Kaiser Martens Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 [i]To Athens:[/i] We understand, and know this to be a difficult decision...in any case, our focus right now are the Red Forces, which we see as potentially more dangerous than the French offensive. The Red Army wants, after all, all of our land. The French only want Elsass-Lothringen. The situation could be very unusual, and you could well end up fighting with a portion of your troops in the one side and with another portion of your troops on the other side. No matter how this end, nobody in the world will be able to call your Folk anything but honorable warriors. -------- [img]http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii29/voxpopuli_album/thelines.png[/img] The German advance continued. The Yellow Line, Army Group West, remained static once noticing French forces in the other side of the border - but no shots fired yet. The other lines were Army Group South, which continued advancing without resistance until now, when they met the Red Forces. On the west side of AGW, it was discovered that they could advance further, but refrained from doing so since it may allow French forces a chance to cut a slice off of the whole Army Group by trapping a Battlegroup. So one of them stayed to guard the area. The rest would continue to advance immediately. [i](ooc, but it's sarah's turn to post, so not yet)[/i] A large amount of Cruise Missiles of varying range and firepower were shot repeatedly at Army Hangars and Airports of Southern Germany under control of the Red Army, in order to try to take out as many of their newly-obtained aircraft on the ground before they'd be able to take off, and to try to disrupt their air infrastructure altogether. Civilian airports were also fired upon, so that they may not be used. Army Group South hoped to receive the loyalist units which were retreating Northwards sometime soon. They would be reorganized almost right away to allow them to once more fight. Limited attacks would be launched when said Divisions approached the relative safety of the North in order to attempt to give them some cover. Those who couldn't make it north were advised to sabotage their own equipment so to prevent the Red Army from seizing it. Loyalist Kriegsmarine Units were told to try and sink those which did defect in favor of the Reds, or if outnumbered, to remain by Martenshaven. The fighters at Muhlhouse got told to retreat if possible, and if not to simply use guerilla tactics instead. Some divisions which reported that they would be unable to retreat would be sent some of the before mentioned Cargo Missiles, but these would not be able to send things such as fuel - they would be able to cover food and ammunition only. Depending on how things unfold on the next hour, the limited attacks to rescue Southern Loyalists may turn into all-out attacks or not, pending evaluation by Berlin. The Finnish Reinforcements approached, but were still far away... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted July 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 (edited) June 11th, 2071 9:00 AM [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8pf6wFn_go"]The Skirmish in Lorraine[/url] It surprised nearly everyone that we had crossed the German border with barely any resistance. My regiment in the vanguard of Rougemont and Blondel's advance, fronted only by the sniper and scout battalions, moved cautiously and I cursed Adamo's name under my breath I don't know how many times as the caravan passed under the shade of trees along the road. We were moving at a steady pace, probably about twenty or fifteen kilometers per hour, it was hard to judge from sitting on the back of a truck. The men were silent, their faces determined, but they were sweating and I know it wasn't just from the godforsaken heat, though I'm sure that had something to do with it as well. However around nine o'clock in the morning my detachment had arrived at Jarmy, a suburb of Metz, and we received our first taste of the rift that existed in Lorraine between Germans and French. We were probably two kilometers or so out of the city when my radio started beeping from my side, it was the snipers. "What is it Lesueur? You have my attention." "Colonel van Donop?" The voice came in with a great deal of static and gunfire. "We've engaged the first of the German resistance just outside of Jarmy. Nothing over the top aside from armed civilians and police resistance, but I need to know if I'm cleared to engage hostile civilia-...$%&@..." The radio went dead for a minute, I glared at the toy and clenched my fists around it. "Lesueur! Lesueur! Come in! Come in! What's wrong!" The static returned and the Sniper Commander's voice came in clear, but angered. "Khris! I need your go ahead for engagement of hostile civilians, we're taking damage here, the front scout positions are under attack!" "Liberators...to a few perhaps..." I said under my breath and looked up at the canvas cover of the trunk. The last thing that I wanted to have to order was the engagement of the very people we were supposed to be fighting for. But these were traditional French regions, it wasn't like we were in Strausbourg, the resistance couldn't be that strong. Could it? These were Nordlanders after all, they lived and breathed war, hell they probably got the 'Art of War' for their first birthday and could read it at their second... "Khris! Are you there! Colonel van Donop!" I shook my head coming out of the daze. "Yes, yes, sorry." But I still hadn't made up my mind. Though there was so much gunfire on the other side of that radio and I could hear the echoes from the caravan. My men, the men I was responsible for were being hurt, they were being killed, and no matter what the political repercussions, I couldn't allow my men to die like dogs. "Engage..." I said quietly into the radio. "...engage any and all hostiles..." "Khris! Speak up woman! I can-" "I said engage any and all hostiles damn it! If they shoot at you kill them!" I screamed and slammed the radio on to the ground and looked down at the corridor of faces in the caravan. They were ashen white. "Listen to me, all of you, when we get off of this truck, you are going to be under fire, there are people out there who will stop at nothing to see you dead. Our countrymen are within them, those who long to see Lorraine as a part of her Mother Country, we are fighting for them, we are fighting for those families who were torn apart when the land was taken, we are fighting for France, remember that. If nothing else, remember that you are fighting for those who were too weak to protect themselves in the past." There was no response but a solemn nod from each one of the men and that was enough for me. They knew their duty and my duty was to them. The closer that the caravan of troops and mechanized infantry moved towards Jarmy, the louder that the distant gunfire became and by the time we arrived in the city, though much of it had been cleared by the sniper and scout battalions, the streets of Jarmy lay in ruins. I stepped out of the truck, flanked by Yves and Valentin, Helene had gone with General Blondel's detachment crossing the Moselle to the south to attack Metz from behind. If all went well, I would get to see Helene on the other side of the river. But Metz was later, for now there was a village to defend and fortify to use for our eventual advance on Metz itself. But in the meantime, while the armor and artillery was still pouring into the city, the infantry was to do their best to place minuscule fortifications along the edge of Jarmy, in case of a sudden German counter attack, while I ordered other men to begin mop-up operations throughout the town. There were no doubt still German resisters, as cued in by gunfire on the edge of town. "More resistance then we would have thought, eh Khris." Said Yves as he inspected the body of a dead German on the street. The man was old, probably around sixty, thick frame and determined face, his knuckles white over his sniper rifle. "They're sending their elderly to fight?" I shook my head. "No, they're defending their homes, just as we would do if Rheims or Paris were under siege. This is going to be a long war." "Well no one ever said it was going to be short." Chuckled Valentin. "Though Jarmy by nine o'clock, I think we're doing pretty good. We could be in Berlin by midnight." He said smiling, checking his watch, but I was in no mood for jokes. Getting up from the dead German's body I looked back at my aides. "I want to be back on the road to Metz in an hour, tell the artillery commanders to deploy the M198s seven kilometers outside of Jarmy, that should give them the range needed to bombard the city, the 'Little Katherine' Rocket Launchers can be manned inside Jarmy, range shouldn't be an issue with them." "Are we really going to need an artillery barrage Khris? We barely suffered any casualties taking Jarmy. The Germans can't be this well prepared." Said Yves. "They will be deployed just in case, I don't want to take chances here." Walking over the the truck I had arrived in, I pulled out a map of the area surrounding Metz, walked up to a nearby cafe and called a very abrupt war council will my field officers. "In one hour I want the majority of our forces deployed for the assault on Metz itself, General Blondel's vanguard battalions will be assaulting the city at roughly the same time and so the Germans will be divided. Again, scouts and snipers will move into the city first, Lesueur that's your job, make sure you can secure an objective point so that I can begin funneling our infantry and armored units into Metz." "Yes Colonel." "Captain Bailleul, air cover will stay behind the infantry advance, I'm not sure how good the German Ant-Air is in the region, but I don't want to take a chance because we will need as much air power as possible in the future. Don't ruin yourselves now. Our vanguard force will be the first to enter Metz, behind us are around thirty-five thousand troops under General Rougemont, but we are to secure as much of the city as possible before the arrival of the main army. Remember, most of you are Imperial Guardsmen, you have seen time in the Civil War, Galicia, and Valencia, you are better than anything the Germans can throw at us. Remember, engage any and all hostiles, civilian or professional military, if they're shooting they aren't protected by any international agreement. This is a war, treat it as such. That will be all." "Yes M'am!" They saluted in unison and broke away from the table to attend to their duties before the march on Metz itself at eleven o'clock. While my field commanders prepared for battle, I had my own meeting with the mayor of Jarmy to commit what aid I could to cleaning up the city, though I told him that it would have to wait until at least Metz was liberated, so close to the front and assigning my men to duties as repair just wasn't practical. Though surprisingly enough, he was one of the ones who were thankful for the French liberation of the region. He had been one of the ones who had secretly voted against the land transfer to Germany, but had remained quiet for fear of lethal repercussions. "Nearly everyone is nervous about what this war will bring Colonel, though I feel a great deal of people will migrate in both directions. Lorraine is going to become a wasteland." I closed my eyes at the remark and turned out the window of the small Hotel de Ville of Jarmy, looking towards the hills heading towards Metz. "I hope not Monsieur Mayor, I really hope not, this region has seen enough bloodshed for all eternity." "Maybe this operation will end the bloodshed forever?" I shook my head and frowned. "No, never, I wouldn't believe that if God told me himself." At eleven o'clock the first of Rougemont's main force appeared on the horizon outside of Jarmy, which meant it was time to move onto Metz. Due to expected sniper fire, I opted not to ride in anything that would give my position away as a commander, I had seen what a sniped commander does to a soldier's morale, seeing that, even the most disorganized of rebel fighters can become an unbeatable force and I was not going to give the German's such a luxury. So I sat back in the bed of the caravan trucks, the hot canvas above absorbing the coming afternoon summer sun. The motors roared from the trucks and the armor behind and the quiet chatter of the troops in the truck began. The medical camp had been established behind us as a few of the wounded snipers and scouts walked, hobbling, through the tents as we drove away and out of sight. I looked down the same corridor of faces, there were going to be many more dead and wounded in the next few hours, the medical camp would fill up. They always do. The sure signs that we were approaching the war zone, besides the mileage markers and the fierce sound of gunfire, was the sound of jet engines over head. They were our own planes to be sure, but amidst their roar, another sound joined the fray, that of anti-air cannon. It was like nothing I had ever heard, like massive fireworks shooting off into the afternoon sky. Jumping from my seat, I climbed on the edge of the canvas and looked out in front, there sprawled across the countryside lay the city of Metz, in the sky the French fighters, and below them the flashes of red, orange, and yellow coming from the German Anti-Air. "Damn it all!" I grabbed the radio off my belt and clicked to Bailleul's frequency. "Jean-Claude! Jean-Claude! Are you there?" "Khris? Yeah! I'm...damn...yeah I'm here. Listen we're taking fire from the Anti-Air, I've already lost one plane." "Has your radar picked up anything of value off the ground? Are the Germans sending in air? What's going on?" "Not much from what I can tell up here. I haven't picked up anything on German air support and radar isn't picking up much from the ground either. Do you want us to engage the Anti-Air?" "No, the infantry will handle that, head back to base, I'll be sure to call you if I need you." "Very good Colonel...oh and Khris." "Yes?" "Stay safe out there won't you, you're the only pleasant thing to look at during War meetings." He laughed and I switched the frequency immediately with a groan, radioing into Major Babin, my tank commander. "Martin? Come in. Major Babin." "Here Colonel, what do you need?" His voice sounded over the static. "I'm opening up the caravans to push the armor through, I called back Bailleul because they were starting to sustain damage, can you take out the Anti-Air Batteries?" "I don't see why we couldn't, you give me the path Khris, I'll give you some ruined pieces of scrap metal." I chuckled, finally something I could agree with. "You'll have a path." I ran back into the truck and through the ashen faces towards the front and opened the canvas to where the driver of the truck sat. "Radio the other drivers to pull over and make a path for our armor to get through, they'll be leading the advance into Metz." "Right away Colonel." And the trucks began to pull of onto the grass of the shaded roads as the armor companies under my command barreled through towards the edge of Metz and where the Anti-Air was positioned. I stood at the front of the truck, binoculars fixed to my eyes as I watched as the tanks rolled over the hills and valleys just in front of us towards positions at Moulins-les-Metz. Mind you this was not the only place where Imperial forces were attacking Metz and on that note all throughout Lorraine. Metz