Much has happened since the last Observation by the Peanut Gallery. In 1924, a French army was destroyed by Japanese moving into Nanchung with help from Chinese in Canton; the Asian Alliance continued in other parts of the continent, holding off encroaching Russians -- but at the same time, Japanese troops took over Chinese territories. Despite difficulties moving into deep China, Russia was successful in taking Assam off the French and made general eastward marches. France had a further setback in his Indochinese provinces when the Japanese (again, with help from Chinese) chased French soldiers out of Annam into oblivion. 1925 saw further French destruction, as the stronghold on Hong Kong fell to the Japanese. The Asian Alliance held up, with the Emperor ordering Japanese mariners off Shanghai shores and a mutual support pact against French retribution occurring in Indochina. However, in the north a failed Chinese attempt on Krasnoyarsk was met with destruction of that army as the Japanese had moved in on their fort whilst they were out. The Russians were finally successful in reaching Yunnan, and shifting a number of their troops north of the Himalayas to the east. In the off-season, only Japan and Russia were able to gather any recruits, with the Russians indoctrinating their cadets in Red Square and Japan filling all three of their training camps with more footsloggers.

In the next bout, Russia trundled along the Trans-Siberian Railroad, making two provinces easily, bringing the new recruits to the front in jig time. In spite of the success of 1926 in reaching Yunnan, the Tsar's forces were unable once more to move any further into China, held out of Chungking by a combined Sino-Japanese army. This created a domino-effect all the way back to Kirghiz. The Japanese assisted the French, as well, keeping Russia out of Burma whilst at the same time trying to take Malaya from the French -- which didn't work. The Emperor's fleets tightened their net along the coast, pushing a French fleet back to Cochin. The new armies were convoyed to the Chinese mainland for further polishing, and the strange alliance between Emperor and Empress continued, with (on the one hand) Japanese support for the Chinese forces, and (on the other) the Japanese army in Nanchung taking Canton as the Chinese army left for Tonking. In 1920 the Japanese Emperor ordered a truly impressive convoy, sending an army from Kyoto through three seas to Tonking, physically ousting the Chinese army there. Just south of that battle, a Japanese fleet assisted a Chinese fleet in the destruction of one of France's fleets. This seemingly double-edged action continued in the heart of China, as one of the new armies took over Peking, gaining valuable experience by destroying the Chinese Home Guard; veteran Japanese soldiers to the west continued to support the Chinese in Mongolia against the Russian incursions. The Tsar's people made yet another attempt to move eastwards, with a repeat of 1926's failures and ricochet back to Tashkent; the soldiers were heard to mutter and groan about how familiar the roads had become. This time, only Japan was able to gather enough young men to create new armies; two were barracked in the southern islands.

Things seem to have become stuck in a rut, with 1932 providing yet another repeat of Russian attacks on China being held off. Once again Japan seemed to play all sides against the middle, both assisting France in Burma, but destroying French fleets in Bangkok and Malaya (it must be said, the French in Burma also tried to assist in the Japanese conquest of the French territory of Mandalay); but for the first time in years there was no Japanese assistance of Chinese armies. Rather, a Japanese army destroyed Chinese in Chungking, and assayed against Mongolia. [That made three units destroyed by one power in one phase; is that a record?] The poor Chinese in Mongolia made a stab at Sinkiang, were rebuffed by that same army heading to Mongolia, and returned to their garrison and just put their heads down whilst the Japanese and Russians went to it. In 1934 the Tsar finally gave up on taking Mongolia, but the Chinese there finally fell to a concerted attack by the Japanese forces surrounding the province. With nowhere to run to, the soldiers dispersed into the Gobi Desert. Russian boots once again trudged the ruts deeper in their well-worn tracks as yet another try in Yunnan backfired and orders to advance east became impossible. The Japanese scuppered the final French fleet in Singapore. With the gain of that island, Mongolia, Chungking, and Mandalay, the Emperor of Japan amassed enough power to dictate terms to the other remaining leaders, and peace was declared.

In 1914, China found itself pressed from the west as Russia took over Sinkiang, ousting the Chinese army after its return from a failed attack on Kashgar. The pigtailed soldiers petitioned the local mandarin to be allowed to retreat to Langchow. Another Chinese army was able to keep Russians out of Punjab, but only with help from Chinese Kashmiri soldiers. Japanese soldiers received orders consolidating the military's position, retreating north ahead of invading Dutchmen in Nanchung and convoying into Port Arthur. Another attempt on Japanese territory in Manila was held off, and the sailors had a ponsit-party to celebrate. Holland also tried for the Russian province of Nagpur, but the Cossacks there turned their attention away from helping their fellows in Bombay and beat the Dutch back to Hyderabad.

