawkers, Firehawks, and Cutlasses. Ground support, on the other hand, is primarily provided by Vindicators, but also Firehawks equipped for air to ground duties.

United States Air Force

Initially part of the United States Army, the growth of the Army Air Forces led President Truman to split the Air Force into its own separate branch in 1947 by law. Thanks to its separation by ocean from the ongoing war in Europe, American squadrons were able to arrive in Europe fresh and ready for combat.

Growing into a highly specialised service branch, pilots of the US Air Force are considered experts on heavy bombing, fighter escort, aerial supremacy, and close air support. American pilots have gained a reputation as slight mavericks whose quick-thinking tendencies have saved various Allied operations from defeat, though other Allied pilots claim often that American pilots are, "Over-paid, over-sexed, and over here". Despite this, American aircraft are considered some of the most modern in Allied inventories.

Though the US Air Force does employ foreign aircraft such as the Apollo and the Vindicator, most of their aircraft are American designs, such as the F-2 "Devil" and F-3 "Specter" fighters, B-2X Century bombers, and UNH-1 Cardinal utility helicopters. Claims that the US Air Force has various secret testing facilities have yet to be commented on.

Navy

United States Navy

Strength: 1205 Total Active Warships

The US Navy has fallen on some hard times recently. Defections to the Confederate insurrection have lost many ships, including a few of the remaining Pennsylvania-class battleships, and out of the Allied fleets; it was the American navy that suffered the worst from the Empire's efforts to smash the Allied strength in the pacific and also suffered heavy losses at New York. Despite the loses, the US Navy is still one of the largest standing naval forces in the world, surpassed only by the navies of Britain, the Soviet Union, and Japan. Currently, the Navy is divided currently into the Third, Sixth, and Seventh Fleets, with Fleet Command based out of Norfolk, Virginia. Though formerly commanding the Marine Corps as well, since the jarheads were integrated into the Allied Marines many older sailors feel like part of the Navy's heart is missing, a piece of tradition lost.

Along with pioneering new techniques in amphibious landing operations and naval aviation, the Navy is also known for creating some of the world's first modern special forces. US naval combat demolitions units, AKA frogmen, are underwater demolitions experts, capable of infiltrating enemy waters, sabotaging facilities and ships and scouting out positions. When the order was given, the explosives were detonated, and the scouted positions either sabotaged or assaulted by amphibious forces. This strategy, in part, was what gained the Allies their victory at Normandy when frogmen detachments blew massive holes in the Soviet defences.

The US Navy also has the largest single-nation percentage of aircraft carriers in the Allied Nations, and each is assigned a battlegroup to support the carrier's operations and battles. Throughout the war, American sailors and crewed many of the Von Esling-class carriers that provided devastating long range support to other Allied forces.

The Navy also divides operations between "Blue" (Ocean-going) and "Brown" (With land) operations, and at the present much of their operations are brown-water in Vietnam. It was the US Navy destroyer Maddox that was involved in the Gulf of Tonkin incident, and since then the Navy has visibly increased its presence around the seas of Vietnam, cutting off sea trade and threatening Hanoi's lines with Vladivostok.