itself was being surrounded by the forces of Rougemont and Blondel proper and from what I heard later in reports of the day's fighting, the other field commanders like myself who had been placed in charge of vanguard forces were receiving much of the same resistance in both Metz, Nancy, and in Epinal. Essentially what was occurring was a drastic and uniformed move of a single French line that curved around the border of Lorraine and parts of Alsace near Mulhouse. Two-hundred and eighty thousand men moving nearly at once towards those objectives which were lightly defended by the German forces. Lightly defended of course by the standards that they were being attacked by a force that greatly outnumbered their own, as to the German's putting up a fight. No single Frenchman expected anything less. I knew full well, if a sixty year old man would die white knuckled to a sniper rifle outside of Jarmy, there would be hordes of the same type of people throughout Lorraine and Alsace and I was sure that by the day's end, Lorraine would be aflame. Watching closely as the armor advanced forward, a frequency on the radio picked up a few of our pilots over head. "The Anti-Air, it stopped, it stopped!" Indeed, the sky was no clean of fireworks, but no more than two words had been spoken out of that pilots mouth when suddenly the entire countryside seemed to explode from what seemed to be artillery barrage. The Anti-Air knowing that the planes had retreated and knowing surely that they were our objectives turned their sole attention to putting a dent in our advance and soon the entire Earth was filled with smoke. I watched as the armor divisions advances, firing shell after shell towards the Anti-Air positions and as the trucks came closer, soon the only thing that you could hear were the sounds of explosions and shell fire, round after round, after accursed round. "Babin! How are you holding up!" "We're advancing, taking on heavy fire, but we're advancing nevertheless!" "Whatever you have to do, break through that damned Anti-Air!" "We're working on it Khris!" The radio rocked with explosion and then cheering from the other end. "Like I said, we're working on it." But the Anti-Air batteries weren't concentrating on just the advancing armor, they were also concentrating on my infantry positions as well and as we approached the proverbial gates of Metz there were many a truck filled with men that was blown to flame almost instantly, their burning bodies thrown about the paved roads with such intensity that I couldn't even look away, it all happened to fast. "Drive faster God damn it!" I screamed at my own driver, our caravan nearly in the lead now. "You want to be turned into an inferno! Drive faster!" At Moulins-de-Metz and the Anti-Air batteries finally taken down by the advancing armor divisions, it was time to take the war to the urban zone. General Blondel's vanguard forces had already reached Marly, Magny, and Grigy, small suburbs on the outskirts of the city and were advancing towards the Moselle, the second vanguard from the north would secure Moulins, but my task was to march north on the banks of the Moselle and secure the center of Metz at Le Ban Saint-Martin. If that area was secure, along with its bridges, we would have control of Metz and a new front for the countryside campaign towards Strasbourg in the following days. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeXvNAlGlhk"]Be Swift Steady Sword[/url] "Yves, Valentin, c'mon, lets move!" I screamed as I saw them jump off their trucks. A forward base had been established at Moulin and in truth I probably should have remained there, a command post is always where the superior officer is supposed to be. But I couldn't sit still and I had always been a person who had led from the front. The main drag that separated my forces from the forces of other commanders heading for Saint-Michel was the Voie de la Liberte, a fitting road giving our objectives. This was a residential road, a main street connecting the two areas of Metz together and the Germans apparently knew a thing or two about urban tactics because as soon as we began our advance north, we came under heavy fire from nearly all sides. Therefore the two mile stretch of road from Moulin to Saint-Michel would be the hardest to take in the six-seven hour war thus far. With rifle in hand, I walked down the road, armor advancing in front of me and columns of men ahead of the armor. Those men ahead had been ordered to spread out as best as possible as we were already receiving sniper fire from the various houses along the Voie. The dust and rock from constant armor bombardment on hostile houses filled the air with smoke and fire and it seemed that the whole city around us was burning. Even with a clear blue sky above, all I could see was smoke and ash atop of my head and the constant sputtering of gunfire in my ears. As we walked, crouched down at many parts, going from building to building to avoid the enemy fire from houses around us, the bullets sprayed on the ground around us. It was as we had started to near Loungeville, about a mile up the road from Moulin that the fighting became much thicker and the entire line began to stall. "Khris, General Blondel's forces have reach Saint-Privat, he wants to have a status report on the northern vanguards." "Tell him that...$%&@...it seems that the heaviest concentration of German troops are on the Western Side of the Moselle and that our line had completely stalled, or at least my line has. I don't know what's going on in Lorry or Saint-Eloys, I assume that they're still advancing. Can you get in contact with them Valentin?" We were staring out of the window of a cafe, held up in the middle of Loungeville, bullets spraying all around us, a detachment of German police and soldiers had come right up out of the sewers in front of us and had broken the middle of our line at least for a time. The entire city was crawling with resistance. Valentin was in charge of my communications, but the equipment that he carried around prevented him from using a weapon comfortably, this meant, given our situation, Yves and I had to pick up the slack. "In the window! In the window! Yves!" "I see him!" A scream from the rifle and the sniper that I had seen only a second ago dropped out of the window to the ground. Dead bodies of both French and German soldiers lay in the streets, blood running through the cracks of cobblestone bricks, and it wasn't just the grown men either. "Khris, hostile down the street." I turned my glance and froze as I looked down. It was a woman, probably no older than myself, she had a molotov cocktail in one hand aiming at a French tank which hadn't seen her in their sights. No one else had seen her or perhaps they were like me and too hesitant to take that shot..."Khris?"...I looked down my sights, all I needed to do was pull the trigger, if I waited two long, the tank would be aflame, but it wasn't right, it wasn't fair to her..."Khris??"...It shouldn't be like this, she was a civilian, she should be indoors, she shouldn't be out here at all, not in the fight, but this was war and everyone was a soldier and I felt my finger caress the trigger of my rifle...."KHRIS!!!"...the rifle leapt up into my shoulder and the woman disappeared into the ground and the tank continued down the Voie pounding another hostile building into the ground as we came closer and closer to Saint-Michel. "Khris, General Blondel, he..." I stood up and started to walk out of the cafe down the road towards the objective. "Khris?" "Tell him we're following our orders and to get off my !@#$@#$ back." I knew they didn't know what to say because they both picked up their equipment quickly and followed me back out to the street were we joined the main line of soldiers continuously marching towards our objective. Only some thousand feet from where we were then, to capture the Rue de Paris and the Pont des Morts, one of the central bridges across the Moselle. Now the sky was littered with ash and dust, as well as stray fireworks, presumably from our artillery, but there was also the familiar sound of Anti-Air batteries still filling the air, along with other projectiles, they were...missile strikes? I watched from a distance as the missiles came down, well in front of our lines, behind German resistance held areas actually. No explosions just missiles. "What in the world?" "They are missiles aren't they?" Said Yves as he shielded his eyes looking at the sky. "They sounded like them. But no explosion." "Get down!" Valentin jumped forward and tackled Yves and I to the ground as the men in front of us were cut down by heavy fire by German soldiers, they had an upgrade, armor. This was the Silver Army I had read so much about back at the Academy, this was the fight that I had been waiting to see. Behind us, our soldiers fired back into the German lines that held the roads leading to the bridge, the fire fight going on all around us. With the pebbles of ruined road jumping around us, I dug myself in to the ground to have enough cover to shoulder my rifle. "Christ we shouldn't be here at all, we wandered way too far up the front." Said Valentin as he fired into the line. "When they're everywhere, it doesn't matter where you are, stop complaining." Yves snipped back. I couldn't talk, my mind was too fuzzy as I looked through the sights of the rifle and narrowed my eyes. The trigger snapped back and with it the rifle, the German fell back, but his armor was powerful, it would take two shots to keep him down for good and that time he did fall back. We kept that up for a long time, holding our ground and when there was a lull in the German fire, advancing to the cover of buildings and ruined roads, anything that could give us a sense of safety and cover. Finally after hours more of fighting and as the evening was beginning to set in, the Pont des Morts, the bridge connecting the two sides of Metz together was finally ours... [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEDWCqYzcLE"]La Belle Moselle (Metz)[/url] ...Blondel and Rougemont had subdued the city, though resistance was still being fought throughout and even as the evening stars began to set in, the sound of gunfire did not die out, nor would it for the rest of the night. The rest of the Lorraine campaign from what I had heard when the command post had been set up at the Hotel de Ville in the city, was the same success that we had met in the north. Nancy and Epinal had both fallen to French forces by the evening however with higher loses than had been expected. Adamo had been seriously wrong, these were not simply untrained rabble or civilians with guns. The Silver Army and their Southern Loyalist allies would put up the best fight they could possibly give and I was worried about the future. Even with the Communist rebellion in the south, which the Empress was resting a great deal of chance on succeeding, the Imperial and Silver Armies were still evenly matched on both sides. It was assumed that with the South in turmoil, the North's forces would be divided and the tactics to take simply Alsace and Lorraine were sound. But what if the war continued? What if people, unexpected people joined the German cause as they were sure to do? What then? It was what I wondered as I gripped the night reports as I wondered the city of Metz at night, towards the Pont des Morts over the Moselle. At the moment with the victories in Metz, Nancy, and Epinal, a new front had been established, a two-hundred thousand man line had been formed, not counting casualties of course. Though I knew that it was definitely not two-hundred thousand men anymore, however it would be a tough defense to crack nevertheless. At Mulhouse however, the reports were fuzzy as to what was going on. Mulhouse was held by both Silver Germans and Southern Loyalists and was the furthermost that our lines had advanced that day. Forward scouts had reported that the city was well guarded by at least over twenty thousand men and General Raine had around eighty-thousand plus armor and artillery and air support. But given that reinforcements from our lines could not begin to move to secure Mulhouse, it was up to the General alone to push and secure the city. From what had later come from Raine's report, he had begun with a massive artillery bombardment on the edges and outskirts of the city, this coupled with a joint attack by forward armor and air forces, as well as bombing runs that occurred throughout the day and into the night. Raine's objective had been to secure the city of course but he did not want to bring that much damage onto Mulhouse itself and as such an arc, or pincer attack was coordinated with his eighty-thousand to encircle half of the city and then attempt to funnel the Germans out. Of course, it was expected that the same kind of resistance that was encountered in Metz, Nancy, and Epinal, would be encountered there. Resistance fighters, both civilian and military, holding up in houses, in sewers, as well as the barrage by Anti-Air turned to cannonade if the planes retreated from the sky. But in Mulhouse, with both planes and tanks moving in at once, it was believed that the fighter and bomber squadrons would do much better in pacifying at least the outer edges of the city. I sighed holding onto the report. There was a good chance, that if the fighting in the south did get exponentially worse, my men, my Imperial Guardsmen would be marching to Mulhouse in the morning or at least in two days time. Looking out across the Moselle I crumbled the report and threw it out into the night sky as it waffled gently in the breeze, still ash ridden, and fell quietly into the water. My hands were still shaking from earlier, from the woman, from the firefight with the German soldiers, from everything. Then the sounds of a rubble cracking under boots sounded from my right, I immediately went for my pistol and turned ready to fire when Helene was staring at me across the bridge. We two women on the opposite sides of the Moselle, just like we had said. "You feeling okay Khris?" She looked at me and then out at the river. "Trying to, is it like you remembered?" Then she shook her head and the tears began to roll down her face. "No...not at all." She fell forward to the ground and I ran to catch her before she hit the ruined pavement. "Nothing is the way it is, everything I remember, everything is gone, its all changed." I held her in my arms and looked up at the sky and it was at that point when I realized that I had no control of my life anymore, I had just as much control of my life as Zelle did of France, or that Martens did of Germany. The world worked on its own and people died because of it. It wasn't that our fight was wrong, it was that every fight was wrong and Helene's tears would be the tears of young German boys and girl who would grow up with a revenge for France, just as young French boys and girls from Lorraine and Alsace cried the same tears as their home was ripped from them. I cried and buried my face into Helene's brown hair and hugged her tightly. "Then we just have to rebuild for the future...we just have to keep rebuilding...its the only way we can survive." --- June 12th, 2071 12:30 PM Metz The next day, most of the city had been mopped up of resistance, though when I mean most, there were still heavy pockets that needed to be ousted from buildings and sewer tunnels. However, since I had been part of the vanguard force that entered Metz, both Generals