Unfortunately for the joyous Japanese in Manila, the Dutch fleet in Cebu overran their beaches in 1916, with support from another fleet in the Middle Pacific. The Emperor had to read this news just as another dispatch arrived detailing the Dutch destruction of the Hong Kong fleet. Much incense was burnt at the local temples during Obon. Holland's leader was definitely feeling his wild oats, as he also took Chungking from the Chinese with no resistance and convoyed his two new armies to Malaya and Singapore. Despite Russian attacks, the mutual support system set up in the south of the Indian subcontinent allowed the Dutch fleets there to repel northern boarders. In fact, the Russians didn't have a very good year over all, bouncing out of nearly all of the enemy territories attacked. However, they didn't have such a hard time as the Chinese, forced to hide in the Himalayas after a two-pronged attack by Russians from Kashgar. The Chinese had expected help from Tibet, but that army discovered Russians from Sinkiang defacing monasteries and had to take care of them first.

The Dutch, gleeful at having disrupted the loompya-making in Manila and gaining other Japanese provinces, built . Despite losing the Kashmiri soldiers to religion, the Chinese Emperor discovered that he did not have enough rice to feed but one army, and gave rice-farming tools to . Although the Cossacks weren't fond of rice, the Tsar decided that the two new acquisitions from China provided enough provisions to build a .

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[Given the map available, the comments for Susan must be for the phase just over.]

The end of 1999 has found the Ukraine out of the picture, with Poland appearing to be soon to follow. Despite mutual support, both Polish armies were prised loose from Warsaw and Krakow, with the latter being dispersed for want of anywhere to run, whilst the soldiers in Warsaw goosestepped over to Gdansk. Britain faired better, having only one unsuccessful attack in North Africa. The Prime Minister's hold on Scandinavia appears solid now. Egypt, too, had a successful fall, barring only the Russians in Iran inciting the native resentment of Iraq and thus keeping the Egyptians from that province out. France tried to get a troop over to Wales, but an English fleet retaking the Channel mucked up the planned convoy and booted the Frenchies out to dock in London. Another French fleet, sailing the Gulf of Lyon, helped some Spaniards through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Western Mediterranean. Germany's failure to get into Lithuania -- due to a Russian desire to do the same -- caused a ricochet effect in the Gulf of Bothnia as the fleet there tried to move in to the Baltic and found it still occupied. That clash in Lithuania allowed the province to stay in Polish hands without direct occupation. If majority occupation dictates who takes over a country, it appears that Poland is going to Germany, with the Kaiser's troops moving in strongly from the west. But he feels that there's enough in Poland to share, as German troops were ordered to help Italians into Krakow.

That success was good for the Italians, as other locales found Italians forced to retreat. In Rumania, a planned support of a legion into Odessa was disrupted by a Russian attack, which caused the attack to fail and the Rumanian legion to fall back to Hungary. A cooperative effort in the Ionian to help the Egyptian barges into the Aegean fell through as the Egyptians didn't go along and sailed to Lebanon instead. Once again, the Russians sidled in (with Turkish help this time) and winkled the Italians out and made them dock in Naples. These routs were a good indication of Russian affairs in the fall, as the Tsar's orders were followed to his nearly complete satisfaction; just a lingering irritation with the Germans remained to bother him over Yuletide. Spain played it conservatively; supporting Barcelona and moving into the Western Mediterranean but otherwise not pushing his more powerful neighbours. The Turkish Sultan neglected to inform his fleet in Ada just exactly whose fleet in Syria to support, so the ships' captains shrugged and returned to their scrimshaw judging. The Albanian fleet, leaving dock for the Adriatic, found the Italians already there and busy, so after interrupting the Italians' support by mooning them, the Turks returned to shore.

In the winter, the Polish Finance Minister discovered that enough money existed in the budget to pay for more soldiers or sailors, but when this information was relayed to the Chief of the Military he broke down and sobbed, as there were no training camps available. Germany harvested enough wood despite the loss of Sweden to build a fleet in Hamburg. Russia opted for the landlubber focus, and conscripted three more armies. Spain employed a troop of carpenters and built a fleet in Seville (with a resident barber).

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