This is admittedly a bit of an obscure question, so I apologize for the awkward wording of the question. To begin, assume you are playing as White, and that a "forcing move" is any move that leaves Black with only one possible move.
Imagine a position where you have a mate in one. In addition, you also have a different move that gives black only one possible move that is also a mate in one. So, functionally, you have the option to play a mate in one or a mate in two. Extend this idea so you have a sequence of forcing moves that allows you to play a mate in one, mate in two, mate in three, and so on, all the way to mate in n. What is the largest value of n? For example, in the position below, White has a sequence of forcing moves that allow a mate in one, two, three, four, and five. Note that every move Black has in all variations is forced.
[FEN "6k1/8/8/4BQNB/8/8/8/6K1 w - - 0 50"]
1. Qf7# (1. Qh7+ Kf8 2. Qf7#) (1. Bf7+ Kf8 2. Qc8+ Ke7 3. Qe8#) (1. Bf7+ Kf8 2. Bd6+ Kg7 3. Qe5+ Kh6 4. Bf8#) (1. Bf7+ Kf8 2. Bd6+ Kg7 3. Qe5+ Kh6 4. Qd4 Kxg5 5. Qf4#)
For this position, there is a potential mate in six - 1. Bf7+ Kf8 2. Bd6+ Kg7 3.Qe5+ Kh6 4. Qd4 Nxg5 5. Qg7+ Kf5 6. Qg6# - but I am not counting this because the move 5... Kf5 is not, under this definition, forced. Black can also play 5... Kh5. To the best of my knowledge, there is not a series of forcing moves which allows for a mate in exactly six.
Of course, this position is not the end-all-be-all. I only created it for illustrative purposes. A position with mate in one through mate in fifty may exist, for all I know. Has anyone here heard of a similar problem before? If so, do you have any leads, or better yet, any ideas of your own?