Blondel and Rougemont had been curious enough to give me and my aides a day's furlough which was definitely needed as the day before had reduced me to nausea at least twice. Yves and Valentin would be spending the day beginning the construction of fortification lines outside of Metz, in light of the possibility of a German counter attack on the city, I had granted Helene time to go to her parents' old home in the east of the city, provided that she not go alone because mop-up operations were still in effect. Later that day there would be another War Council, the commanders from Nancy and Epinal were coming up to the city behind the lines to discuss movements towards Strasbourg as well as anything to be done to prevent any resistance from being too powerful. Taking a break however from going over troop plans for the countryside campaign I wandered back to the Moselle and looked over the Pont des Morts onto the blue water of the river. It was a beautiful day, free of ash and the sound of gunfire had stopped for a while. Either the Germans were planning something else, or the resistance had taken a break for the day. As I stared across the river I could hear the sounds of a car approaching, doors shutting and two people talking. One a woman, one a man, the woman had a strange accent, French, but with a Greek tone to it. "I do apologize for the long drive here General Picard, but I assumed that you would want to be in town for the War Council. The operations in Metz, Nancy, and Epinal were a relative success so I'm sure Her Highness would love a report from you sent back to Paris and one to Athens as well." Ah, so she was Greek. I looked up at the woman and the junior officer approaching, but didn't pay them much mind. If she was an observer, I would see her at the meeting, if she was a commander, I would see her there too. But maintaining politeness, even over fatigue, I nodded at the aide and the Greek. "Colonel van Donop, a pleasure Miss." Said the aide as he continued to walk. "Likewise, welcome to Hell." I joked and turned back to the river, if they wanted a conversation, they could start it. --- [quote] **Classified** Order of L'Armee Imperial Empress of France - HIH Therese I Zelle - L'Armee Imperial Marshal of France - Marshal Jean-Phillipe St. Croix - L'Armee Imperial - 560,000 1st Armee du France - General Fabrice Tavernier - 200,000 Infanterie , 2000 Armor (Engaged on the Alsace-Lorraine Front) 1st Corps - Général de lieutenant Gerald-Louis Rougemont - 40,000 (Metz) -----------> Casualties: 300 2nd Corps - Général de lieutenant Joseph-Bernard Blondel - 40,000 (Metz) -----------> Casualties: 500 3rd Corps - Général de lieutenant Fernand-Jean-Jacques Desnoyers - 40,000 (Nancy) --> Casualties: 200 4th Corps - Général de lieutenant Maurice Chastel - 40,000 (Nancy) -----------------> Casualties: 200 5th Corps - Général de lieutenant Léon Jouvin - 40,000 (Epinal) --------------------> Casualties: 600 1st Armor Corps - Général de lieutenant Marcel Bonnevie - 2000 1st Armor Division - Général majeur Basile-Louis Allard - 400 (Metz) ---------------> Casualties: 5 2nd Armor Division - Général majeur Bénédicte Babineau - 400 (Nancy) ---------------> Casualties: 6 3rd Armor Division - Général majeur Gabriel Guerrier - 400(Reserve - Bayel) 4th Armor Division - Général majeur Joseph-Marie-Paulin d'Allemagne - 400 (Epinal) -> Casualties: 9 1st Artillery Corps - Général de lieutenant Jean-Louis Sordeau -1000 1st Artillery Division - Général majeur Joseph-Gilles Danis -500 (Scattered Alsace-Lorraine) 2nd Artillery Division - Général majeur Claude Boissel -500 (Reserve - Bayel) 2nd Armee du France - General Alexis-Jean-Louis Astier - 200,000 Infanterie, 2000 Armor 1st Corps - Général de lieutenant Gustave-Marie Véron - 40,000 (Lille) 2nd Corps - Général de lieutenant Jean Bellanger - 40,000 (Mulhouse) 3rd Corps - Général de lieutenant Jacques Bonnevie - 40,000 (Lille) 4th Corps - Général de lieutenant Andre Lefevre - 40,000 (Paris) 5th Corps - Général de lieutenant Jacques-Landry Raine - 40,000 (Mulhouse) 1st Armor Corps - Général de lieutenant Christophe Avenier -2000 1st Armor Division - Général majeur Jules Giraud - 400 (Lille) 2nd Armor Division - Général majeur Christian Maurice - 400 (Mulhouse) 3rd Armor Division - Général majeur Jacques-Jérome Riviere - 400 (Mulhouse) 4th Armor Division - Général majeur Raymond Tirmont - 400 (Paris) 1st Artillery Corps - Général de lieutenant Henri Lizot -1000 1st Artillery Division - Général majeur Emmanuel Rabaud -500 (Mulhouse) 2nd Artillery Division - Général majeur Joseph-Gabriel Rodier -500 (Paris) 3rd Armee du France - General Silvain-Jean-Louis Godard - 160,000 Infanterie, 2000 Armor 1st Corps - Général de lieutenant Arnald Meserve - 40,000 (Madrid) 2nd Corps - Général de lieutenant David Farjeon - 40,000 (Valencia) 3rd Corps - Général de lieutenant Jean-Louis-Geoffroy Ferrand - 40,000 (Barcelona) 4th Corps - Général de lieutenant Joseph-Marie-Justin Desnoyers - 40,000 (Marseilles) 1st Armor Corps - Général de lieutenant Hyacinthe Bellanger -2000 1st Armor Division - Général majeur Bertrand Chabert - 400 (Madrid) 2nd Armor Division - Général majeur Damien-Jean-Louis Labrousse - 400 (Valencia) 3rd Armor Division - Général majeur Raymond Jouvin - 400 (Barcelona) 4th Armor Division - Général majeur Louis Desnoyers - 400 (Marseilles) 1st Artillery Corps - Général de lieutenant Marlon Sardou -1000 1st Artillery Division - Général majeur Jean-Louis Boisson -500 (Madrid) 2nd Artillery Division - Général majeur Bruno Brossard -500 (Pau) Admiral of France - Admiral Severin Laffitte -46 vessels 1st Fleet (Brest) - Admiral Cyprien LeVan - 24 vessels 2nd Fleet (Marseilles) - Admiral David Tavernier - 22 vessels Air Marshal of France - Marshal Arsène Marais Total Fighter Squadrons - 70 -30 Squadrons (Alsace-Lorraine) (10 Southern Front, 20 Northern Front) -20 Squadrons (Valencia Reserve) -20 Squadrons (Paris Reserve) Total Bomber Squadrons -15 -4 Squadrons (Alsace-Lorraine) (2 Northern Front, 2 Southern Front) -4 Squadrons (Paris Reserve) -4 Squadrons (Marseilles Reserve) -3 Squadrons (Valencia Reserve) [/quote] OOC: Mulhouse casualties not posted yet. Will do so after further RP. EDIT: Quote Box. Edited July 22, 2010 by Sarah Tintagyl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynneth Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 [b]Mulhouse, 12th of June; Around 04:15 in the morning[/b] "Not one step back! Make them pay with a pint of blood for every inch!" The Loyalist forces in and around Mulhouse were unable to retreat; The danger of being set upon by the French or Communist filth was too great and thus they had decided to stay, and make the French pay dearly. In numerous of the buildings, forces were hiding, taking shots at attacking French, using whatever weapon was available. If another man fell, his weapon would be taken and used later. Not even the artillery and airstrikes raining down on the city dissuaded the Germans from fighting; They simply got up again and fired from the rubble. They didn't let themselves be funneled, they didn't let themselves be moved at all. The only thing these men did was to stand their ground and fight. They knew they would be overcome. But they would battle until they ran out of ammunition, and then these men would take their guns and fists, charge the enemy lines and attempt to kill them this way. "Beat this filth back! Annihilate them! Destro-...!" Sometimes, a man who had taken it upon himself to 'encourage' others would be hit by snipers. Or consumed in the explosion of an artillery shell. Something along those lines, but even without these people, there were enough to attempt a serious resistance. Still, the French would win, eventually. It was an inevitability, and there was nothing that could possibly change this. What could be changed was the number of hostiles these troops took with them into hell. __________________________________ [center][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/VDL/Alex_Helm.png[/img] "People of Europe, people of the World! Some of you dislike, or even despise Communism. I ask, why? Why do you hate it if the people reign themselves, truly reign themselves? What is so bad about every man and woman of a nation being truly equal? Do you fear them? Do you fear that you might lose your power? Do you not care about your people? Ask yourself these questions. Wonder about them, ponder them. If you truly love your people, let them reign themselves, without classes, without persecution, rascism, elitism They do not need protection from themselves, but from those who would misuse their trust to gain power for themselves. Do not work for yourself, do not put the matters of the state above those of the people. Without the people, the state is nothing. Without the people, [i]you[/i] are nothing. Realize this, act accordingly. Work together with the people of your nation, for that is the only way you can truly make all happy. [/center] __________________________________ My name is Markus Johanns. I am a Commissar. It is a prestigious rank, one where I work together with others in my division, and the soldiers fighting with us, that no traitor - those who would throw down their weapons in fear, those who would rather surrender than fight - survives the battle. Since the inception of this position, mere days ago, I have already killed four who attempted to retreat from the front, none even trying to use some kind of excuse such as 'I'm going to look for a better position'. Pathetic. Now, however, the battles have largely died down. The loyalist swine have taken shelter in the North and our forces are preparing to flood their lines, overwhelm them with the sheer power of the people's might. Of course, some high-tech is useful with this...But it is only a fraction of our strength. If a rifleman breaks before a charging swordsman, no technology is going to help. It is the same here, where our might will crush the Bourgeoisie and the fascists. Hopefully, the nations of the world will come to their senses. The only way this can and should end is a victory of the Proletariat, the people of Germany. No elite, no classes. A dream perhaps, but one in our reach. __________________________________ "Boom!" "Got another one?" "Yeah." "Good. One less to worry about." "How many're getting through, anyways?" "No idea. Not many from what I know. The missile-defense systems work wonders." "It'll be worse at the front, won't it?" "Yeah, perhaps. But we can rebuild that easily. And don't forget that all those highways can be used to land planes, too." "Dangerous, though." "Yes, but better than having no airport at all." "Yeah." The campaign to destroy communist air assets was, unfortunately, not too successful, as it seemed. Especially the air bases more than 50 to 100 kilometers from the frontlines were rarely damaged at all. Thus, attacks on the airfields weren't much of an issue, as almost all planes had ranges well above 2000 kilometers in their normal configuration. These planes were second only to those of Rebel Army, able to wreak havoc around half the world, if needed. __________________________________ "How many forces do we have, exactly?" "Well, we're of course raising militia and soldiers in the southern heartlands." "Heartlands?" "I do believe they can be called that; Most of the population is on our side, after all. Your speeches are powerful, Sir." "Unexpectedly so, to be honest. At least here in Germany. But around the world...Perhaps less so." "Anyways...We are expecting to raise at least half a million men within the next days and weeks. Their training won't be the greatest, but their bravery and strength, together with the capitalist equipment will make them respectable foes" "That is good to hear." "Can we supply all these people?" "Easily. The GDR did it, and we can, too." "What about the fleets?" "Interestingly, many of the sailors are from a time where Sarkara reigned. Some still are indoctrinated and believe the VDL's form of government to be faulty. Many have joined our ranks, and it is most probably that our naval forces outnumber the VDL's. This means we could feasibly take Martenshaven." "What about those who didn't turn?" "They were sunk and killed to the last man. It means our naval power is somewhat diminished, but not my much." "Things are more in our favour than I'd ever have thought." "Didn't the northerners have only 22 ships to start with, a fraction of the GDR's navy?" "From what I know, the GDR had almost four times the ships. About 80% of those have joined us from what I have gathered, the others were sunk in suprise-strikes. The fleet in Martenshaven is utterly outnumbered while we keep some vessels outside of the Mediterranean." "Madeira, right?" "Yes. The island bought from the HAE." "Just excellent. We'll be able to strike their coasts, with some luck." "Luck? That doesn't need luck. We have battleships in that fleet, for god's sake. These ships have enough supplies to go for a year or two without problems!" "Save for the planes, really." "True. But that's life." "So. How many troops do we have in the north, exactly?" "Numerous tank divisions, at least fifty. Also, a minimum of 75 infantry divisions." "Three quarters of a million..." "With half a million being drilled and educated right now." "And the loyalists have how many left?" "Approximately half a million, we're not sure. As our population is larger than the northern one, and they're concentrated in a smaller area, we can recruit people more easily and quickly, though." "A significant advantage." "Especially if foreign powers think they can intervene." "Aren't the Athenians gathering in the south already?" "Together with the Slavs. They may attack soon." "Well, we'll have to have our men ready by then." "And whatever tanks these factories can churn out." "Which is a goddamned lot." "What's the status of our fuel reserves, et cetera?" "More than excellent. We can keep going at full speed for literally ages. Most of these supplies come from Sarkara's time, interesingly. Obama rarely imported more than needed." "Good to know. This ensures that we can wage this war for a long time." "A long time indeed." "Well. Let us proclaim the Republic." "Yes." __________________________________ [center][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/VDL/Alex_Helm.png[/img] "Once more I speak, but this time only briefly. The Federal Union of Socialist Republics - the FUSR - is hereby founded, as federation of the following states: The Slovenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Austrian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. The Swiss Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. The Bavarian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic. The Soviet Socialist Republic of Baden." [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Flaggings/Com02.png[/img][/center] __________________________________ [quote]Remnant forces of the southern VDL Possibly 2 Infantry Divisions around Mulhouse. 43 Inf Divisions that have reached the northern lines. 29 Tank divisions that have reached the northern lines. 4 airplane squadrons. Some amounts of artillery, AA, etc Greatly disorganised, with divisions ranging between 5% and 90% of their full strength Revolutionary Forces of the FUSR 76 Inf divisions in the North 50+ Inf divisions being trained 92 tank divisions that've been captured or replenished 61 naval vessels, all defected from VDL 92 airplane squadrons Great amounts of artillery, AA and other support vehicles Exact organisation unknown. Likely to be very loose. [/quote] OOC: My total forces: 171 of 188 inf divisions (incl. in training) 127 of 188 tank divisions 96 of 105 airplane squadrons 61 of 87 naval vessels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurius Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 (edited) [b]June 12th 12:40 PM Metz[/b] Renée looked at the woman, somehow she reminded her of one of her former commanders back in the Bulgarian Civil War. With a smile she approached Khris. “You aren't kidding I see, Field Commander Renée Picard. The Empress has told me about you.” “You're French? And you work for the Empress?” Renée smiled. "I have been deployed at the request of my own Empress. I am of French blood however command a Hellenic division" “Ah, I see...” Khris chuckles “...its funny how all these foreigners end up in France, and don't take me wrong, I'm only half French, other have is Dutch...Colonel Khris van Donop at your service. So tell me Commander Picard, what brings a Greek like you all the way to Metz?” “France is a country that has a lot of friends Colonel, it is only obvious that Empress Zelle would get at least secret support. It was a personal request I was destined for Iberia originally but I thought I could help here.” “Oh no kidding, I figured that world support would have been more towards Germany than towards France, but its good to see that we still have some allies left in the world. Even if they are secretive. What made you change your mind from Iberia? Taste of the action?” “Exactly, my men are still there and should the Spanish decide to respond I will head back but I have the feeling the operation here sees quite some action” Khris sighs and looks back over the Moselle... “Yeah, you will, I'm sure you will.” “So how is the operation going Colonel?” “Its going well, we took Metz, Nancy, Epinal without many casualties, though I'm not particularly sure what is going on in Mulhouse. I have a bad feeling that I'm going to get deployed there tonight, but we'll see. They're amazing fighters...the Germans...anyone who says different is dead wrong... it’s going to be a long operation, so I hope you're in this for the long haul Renee.” “I wouldn't want to be anywhere else Colonel, this should be a good time for all of us. Any chance I could review the warplans? Athenian doctrine may help prepare for things French might have not noticed.” “A good time? I sure hope so Commander, I haven't seen the 'good time' yet... as to the war plans, there is a War Council being called for tonight, I assume with someone of your rank that you would be welcomed.” Renée smiles "Oh the fun times will come, when we finally restore the French Language in this area... As for the Meeting I'll be glad to attend." Khris smiles “Well those are good times that I can agree with, but are you taken care of here? Place to stay and all and a regiment to attach to? Or are you part of the General Staff?” “I have no idea to be honest, I came here mostly on my own accord. I expect I'll hear my post from Paris later on.” “Well feel free to attach yourself with my regiment, we're normally placed front line and I don't know how General Tavernier would want me totting around a Foreign Attache, but you're welcomed to at least hold up with us in Metz and whenever we get to Strasbourg.” “Frontline? Now that sounds like the place I want to be, I was a mere Major 3 weeks ago so I wouldn't feel at home anywhere different.” “Your rank is equivalent to what? Just curious... Lieutenant Colonel? Colonel?” “Brigadier General. I know it's a big change but my Empress didn't trust her Imperial Command too much.” Khris laughs. “Well I guess I should have bowed and addressed you properly then, confronted by a Brigadier, I would have never guessed. That's quite the promotion. But as to the front line, if you do, you're doing so at your own risk, because I'm not getting the blood of a dead General on my hands. Sorry, you seem nice and all Renee, but that's more paperwork than I have time to fill out for the rest of my life.” “I am well aware Colonel van Donop, but I can defend myself well. I have seen several campaigns. But we'll see at the meeting tomorrow. Also as for addressing me, I demand the respect from my division not my equals.” “Well one thing...” Khris chuckles ”...you forget already that the meeting was tonight. And I have no doubt that you can't defend yourself, but its the rant I have to give any big wig that comes with us, kind of like the Terms and Conditions of a contract. I have to find something to make humor with, you'll go crazy around here if you don't laugh.” Renée laughed. "I should have known the French were in for jokes more than my deputy, you have to understand he has been protective ever since I was a Company Commander. You get used to it unfortunately" “Not a problem, new people, new way of doing things. But I think everyone will be happy to have you here Renee, it'll let a lot of people, including myself know that the world hasn't turned their back on us and that there's still hope for this operation. Where are you heading now by the way?” “Well my first stop was getting some arms, you got to give it to diplomats, they send you on your way with a battle uniform but not a gun.” “Well I'm done here staring over and over at the river, I'd be happy to take you to the Quartermaster and get you set up with wares.” “Sounds good, should be a good day. Feels so long ago I've been here.” “You're originally from Metz?” Khris asked as they walked. “Well I was born in Bulgaria, my father used to take me here though in the summer.” “One of my aides is from here, I really feel for the people of Lorraine and Alsace, I think for as long as there has been a France and a Germany, the two have fought over it. She always talks about how beautiful it is in the summer and if it weren't for the rubble...” Khris says as she kicks a stone away. “...I couldn't imagine a better place to live.” "Well there will be a time to rebuild this beautiful place. Rubble can disappear" Renée said as she walked with Kris to the Quartermaster. Once there she took the regular equipment of a French officer, they weren’t the standard issue Athenian weapons but close enough for her. Once she was fully armed she smiled. “I will be checking out the area a bit Colonel, my Athenian uniform will probably make me a less tempting target. I will see you later” Before Khris could do anything she was already on her way. The city even when hit hard was still beautiful. However she sensed something. The people were uncomfortable which was obvious considering everything. However this was different, almost as when she was deployed to Bulgaria. These weren’t just civilians they were made of the same blood. In a corner she saw a few children playing around. A little girl approached Renée and smiled. “Do you have chocolate miss?”she asked, Renée smiled to the girl and kneeled besides her as she took a bar from her pocket just when she was about to give it to the girl her mother came in between and pulled her away. “Get away from her, she is a bad person” The words hit Renée hard, these people had been between 2 countries for so long. At one point they were French and at the other they were German. She sighed and walked on through the streets, the remains of the fighting could be seen everywhere. On her way she saw a few French soldiers obviously amazed at the sight of the Athenian flag on an uniform. Once she reached the end of the street she looked around, this looked like one of the more dangerous areas of the city. As she saw men run past she quickly aimed her rifle. When they disappeared again she felt relieve. Following her better judgment she walked back, there would be other days to tour the city. On her way back she saw the little girl again who rather than approaching her now ran away as if Renée was some kind of monster. Once back in the safe areas she sighed and sat down calling the embassy in Athens. “Everything is going good here, please inform Imperial Command that as it looks the First Division won’t see any action soon” --- In addition to regular deployments orders were issued back at Athens for a single regiment of troops to be stationed at the German base in Athens just to be sure there would be security against a possible change of heart from the forces there. --- [b] June 12th 3:00 AM Athens AFB[/b] The situation in Martenshaven had not escaped the eye of Imperial Command, looking how North Germany had troublen supplying the settlement it was decided Athens should. At the darkness of night 10 C-130Js would depart from Athens AFB, once in the air each group of 2 would be escorted by a Squadron of F-1s. Their goal? Deliver food, water, medical supplies, ammunition, body armor and of course weapons. In ever several pamphlets would be added. [quote]We have not forgotten you, fight on warriors.[/quote] The pilots were of course nervous. Most of their trip would go over allied territory but there was a period they'd be in hostile airspace however it didn't stop them. Each group taking a different direction and having different arrival times would upon arrival drop their cargo. The loyalists would not need to fight unarmed and hungry if Athens had anything to say about it. Edited July 23, 2010 by Centurius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberstein Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 (edited) Classified: To: Nikita Akhatova From: General Samsa Veitonen Finnish ships will follow the planned route, channel straits should be avoided. If Ostland straights not available, we believe in can dock in Oslo and bring the troops back home via train. Much thanks. To: North German Command From: Airborne Unified Commander Heikki Kottila Finnish Airborne divisions ready to march from Danzig, 105mm artillery still needs trucks to tow unless airspace is safe for helicopter transportation. To: North German Command From: President Taneli Hauta-aho The 2nd Kansainvälinen regiment can deploy for special operations. I just need more intelligence on where to actually put them. Edited July 23, 2010 by BaronUberstein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Martens Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 To Finland: [i]Deploy aerially the 105mm Artillery to Hannover. Trucks will be assigned then and remaining transportation will not be done aerially. The divisions will then be deployed to reinforce the joint between Army Group South and West in order to prevent any potential French Breakthrough. The 2nd regiment will be placed on approximately the same area. These will be articulated with Fieldmarshall Martens' command.The rest of the forces will be assigned to Army Group South under Fieldmarshall Tambarskjelve.[/i] --------- [u]At Elsass-Lothringen and the other French-occupied areas:[/u] Nothing much would change. It was a weird place to be, because excepting for the isolated trapped Infantry divisions and for the scattered AA, there were no signs of the official, regular army. It seemed that Elsass-Lothringen had been more or less surrounded by the official Army, even though irregular units continued to fight there. The regular, advancing army had more or less enveloped the French zone of interest, but had not entered it, and it seemed as if the true fight would only break out if France tried to advance beyond their land claims. In spite of that, now and then, a soldier or an officer would fall when a sniper hit them from afar. Sometimes, a grenade or home-made bomb would be detonated. There was no telling where people may hide. From the very young to the very old, men and women, it was impredictable. Constant little attacks which individually didn't seem to affect French might at all, but were something that let them know that no place, even when already occupied, was safe. One notorious operation took place when several streets were collapsed by bombing from inside the sewers, causing for a number of armor and soldier elements to become trapped and sometimes crushed. The French were "winning", but the environment remained hostile. And it weren't just German units which they were fighting, some of the veterans they found had even Old German Reich uniform from Martens' times, Silver Revolution Banners, some even had Nordland Banners, it were as if they were fighting different armies from different times, but all having converged somehow against them timelessly. Another notorious action at Metz was the organization of the city's armored vehicles owned by Bank Security Companies as well as the Police into some sort of "Armored" division. About five hundred vehicles loaded with Police Forces and Militia made a direct attack on some French units, carrying a variety of German Flags, including the Flag of Elsass-Lothringen. It was a valiant effort, but would by no means these few hundreds be able to fend off the attack. Gas stations were set aflame throughout Elsass-Lothringen, creating very dangerous fires in every city. The locals decided that the French had no right to use German oil to fuel their weapons. It was insanity. The civilians which did not want to fight already were fleeing to the Northeast enmasse by any means possible. ------- [u]At the Southern Front:[/u] "Seventyfive divisions already? Good Ravens..." Indeed, Germany had only been able to field around fiftyfive infantry divisions. This seemed to be, for now, enough to make a defensive stand throughout the border, but by no means it was suficcient to mount any grandiose attacks to liberate the south. How they could have gathered so many was beyond the understanding of the Ratsherr. Then however, the news were that 43 Loyalist Divisions did arrive to the North, which were suficcient to fight in even terms. The knee-jerk reaction was to mount the attack then and there, but the newly-arrived Loyalists from the South had first to be reorganized. Another Battlegroup was formed and named "Rommels Wut" under General von Amend. The Germans after having made only minimum advance since the last map remained and waited for the new Battlegroup to be organized behind the lines. Then, an attack would be ordered as soon as possible before the Southerners were able to organize. News reach the Bunker that the East may move in soon. They then decide to push their attack southwards when the Easterners start their march. An operation is planned already, "Fall Hadubrand", the offensive which is supposed to break through and put the Reds down once and for all. A second operation is created - the worst case scenario in which the Red and French Armies break through - and named "Fall Weidmann". [i]"Alright. We must do this now, before they ready their other divisions. Tell the Slavs that we are ready when they are, waiting on them."[/i] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subtleknifewielder Posted July 23, 2010 Report Share Posted July 23, 2010 My name is Hugo Lowin, and I only wished I could have been in Germany in time for the revolution. I had been informed by my contacts in Australia's SWORD organization that for some time, rumors had been going around the intelligence community of a brewing revolt in Germany. We worked quickly, feverishly, to gather supplies, obtain recruits, and do it all under the radar, but still, when the violence erupted, we had only just finished preparations and set sail. We hadn't even been out of dock for more than a few days when we received word the French had pushed into Northern Germany. But in the middle of the ocean, there is little one can do but wait for the long voyage to continue, perhaps run some drills, as we did, and pray the weather holds out. Fortune truly smiled upon us in that regard, and it was smooth sailing all the way around Africa (a rare occurance I am told), up its west coast, and toward Iberia. Once there, we found ourselves blessed with one more piece of fortune...the Straight of Gibraltar was not closed. Uncontested, seemingly harmless traders, or wealthy on pleasure cruises, whatever disguises each vessel took, we sailed into the Mediterranean. Another thing we could do on the way...listen to the reports from the war, and to the scant few additional details our contacts could bring us. Along the way, we had been hotly dabating the best place to land, the place it seemed we might be most needed. But first, we needed more information. The Sicilians had built up along the German border, but for what purpose, we did not know. So the fastest vessel was sent to find and discuss the buildup there with their leaders...the vessel which I captained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynneth Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 (edited) [b]12th of June; Around 21:50 in the evening[/b] "Athens is supplying Martenshaven." "That's basically an act of war upon us." "Let them. At the time, we have more important things than Martenshaven." "Such as?" "The build-up of forces along our entire southeastern and eastern borders." "How's the training of the new reservists going?" "Well, very well. Many of them have trained in the GDR or VDL due to general conscription for 6 months." "One good thing to come from the Unionists." "When will they be ready?" "Technically, we can send them to the border already, positioning forces spread, but enough so that they have the appropriate strength for anything that's on the other side of the border." "What about the NPR?" "They've declared themselves neutral. However, they may yet decide to come in, anyways. I suggest placing 3 divisions along the border." "Yes. What about defenses in the east?" "Numerous defenses from the VDL and GDR survive, those being bunkers at strategic passes, dragon's teeth, et cetera. The border between us and the Slavs never was a friendly one, and it shows." "Good, good. What about our current naval forces?" "They're spread. 14 ships are near Koper, 17 in the middle of the med. I suggest uniting those groups." "Make it so. The others?" "The rest of our naval forces are still in Madeira, waiting for orders. It's unlikely that anyone will attack them for the time being." "That's good." "What if the slavs attack? They're notorious for attacking satellites with missiles." "We have our own missiles. And nowhere near all of our satellites are in reach of their missiles." "You mean geostationary ones?" "Not only those, but also otherassets. Don't forgett he space eleva-" "Did it defect already?" "Interestingly, yes. The people there have sworn their allegiance to our cause." "That's great news! We'll be able to easily get sats into space then!" "And we have prepared ones, as well. Two spares for any that's currently flying." "Seriously?" "Yes. We've managed to take over basically the entire former GDR-network of satellites. They hadn't yet synchronised theirs with those of the Martencist filth." "Any other assets we gained?" "The only thing we didn't get was great amounts of infantry- and tank forces. They resisted. This is practically the only part of our military not at full strength." "Yet the most important parts. The navy, we can do without. We have ASMs. Planes, we can live without. OTH radar working together with numerous radar stations, some passive, others active and some active ones switched off can detect any stealth plane." "Plasma stealth?" "Has massive weaknesses we can exploit, such as huge thermal signatures. Not to forget that our AA missiles theoretically have a range of up to 500 kilometers, so we could shoot them down over their own territory if we wanted to." "With a Macross Missile Massacre?" "If by that you mean hundreds of missiles fired at once to make any evasion completely and ridiculously impossible? Yes." "Excellent." "Our artillery is in excellent condition, as well. Airfields are mostly usable, aside from a few near the border to the fascist scum that they damaged with missiles." "Repaired easily enough." "What about reinforcements, if they, our enemies, attack in great numbers?" "There are almost 40 million people in this nation between 18 and 49 who are fit for military service, according to GDR-documents from 5 years ago. The number likely hasn't changed a lot. We can outfit immense amounts of militias with cheap guns if necessary." "And anti-tank weapons and AA missiles and, and, and..." "Almost everything the GDR has for military equipment, aside from vehicles or the suits is easily built, and cheap as well." "We have infantry, we have planes. We have IFVs, we have artillery." "We have tanks and rocket artillery. AA and AT weapons." "We have ships of the highest quality." "We have nuclear weapons, if needed." "And we will make this nation better." "Comrades." "For the FUSR." __________________________________ All along the slavic-FUSR border, troops got into positions, some as scouts to determine the validity of an attack, while most troops hung back a few kilometers, often hiding in the terrain. Most of the border territory was hilly or mountainous, having numerous forests as well. No point of the border wouldn't be defended and any attacker would have the time of his life attempting to get through. Hiding was done by using the terrain, scattering troops somewhat, tarps and other such possibilities. Meanwhile, two divisions would be set to guard the coast from amphibious assaults. Artillery and heavy AT-weapons would be utilized to repel amphibious transports. At the NPR border, three divisions would be stationed for security purposes. This was mostly to ensure that nobody would attempt to get in or out via this border. Things were moving into position. __________________________________ Indeed they were. In the north, the Communists had gathered and organised their forces. They began attacking, thousands of artillery guns firing upon north German and VDL-remnant encampments. A message was sent into the north. [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/VDL/Alex_Helm.png[/img] "Come, and try to take what you believe is yours! Try to stop our glorious march!" At the same moment when the artillery fired, missiles streaked into the north, deliberately targetting vital equipment such as radar or AA emplacements. While the missiles were flying, numerous squadrons of bombers, multirole fighters and interceptors took off. The Bombers would move to their uppormost limit into the skies, while most other planes were just there to support them, and the AWACS planes feeding loads of information into the system. The rebels had 92 squadrons in total. 17 of these were bombers. 40 Multirole fighters. 30 Interceptors. 5 Stealth-focused planes. The bombers would simply drop their payload over industrial areas, using high-precision bombs in cases where factories were close to civilian buildings. Bunkers, depots and great numbers of trucks - assumed to be supply vehicles - were targetted just as much as airfields. With a service ceiling of well above 20 kilometers, these bombers were nigh invulnerable, even more so thanks to their minimal radar profile. And the fact that they could launch, get to their destination, turn around and land within less than 30 minutes was useful, too. The interceptors were there to battle, together with AWACS, any enemy planes in the skies. Missile-salvos could be fired and directed with incredible ease. The stealth-planes were mostly used to scout at high speeds, reaching up to mach 4 at altitude and with defected pilots that were trained to an insane degree. The multirole planes had two duties: 1. Destroy enemy planes with Air-air missiles. 2. Destroy enemy vehicle assets and infantry with napalm, cluster-bombs and Air-ground missiles. In the background, factories were churning out ammunition, missiles, tanks, trucks and much more at rates seen in few countries in the world. Edited July 24, 2010 by Lynneth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justinian the Mighty Posted July 24, 2010 Report Share Posted July 24, 2010 [b]Noon June 11th Peterhof Palace[/b] The sound of jackboot heels clapping on the hardwood floors echoed in the halls of the palace. Justinian could tell that the Government Ministers and the General Staff had now arrived at Peterhof. Justinian stands rigidly in his dressing room, surrounded by aids who meticulously pin and tie a medley of medals ribbons and a sash on his uniform. He sighs laboriously. “I‘m supposed to be on vacation. Goddamn the French!” Three short knocks on the door precede the entrance of the Prime Minister, also wearing a uniform with fewer medals pinned to it. “Your Majesty? General Mensikov and the General Staff has arrived sir, and so has your father.” “I‘ll be right there Mr. Medvedev” “Very good sir. I‘ll see you in the war room.” A makeshift war room had been hastily set up a few rooms away. There the military’s commanders were already heavily enthralled in debate. They were divided among political lines as well as personal ones. A good number had commanded troops during the 2009 Patriotic Wars and saw the Northerners as the true architects behind the wars and had not yet been punished appropriately. However a growing number of them supported North Germany regardless of the past. Fortunately the debate wouldn’t be settled by the commanders. They were after all just advisors. The course of the country would ultimately be decided by the Ministers and the Emperor. A warning came in the form of fanfare played to announce the approach of the Emperor. Military and government officials alike stood and saluted or bowed to Justinian when he entered the room. He takes his place at the head of the table. After a short prayer from General Menshikov he crosses himself and sits followed by the others. “Prime Minister, would you be kind and explain the situation to me, and please be brief.” “Your Majesty, I‘ve been on the phone with our embassy in Berlin for several hours now. Ambassador Ushakov‘s analysis of the situation is rather blunt. France and Germany are at war and to make matters worse the communist government in the south has broken away entirely and formed separate soviet styled republics.” “How vile.” Justinian interrupts. “Who is the aggressor?” “The French are the aggressors sir. They‘ve been harassing the Germans on the border. Based on the timing of several announcements from Germany the French invaded at least five hours.” Overlapping voices shake the room. The generals and ministers veimantly express their position for or against Germany. “We must mobilize our forces to defend the Germans immediately!” “Nyet! The Germans are getting what they deserve, let the !@#$%^&* wither and die” “I agree that we should mobilize our forces, but only to strike Germany while they‘re occupied. If the Paulist rebellion has taught us anything it‘s that their Baltic defenses are weak. We can occupy the Baltic States and Belarus in less than a week.” Dmitry chimes in adding that in on top of the French, invasion Germany was also suffering from internal disputes. The arguing continues. Justinian leaves the conversation and retreats to the solitude of his own mind. Numerous thoughts race through his mind while the council continues to bicker. Tricked, he thought. He’d been tricked by the Empress into an alliance that, perhaps she thought, would force Slavorussia to be neutral. If this was truly her intention she failed to take into account recent changes in the government’s policies. Justinian as Emperor dictated the course of Imperial Russia, not a foreigner. “Enough!” he demanded. “I gave my word to the German Chancellor. Even though the division of Belarus and the Baltic states leaves a foul aftertaste in my mouth we will absolutely not take advantage of the Germans, especially before we‘d even approached them about the issue. General Menshikov how many soldiers can we mobilize?” “The recent bi-annual draft increased our ranks by 50 percent, an amazing rate of growth I should add. According to my calculations we could deploy 250,000 soldiers and still have more than half our military left over.” “That many” “Yes sir. We can have troops recalled to their bases and begin deploying in a week. Additionally General Kornilov of the Airforce informs me our long range bombers and multi-roll fighters can be ready to go in an hour‘s notice.” Justinian nods his head approval, then turns away from him to an admiral as his white uniform and medals identified him. “Admiral Aberg, what is the status of the Imperial Navy?” “Poor at best, sir. We haven‘t been successful in raising a single ship. Apparently we can fire a rocket into space, but cleaning out the Neva Bay is far to great a task.” “Then man our costal defense missiles Admiral. Eradicate any threat to our shores. I have faith in you.” He turns back to General Menshikov, but when he speaks he is speaking to everyone. Even though weight of the situation is present in his voice there isn’t a trace of fear nor indecisiveness in it. “Sirs, prepare the nation for war. Mr. Medvedev I want you to address the nation in two days and announce our declaration of war on France. In the meantime Minister Lavrov, I want you to contact our allies, except France of course, inform them of our actions.” “Sir the Athenians…” “I didn’t ask about the Athenians sir. I‘m aware of them. You do what you have to do. Mr. Putin I want the Interior Ministry on high alert and the Internal troops ready to put down, with violence if necessary, any opposition here at home. This war could make or break Europe. May God bless and protect Russia.” “God bless Russia! God bless the Tsar!” they stand, salute and reply in perfect unison while Justinian leaves. [b]8:00 PM June 11 Berlin[/b] Ambassador Ushakov had been instructed to personally deliver a message to the German government from the lips of the Emperor. He stands before an unidentified German official with a telegram in his hand. “On behalf of His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Justinian Mikhailovich and the Slavorussian Empire I have been instructed to inform you of Slavorussia’s position in relation to the war. His Majesty says, ‘250,000 Slavorussian soldiers are being gathered to aid Germany, as is the full might of the Imperial Air Force. Prime Minister Medvedev will address the people in two days officially offering support to Germany. At one minute after midnight on June 13th Slavorussia will officially declare war on France. May God protect us all.’ Well, It looks like we‘ll be joining your war in just over 48 hours.” Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Tintagyl Posted July 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 (edited) June 12th, 2071 8:00 PM Metz The basement conference room of the Hotel de Ville in Metz was uncomfortably crowded as nearly ever field commander who had been indispensable during the first throws of the Lorraine Campaign, sat or stood around the large wooden table. Outside there were at least two regiments of Imperial Guards for defense of the 'safe zone' that had been established around important military, economic, and cultural areas within Metz. I sat forcefully between Major Marc Quintin, a forward tank commander at the Skirmish of Nancy, and General Allard who had been in command of all armor units that had assaulted Metz. They both smelled of body sweat and it was enough to make me want to vomit, but the only other option was standing or not attending at all, which given my height and actually wanting to be at the meeting, I put up with the smell. Perhaps some people liked the smell of war, I couldn't stand it. On the table was a large map of the Alsace and Lorraine regions, our positions and the supposed German positions that lay out in the countryside beyond the cities we had taken and the final objective of Strasbourg. General Tavernier, the Commander of the First Army had arrived in Metz late in the afternoon, rumors had it that he was displeased with the damage that had been done to the various cities from both our attacks as well as the sabotage of German resistance fighters. Though it was easy to tell from the deposition of his face, it wasn't hard to tell when someone was angry, and the way the General glared at the map, all of us knew that while the campaign had thus been a success, the casualties we had sustained were unacceptable. "...so what you're telling me Gerald." He said speaking to General Rougemont. "Is that there hasn't been any 'real' fighting as of yet and the only engagement that has yielded any substantial causalities that I should be worried about is in the South. Speaking of which, where is General Raine?" "There are still firefights going on within Mulhouse, the German Regular Army is retreating north and General Raine hopes to have the city secured by midnight tonight." Said Rougemont. "Therefore." General Leon Jouvin rose from his seat and with a blue marker traced along the map. "This is our current line." Everyone immediately surged forward trying to see the line drawn on the map and I nearly suffocated as I was pushed hard against the table. As it was, French positions of the First Army started at Metz, which was our northern flank, down through Nancy, Epinal, and then further south towards Mulhouse. Only smaller villages and town such as Colmar and Sarrebourg stood between our advance and the capture of Strasbourg. "General Tavernier, you have the floor." "Thank you Leon." Tavernier stood up and a few of the officers around him moved away from the table so he could easily access the map from all points. "Ladies and Gentlemen, while I am quite displeased with the amount of casualties we have suffered in securing Lorraine, there is nothing we can do about them now. Realize thought, the German's are using their general population against our advance, they are hostiles and should be killed as hostiles, which brings me to my first point of the meeting. The German resistance fighters. The entire First Army has been stationed within Lorraine and Alsace, along with corps from the Second Army as well, I want an immediate curfew posted for all cities and towns within the war zone, I want a constant patrol of at least a thousand men for every major city and at least a hundred men for smaller towns, while this will take away from our assault on Strasbourg, it is necessary so that we don't have the entire German population rising up behind us. For Police Commanders, who will be assigned tonight, you are to use all force necessary to end resistance movements, but I want the option for German citizens who are still loyal to Germany to be transported to the northern border without hassle. "Continuing on, the following campaign will be completed in three phases. The first phase will be another blitzkrieg across the countryside of Alsace and Lorraine, to take the towns of Colmar and Sarrbourg, after those are secured a new defensive line will be drawn up for the attack on Strasbourg itself. For that attack, Monsieur Adamo will be in charge of an espionage mission to Strasbourg an-" I watched as General Blondel pushed his head forward toward the table, Tavernier immediately noticed. "Joseph?" "Can we please get someone other than Adamo? The attack on Metz, Nancy, Epinal, and Mulhouse surely would have gone better if the information I requested from his operation would have actually been completed. The man is a failure of a spy." "I believe you're being a bit harsh on me General." Adamo chuckled in the corner of the room. "I admit I underestimated the Germans..." "You said it would be a cakewalk." Blondel glared at him. "I said I underestimated them, what more do you want from me?" "Your resignation." "Gentlemen, please." I leaned over further onto the table, placing my head between the two. "Joseph, I have faith in Monsieur Adamo that he can succeed in this mission, he knows the territory now, he knows what to expect. If we were to send in a fresh new spy team from Paris or Pau, they wouldn't have the local experience that Jacques has." "Colonel van Donop..." Blondel looked hurt as he leaned back in his chair and I instantly felt wrong for opening my mouth, but Adamo was grinning and winked at me as I leaned back myself. I felt sick. "Well Joseph, is this appropriate for you, the Colonel here believes so, but if you have an objection." "No, but I'll be watching our Espionage expert very closely and if this operation fails, don't think I won't be the first to blame a failed campaign to Strasbourg on Adamo and Colonel van Donop here." Now I really did feel sick. Tavernier shook his head and dismissed the entire argument as he continued on with his strategy. "The goal of Monsieur Adamo's mission is to locate strategic positions in and around Strasbourg for easy bombardment from missile and artillery strikes. Our main probably came from German Anti-Air and not being able to disable their electric grids and other forms of power, but if the spy mission is a success, it shouldn't be a problem. We will bombard Strasbourg and hopefully run city sabotage missions for the German Regulars within the city making the assault much easier. After the spy operation and the bombardment, Strasbourg will be surrounded and then a mechanized assault with infantry support will take the city. At the same time, another smaller force will move to the north and secure Haguenau from the German Occupiers as well. With the Communist rebellions still occurring in the south the German forces should still be divided, along with their air power, infantry, and armor divisions. However I will make myself quite clear. The Empress has ordered that no French unit should go past the borders of Alsace into Germany Proper, our mission and our campaign was to liberate Alsace and Lorraine, nothing more, and then defend it from a possible German counter attack, do I make myself clear?" "Crystal sir!" We said in unison. "Then I call this War Council to a close, military orders will be sent to your regiments tonight, have a good night Ladies and Gentlemen." We stood through a rumble of chairs and loud chatter and I bolted towards the door trying to escape what I knew was coming. But I didn't even get to the first floor of the Hotel before Blondel's voice carried up the stairs. "What the Hell was that?" I spun around and shook my head. "You know that its true, so he failed once, soldiers aren't perfect and he knows Strasbourg now he knows the ins and outs of the city. Who else would we even have available?" He sighed and turned away from me shaking his head. "They would have replaced Adamo if you wouldn't have spoken up, his failure cost us casualties, the entire reason Tavernier is on our @#$% now is because of him and you defended him. Khris, if this operation fails and people die who don't have to die, are you going to be able to deal with that?" I was shocked at he could be so closed minded, so prideful. "So you're going to blame this on me? You know what..." I shook my head. "We fought hard for Metz, Nancy, and Epinal, don't take that away from those men. They gave their lives and I seen them die, but !@#$ happens, and if you blame me fine, rather blame me that God forbid blame the General Staff for sending in another operation, but speed is off the essence I know." I glared at him and turned, storming towards the doors of the Hotel, I don't know if I had humbled Blondel or if I was going to be getting relieved tomorrow to Pau or something. But as I approached the doors, Adamo came out of one of the near by enclaves with a smile on his face. He opened his mouth to talk, but all that came out of my mouth was a loud, "$%&@ Off!" That echoed through the entire Hotel and I stormed out onto the darkened streets of Metz. With the city still in proverbial chaos, I didn't want to venture far, but I needed to get away from the Hotel, I needed to be alone for a little bit, just some time to myself to think about what had happened the last two days. Once again I found myself heading to the Pont des Morts and looking over the river with a clear sky above me and a clear moon that reflected on the water. There were still the muffled sounds of gunshots and screaming from far away, but I had grown so used to the sound by now that it barely effected me. Leaning over the railing, I turned my head down into my arms and sighed resting my head on the metal bar, when something bright struck my eye, a bullet casing that had been fired yesterday. I picked it up, fingering it gently when rushed footsteps sounded from my right, Jacques Adamo ran towards me, nearly out of breath with a sorrowful look on his face. I started to turn away again, annoyed at the disturbance before he called out, "Colonel, please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean...I wasn't going to sound snide back there. I wanted to thank you for sticking up for me, I don't think anyone else would have." I narrowed my eyes. "You? Not snide?" "Well I mean I would be if you weren't fuming mad at me and that my forced resignation papers weren't on the table, I know when to act serious at least. But I came to say that I appreciate what you did for me back there to allow me a second chance. I think I can do this right actually." "For both your and my sakes you better." And I turned back to the Moselle below. He walked beside me and grabbed on to the railing. "Once they get close to Strasbourg its our turn to go in, behind enemy lines even, this mission is going to be much harder than I thought. I won't be underestimating the Germans this time. But I guess things aren't so bad here now." He said, the gunshots still in the distance. "But you look pretty rough." "I feel pretty rough." I chuckled still looking at the bullet casing. "But if the attacks go as quickly as Tavernier said they're supposed to, then who knows, this whole war might be over by the end of June or so. Then maybe things could get a little easier, just for once." "Things aren't easy he asked?" And for the first time I felt that there was a personal understanding between myself and Jacques that hadn't existed before because I thought he was too immature to understand it. To understand the feeling after a battle, to understand the feeling of a war. "No." I said dropping the bullet casing as it landed with a plop in the Moselle. "It never gets easier, never at all." It was the mot truthful statement I could have said. Around midnight the report from Mulhouse finally arrived. After fierce fighting, the report said, General Raine had finally pushed the German forces out of the city and into the countryside where he said they were fleeing north to either Colmar, Strasbourg, or perhaps Germany Proper. Much like in the cities our First Army had been through, German civilians played just as strong as a part of the defense of those cities as the German Regulars did and I was sure that the casualty numbers would be astronomical for such a small battle. Six thousand of our men had died in assaulting the city, but given higher numbers and being better supplied than the Germans they were finally able to push them from the city, leaving only the mop-up operations of the civilian resistance to worry about. After the report had come to Metz, General Tavernier told Raine that he needed to reform his forces as soon as possible so that at least sixty-thousand of those men would be able to march north to secure Colmar.... June 13th 6:00 AM Metz ...It was good that Tavernier already decided to commit a large amount of men to the occupation of Lorraine, especially in Metz, things became much worse on the morning of the Thirteenth of June. When I woke up, once again the entire sky was filled with ash and smoke, gunfire very close to our base camp in the city. Men and women both wore uniforms that I had only seen in museums, those uniforms of the Greater Nordic Reich, or a few of its previous incarnations, though the effect that I saw on the city itself was even more strange and terrifying. While there had been a German majority in most definitely Alsace, that much was given, the Germans seriously miscalculated the intensity that some French citizens within Lorraine would go to free themselves from the grip of the previous regimes that had put them once again under the jackboot of the German Reich, Republic, or whatever incarnation it was at the time. If it wouldn't have been for those uniforms, those Sliver Banners, all the signs of German Oppression returning to both their memories and my history lessons, maybe the horror of previous battles wouldn't have erupted through the streets. I ran down towards the streets of Metz, having just jumped out of bed, pants, a halter top, and strapping my pistol around my waist, my hair not done up to proper protocol either. But reaching the streets even of the safe zone, the city was in chaos. Helene immediately joined me, the same amount of confusion on her face. But as a passing man, dressed in the uniform of the Mamare Regime ran down the street with a rifle in his hands, I stuck my hand out and pulled him close. "Monsieur, what is going on? You're in no shape to be fighting like this." He had to be at least sixty-five. "None of us can sit here and watch those monsters come back from the grave. Europe hasn't changed Madame, its easy to tell right there. These Germans will never change, all they want is their Empire back, the oppression that we all fought so hard to destroy. They call themselves a republic? They are incapable of having freedom, it was a German who sold us back into slavery and we will not be slaves again!" He escaped my grasp as the old man vanished in the smoke and ash that was rising out of the city. "Damn." I turned and grabbed Helene's arm. "Come on, we need to get a better vantage point." I dragged her down the street a bit towards the Cathedral of St. Stephens, the largest of the churches in the city. There after a tenuous ten minute climb, even in the shape that I and Helene were in, we burst through the doors of the belfry and looked down at the city below us, chaos reigned. "How in the world are we going to advance like this." But I wasn't speaking solely for a German Resistance victory either. In the streets, our French regular forces had joined with those men of the French Resistance and their banners of the old Republics, as well as the current Empire. It almost didn't look like a modern battle at all, flags fluttering amidst gunshots and ripped with bullet holes, these of course joining with the Nordland and Silver banners, all caught in a deadly fight for the death for the freedom of Metz. It wasn't long before my radio began to buzz, it was Blondel and apparently, the resistance was worse here, in Nancy, Epinal, and even Mulhouse, there was resistance but nowhere to this level. "Khris, we have to do something, we can't just watch this. We can ready the regiment in a half hour, surely the rest of the army in the city has to be readying itself too." I nodded. "Fine, but tell them to hurry, we can't waist time or the whole city might be reduced to rubble." [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mje_nQsgAOY"]Close Confrontation[/url] We ran back down the belfry and towards the safe zone in Metz, many of the soldiers within the city, the vanguard regiments, mine included were put up in friendly French homes. But it would take much longer as I and then subordinate officers had to run through the city rallying the regiment or as many as they could find, apparently many had disobeyed orders to simply wait for command from superior officer and had already joined the fray. But finally at about eight o'clock in the morning, both my regiment and many more detachments of the Imperial Army were ready to march out of the center of the city for the third mop-up operation since Metz had been 'conquered' but this was the most chaotic by far. South of where we were stationed, it seemed as though many of the resistance were gathering around gas-stations, the focal point being around Relais Total on the Ile Saint-Synphorien. So that was where we headed to, running through the storm of bullets and debris coming from buildings around us, mixed with Imperials, German Regulars, French and German Resistance, it was hard to tell who was an enemy and who was an ally. Reaching the Ile Sain-Synphorien and with Relais Total in eye sight, I ordered the regiment to break out and move to clear the entire island of resistance fighters, but as we approached the gas station, the fighting became much more intense. I, along with Helene, Yves, and Valentin, with a few other soldiers were trying our hardest to push towards the gas station, but held up in a small office building across the street, it was virtually impossible to move. "We need to get at them from behind." I said firing a storm of rounds out of my pistol and then plugged in another clip. "This is useless from right here. Valentin, the other captains?" "Slow movement, there are a lot of resistance here, we have to be patient." "Patience is only going to do so much." Then as I looked out again, I saw a spark and then a flood of resistance running away from the gas station. This was our chance. "Lets go! Lets mo-" But as I headed out the door there was a massive sucking in feeling and then the entire world around all of us became a great inferno. It was a humongous explosion that rocked us back to the ground and the same sound and feeling I could hear and feel a distance away, fires sprung up to the sky, they were destroying gas stations. Trying to recover from the shock of the explosion, I gripped my pistol in front of me again and ran out into the inferno, my aides behind me as we fired into the German resisters running from the flames. There was no waiting period, no asking for surrender, men, women, young, old, it didn't matter anymore, I just wanted to take those !@#$%^&* out. They fired back, I could feel the bullets whizzing past my head and the heat of the flames so close. But as the battle was joined a new feeling hit us, shaking the ground underneath before the streets down from the gas station began to break apart with other explosions and flames leaping from the ground. "They're destroying the roads! They're blowing up the sewer lines!" Yves yelled as an earthquake feeling took hold of all of us, but in my blind rage I just kept firing into the resisters, watching them drop with every pull of the trigger as the rumbling became greater and greater. I didn't care if I was going to live or die, all that I cared about was killing them. "Khris!" Two hand grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back into the office lobby as the street collapsed in front of me, dragging many of the Germans down with it. As the smoke cleared, we were back in the office, dust and rubble all around, my skin was cut up and my face covered in blood and 1st Degree Burns from the flames. I just stared out the window, separated from the world as Yves knelt down looking into my eyes. "Khris, are you okay? Are you feeling alright?" Suddenly I came back to the world and looked out of the building windows, which had been blown out. Everything was quiet now, except for the lick of the flames against he sky. "Is everyone okay? The regiment?" Yves nodded. "I don't know casualties, but the damage..." "So its if they can't have the city, we can't have it either." I muttered under by breath. "We should march into Germany and do this to every one of their cities, their..." I sighed and leaned back against the wall. It didn't matter, we just had to swallow and continue with what we were doing. Everything was just going to happen again in a few years anyways and that helpless feeling started to return as I let my head drop. History repeats itself too quickly these days. --- June 13th, 2071 7:00 PM Metz With the captured cities still in disarray from resistance fighters, but the need to continue our advance through Lorraine and into Alsace being just as important, the first of Tavernier's plans came into effect. For each city, Mulhouse, Metz, Nancy, and Epinal, a garrison of ten thousand men for each city was to be implemented, while this would reduce the maximum amount of soldiers we could use for the attack on Strasbourg, it would also keep us from losing territory we had just gained. With that in mind, the first regiments and battalions of the Imperial Army began to filter out into the countryside with the passing of the afternoon into the bright evening. UAVs were the first to fly over the Lorraine Countryside to see if any large German forces were in the region that needed to be concentrated on. These reports would be given back to the Forward Command at Nancy and then forces would be moved to country those enemy positions. As such however, the French army began to move, Blondel and Rougemont's positions to Sarregumines, this being the group my own regiment was part of. Out of Nancy Chantel and Desnoyers were to take their regiments north to Sarrebourg and from Mulhouse, Raine was to march up and seize the town of Colmar out of German hands, if in fact the Germans were still defending the town. The attacks would occur on German positions the next morning at the break of dawn and through the night it would be our positioning over the cities and around them, hoping to cut off the chance of German retreat. But with the UAVs out in front, the hope was to at least see the Germans before our main lines came in contact with them. Or to get a good prediction of just how strong their positions were within the city. Renee, the Athenian, would be along with my regiment as well. She wanted a taste of battle, she would most definitely receive it. Edited July 25, 2010 by Sarah Tintagyl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franz Ferdinand Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 [center][img]http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/8977/wenn5381589.jpg[/img] David Hasselhoff looked at the camera with a uneasy look on his face, he was being advised by his party to announce a statement in regards to Denmark and their view on this war. Of course, it wasn't really much of note, yet the effects of it would result in the participants thinking carefully on what they do. Finally, he was ready to start speaking... "My friends around the world, it has come to my attention that a Civil War has descended within our brethren within the confines of the German state. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a surprise considering the amount of Bavarian Beer which is consumed there however, it has come to a point where things have spirals out of control. Therefore, as it is my intention to keep Denmark neutral in these affairs, we shall be closing our waters to any nation involved in the recent Franco-German War. This includes travelling through any straits owned by our nation. This action is being implemented for the good of the nation and I shall do whatever is necessary that our nation is in the best potential situation whatever happens. Thank you for your time." With that, David signalled for the camera to stop rolling and looked outside the window. He knew that the people of Denmark might not like this, and that there was growing dissent over his way of handling things, yet if all things go well, he might still have a nation to run after this.[/center] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberstein Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 [quote name='Franz Ferdinand' timestamp='1280079745' post='2388417'] [center][img]http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/8977/wenn5381589.jpg[/img] David Hasselhoff looked at the camera with a uneasy look on his face, he was being advised by his party to announce a statement in regards to Denmark and their view on this war. Of course, it wasn't really much of note, yet the effects of it would result in the participants thinking carefully on what they do. Finally, he was ready to start speaking... "My friends around the world, it has come to my attention that a Civil War has descended within our brethren within the confines of the German state. Of course, this wouldn't be much of a surprise considering the amount of Bavarian Beer which is consumed there however, it has come to a point where things have spirals out of control. Therefore, as it is my intention to keep Denmark neutral in these affairs, we shall be closing our waters to any nation involved in the recent Franco-German War. This includes travelling through any straits owned by our nation. This action is being implemented for the good of the nation and I shall do whatever is necessary that our nation is in the best potential situation whatever happens. Thank you for your time." With that, David signalled for the camera to stop rolling and looked outside the window. He knew that the people of Denmark might not like this, and that there was growing dissent over his way of handling things, yet if all things go well, he might still have a nation to run after this.[/center] [/quote] Classified: The Republic of Finland requests that Denmark allow one passage for our transport ships to get home from Antartica. We are willing to pay a large amount for this one-way ticket though the Ostland straights, and we will have them steam as quickly as safely possible though the straits if allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franz Ferdinand Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 [quote name='BaronUberstein' timestamp='1280097553' post='2388799'] Classified: The Republic of Finland requests that Denmark allow one passage for our transport ships to get home from Antartica. We are willing to pay a large amount for this one-way ticket though the Ostland straights, and we will have them steam as quickly as safely possible though the straits if allowed. [/quote] Classified: "Unfortunately, Denmark's ban covers all kinds of transportation and this includes your transport ships. There is a war on, and if we allow just one ship through, the other side could quite easily turn on us. Neutrality is essential to Denmark, and thus, it must be respected." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberstein Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 [quote name='Franz Ferdinand' timestamp='1280097714' post='2388806'] Classified: "Unfortunately, Denmark's ban covers all kinds of transportation and this includes your transport ships. There is a war on, and if we allow just one ship through, the other side could quite easily turn on us. Neutrality is essential to Denmark, and thus, it must be respected." [/quote] Classified: Does this apply to Finnish civilian traffic? Classified to Norway: Requesting permission to dock 40,000 troops in Oslo and use train networks to get them inside the Baltic for movement to Germany. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franz Ferdinand Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 [quote name='BaronUberstein' timestamp='1280097835' post='2388809'] Classified: Does this apply to Finnish civilian traffic? [/quote] "Unfortunately so, during war... you can never be too careful as there are those out there who disguise military transportation under the guise of civilian transportation. We can't be too careful." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Terra Di Agea Posted July 25, 2010 Report Share Posted July 25, 2010 [quote name='BaronUberstein' timestamp='1280097835' post='2388809'] Classified: Does this apply to Finnish civilian traffic? Classified to Norway: Requesting permission to dock 40,000 troops in Oslo and use train networks to get them inside the Baltic for movement to Germany. [/quote] [font="Courier New"][center][b]--< Classified to Finland >--[/b] You are cleared to land in Oslo. For the moment, we wish to remain neutral in this conflict, so we request that weapons be surrendered upon docking, to be carried to Finland separately, and returned immediately after crossing the border. So long as this request is met, we have no issue with your presence, and wish you well in your battles to come.[/center][/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Centurius Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 (edited) [b]June 12th 5:00 PM Imperial War Cabinet[/b] By now the reports from the Russians about their mobilizations had reached the Imperial War Cabinet, while their intent was unknown it was to either invade Germany or France, it had to be. In both cases action from Athens would be required. “We should withdraw from the ECO and prepare to respond to the Russians” one of the generals said. It was a general sentiment in the Imperial War Cabinet lately, the ECO was a failed bloc and only a limit in how Athens could conduct its foreign policy, it was also a failsafe however. By now missiles had been armed at numerous locations, South Germany, Slavorussia, Finland. “If I may Empress” Jean-Luc said rising from his seat. “Withdrawing from the ECO could be taken the wrong way at the moment and we do not even know what they are planning. However we should withdraw our Councilors to send a message, an attack on an ally of Athens would result in withdrawal from the pact and potential counter-actions.” For the first time in all these days the diplomats and military had found common ground, both the generals as the diplomats were in favor of playing ECO to send a message. “That still leaves Finland, they are moving in support of North Germany. If they fight France we will need to retaliate but with the wave of Germans and Finnish differentiating between the 2 could prove troublesome” By now Nikita decided to jump in. “Should Finland attack France we will retaliate. Renée currently is in the north of France the First Division should move there too to reinforce the pre-war borders of France and Germany. In addition we will send the 1st Corps of the First Army to France with 1,000 tanks and 500 artillery pieces. The rest of the First Army will move north to assist the Second Army. The Third Army will be used for the defense of Athens proper” You could hear dozens of people talking amongst themselves, the plan was risky as 150,000 men for the defense of Athens was quite risky. After half a minute of mixed feelings Imperial Command rose “Hear, hear” soon the rest of the Imperial War Cabinet followed. The orders were send out. [b]June 12th 6:00 PM Metz[/b] I had been helping the French for a few hours already, there wasn’t much else to do. There was resistance in the city however as long as she was in the safe zone she didn’t notice much of it, as a while had passed I hear my mobile phone ringing. Taking it from my pocket I looked at the display, it was the Imperial Pentagon in Athens, which was weird as normally they’d use the Embassy to pass on orders. This apparently was an emergency. I pressed the receive button and put the phone at my right ear. “Field Commander Renée Picard here” “Commander, we have just received orders from the Imperial War Cabinet. The First Division is to regroup at the pre-war Franco-German border, the remaining divisions of the First Corps are being send to reinforce the border against non-German threats. Spain has been lowered to a low priority state” “Have we received information about a stronger nation preparing to attack?” “All information is available at the Embassy Commander, your Deputy should arrive soon with the full Briefing. Good luck.” With a sigh I ended the call, if they were putting that much of manpower in France they were expecting a serious fight. Considering defense against several European powers was impossible due to treaties it had to be a big fish. Expecting some serious action soon I called my Deputy to bring my Ares armor with him so I would be well equipped. [b]June 12th 9:00 PM Metz[/b] I had left the meeting before it was over, the bickering was something I’d rather not be involved in, furthermore I had understood the basics of the plan. By now the Deputy had delivered me the reports and my armor which I had put on to be sure. I would be needing it tomorrow when we were going to see combat. Even though I had my own regiment I would still join the French as Athenian forces were limited to the internationally recognized borders of France. I walked to the St. Stephens Cathedral, even though I did not believe in the Christian god his house always had a calming effect on me. Once inside I looked at the beauty of it and took a seat to rest a bit. Of course I had tried to sleep but only a religious building could make it possible for me to actually have some rest. I removed the helmet and placed it next to me, without realizing it I fell asleep. [b]June 13th 6:00 AM Metz[/b] The gunfire had rocked me out of my sleep, I quickly put on my helmet and disconnected the rifle from the uniform. I ran outside and looked outside, there were people everywhere and I could hear so many languages. I used the display to see if it could differentiate between the citizens walking around however it had no effect either, soon bullets were fired at me. Luckily the uniform provided some protection, realizing it was either them or me I aimed my rifle and shot everything that was in my way, I had to get out of here. Without realizing it I had shot 7 people, all armed but still. I wasn’t here to kill these people, if it wasn’t for the helmet the people would have seen my tears, I quickly ran away as fast as I could. I should have ran in a different direction, before I knew it I was close to a gas station, I saw a few people obviously from the German side. I aimed my rifle and used the few german I knew. “Halt! “I yelled and walked closer to the group however at that point they detonated something, soon I would know what. The blast was intensive and blew me back. For one second there I had the feeling it was all over, I saw my life happen all over again from my youth to the Bulgarian Civil War and more. If it wasn’t for a small group moving me away. “Don’t worry madame, we will take you back” Before I could do anything I was taken back to a house, it apparently was one of the same places. From the talking I could hear they were French, what a relieve. All I needed now would be being taken prisoner by Germans. The display had been showing my health for a while, luckily my basic functions were stable though I could feel pain throughout my body. Thank god no bullets had gone through. I tried to stand however was pushed back by a woman. “Take it easy soldier, your uniform doesn’t look French nor German. Where are you from?” I disconnected the helmet and removed it from my head. “The Athenian Federation miss.“ “The Greeks? Are they here to help us against the Germans?” I felt uncomfortable, how could I tell this woman we had thousands of soldiers ready to help but not allowed to actually enter this part of what should be France. “We… eh… We are not allowed to enter Alsace-Lorraine, I only was allowed here because I am a Liaison to the French” Strangely enough the woman still smiled. “You are here to help anyway in your own way, judging by your actions you are willing to die for us too. That is enough.” The voice had a calming effect on me and the words were very much welcome. “Thank you” Meanwhile I was looking at my watch, 2 hours had passed. “I am afraid I have to leave the base camp is going to need me.” Moving hurt but I was going to survive, I thanked the people and left a small reminder, the flag patch of the Athenian uniform on my armor, after which I put the helmet on and walked away. The rifle was empty so I just connected it to the uniform and took the right handgun. Carefully I moved away to the base camp and went for a place to lie down. The big operation would come tonight and I would need to be fit for it. [b]June 13th 7:00 PM Metz[/b] I still had the events of 12 hours earlier in my mind and the pain in my chest to remind me of it. I had cleaned up the armor but it could still be seen that it had faced combat earlier. Lucky not against soldiers, if it had been military grade weapons or explosives not even my armor could have protected me. With fully loaded and armed weapons I had joined the regiment of Khris, I hadn’t restored the flag patch yet as officially I wasn’t here on behalf of the Athenian government, not even unofficially this was something I had to do myself. [b]June 13th 8:00 AM Slavic-German Border[/b] It was cold outside the encampments of the Second Army, all men knew today was he day and they had been preparing for it. As was common with military operations of these kind they had been given NBC equipment and several arms, the tanks in the assault were mostly able to cross the terrain involved due to the presence of similar terrain in for example Bulgaria or Greece. To assist the divisions artillery had been pulled out too, around 2,000 artillery pieces including self-propelled guns had been placed at the border. To deal with hostile defenses the Navy and Air Force had launched a joint operation, Cruise Missiles fired from Submarines and other ships in the Adriatic would be directed to Radar Installations and air defenses. Minutes after impact of these missiles 15 Squadrons of B-2s escorted by 2 Squadrons F-1s each would unleash their payload on the aforementioned installations. As the clock approached 9 AM as message was send out from Imperial Command in Athens. The attack was a go. 200,000 men, 2,000 tanks and Air support to protect them would cross the Slavic-German border just before the Slavic Forces. These men were not in there to destroy the place but just kill everything that was considered hostile. Should they find armed civilians those too would be considered enemy combatants. [b]June 13th 11:00 AM Adriatic [/b] While the ground assault was considered the most important part of the operation security for the naval assets in the Adriatic was important too, by now Imperial Command had detected the reinforcement which should they arrive could form a threat to the allied fleet. As such Operation: Falling Star was authorized. As soon as they had finished their assault on German installations the navy would plot a course to intercept the Communist fleet. Once within firing range all ships were granted a weapons free, soon everything they had would be unleashed on the defending fleet, railguns, naval guns and common cruise missiles. Under sea level the Fast Attack Submarines would aim to take down enemy submarines and then target surface ships. While the Athenian fleet was obviously not as advanced its numbers would give it a serious lead. Edited July 26, 2010 by Centurius Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberstein Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 (edited) [quote name='Franz Ferdinand' timestamp='1280098724' post='2388841'] "Unfortunately so, during war... you can never be too careful as there are those out there who disguise military transportation under the guise of civilian transportation. We can't be too careful." [/quote] OOC: Do you own the Kiel Canal or does Martens? I need to know before I can respond. Just make sure to tell me via PM I don't want to clutter the thread. <__< Also, I'll post a war movement post as soon as I get the info I need from Martens. [quote name='Il Terra Di Agea' timestamp='1280100571' post='2388889'] [font="Courier New"][center][b]--< Classified to Finland >--[/b] You are cleared to land in Oslo. For the moment, we wish to remain neutral in this conflict, so we request that weapons be surrendered upon docking, to be carried to Finland separately, and returned immediately after crossing the border. So long as this request is met, we have no issue with your presence, and wish you well in your battles to come.[/center][/font] [/quote] Classified to Norway: This is acceptable, we thank Norway for their help with getting our troops home. We will inform you when the ships are near Oslo, they are still in the southern hemisphere at the moment. Classified Military Movements: The Airborne's 105mm artillery and artillery crews had started to arrive in Hamburg, though it would still take some time to transport them all. Meanwhile, the 4 airborne divisions started to march, fly, or drive their way to the front, often trying to hitch rides on the motor transports of the German divisions. Heikki Kottila sat in the passanger seat of a hard-top Volvo C303, looking out the window as the car drove along next to one of the airborne columns that had managed to get some trucks for movement. "Sometimes I wish the Germans would be more specific, how exactly am I meant to close a gap of unknown size with four divisions? And then there's the fact that we won't have anything but our rifles and AT missiles because for some reason they shipped all of our artillery to Hamburg!" The driver nods, but pays attention to not getting crowded off the roads by the large trucks, "Of course sir. I'm sure it will be dealt with." "I swear, if I end up having to retreat because of a lack of supporting artillery fire, I'm going to STRANGLE the German logistics officers who made that decision." Edited July 26, 2010 by BaronUberstein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Terra Di Agea Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 [font="Courier New"][center][color="#FF0000"][b]--< < Classified > >--[/b][/color] ____________________________________________ --[ Incoming Command // MilCom ]-- Following the French Invasion of Alsace-Lorraine, OTH Radar will begin to monitor all aerial movements possible Satellites are to observe all military movements on both sides No military force should engage any targets, be they manned, or unmanned, missile or aircraft All airports, railways, and docks shall be set on high alert to inspect any human from either party Refugees will be allowed into the country, but will be detained upon landing until such a time that they have a Visa cleared The Nation is to go on alert, DEFCON 4 Military bases should prepare for further orders //End Transmission\\ [color="#FF0000"][b]--< < Classified Transmission to Berlin > >--[/b][/color] --[ Subject: French Invasion ]-- Should you require it, we are prepared to offer military aid in the repelling of French forces in Alsace-Lorraine. It must be known however that we will be remaining neutral in the German civil war for the time being. We will not, under any circumstances, engage Communist forces in the south, but we do wish to prevent the breach of German sovereignty by the invading French forces. Should you require our presence, we would be pleased to give it. //End Transmission\\ [/center][/font] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justinian the Mighty Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 [b]8:00 AM June 12 Peterhof Palace[/b] Justinian knelt at the altar of the chapel. His white and silver uniform shone angelically in the dim light. The silver aiguillette draped across his chest swung slightly as he shifted himself onto his knees. He looks up at the icons and crosses himself then begins praying for his soul, and for the souls of the men he and his fellow leaders were about to send to their deaths, whether they be Russian, German or even French. A set of large golden doors far behind him open wide. Christina steps out from behind them and approaches the altar. The feather plume in her wide brim hat flutters while she glides across the marble floor. She crosses herself and approaches the alter. The sound of her heels on the floor alerts Justinian to her presence. He rises, crossing himself one final time and turns to his wife. “What is it?” he asks softly. “Mama and Papa have arrived. We‘re still going to go yachting aren’t we? The children have looked forward to it all week.” “Yes, I just needed some time alone to myself.” His pale face and sunken cheeks give him a ghostly appearance. Christina grabs his hands and pulls him closer until they embrace. “Why won’t you tell me what is going on? You hardly eat or sleep. Are you sick?” “Yes, I am sick. I‘m sick of the betrayal, sick of the fighting, sick of the throne.” “You can’t mean that,” she gasps releasing Justinian from her grip, “Russia needs you! How many times have you brought this country back from the abyss?” “And how many times have I led it there?” he interjects sharply. “There have been two coups against me in less than 4 years. It‘s obvious how unpopular I truly am. Perhaps it‘s time to remove myself from the equation.” “Don’t you see what‘s happening? You‘re being tested. Your enemies want to test you will, and God wants to test your faith. Stop worrying about the French, they are silly to trifle with your allies and what destruction they bring on themselves is entirely of their own doing. If you want my advice, burn Paris to the ground then trample on the ashes.” Justinian chuckles when confronted with his wife‘s absolute faith in his qualities as a leader. “You really are insane. Do you know that? You‘re right though whatever will be will be.” [b]8:30 AM June 12 Ekaterinburg Army Base[/b] Colonel Istvan Gulyas sits behind his desk glaring devilishly at the centerfold of his favorite gentleman’s magazine. He’s so focused on examining every inch of the unfolded model that he doesn’t hear his commander, General Denikin. The general opens and slams the door to the office to gain the Colonel’s attention. Colonel Gulyas jumps to attention and salutes. “General! I didn‘t hear you come in sir.” “At ease Colonel! I see you‘ve become rather comfortable out here in the border regions. Not too comfortable I hope.” Colonel Gulyas reaches for a bottle of vodka and offers the General a glass. “No thank you Colonel, I‘m here strictly on business. Orders from the Ministry are that we’re going to war soon. I‘m going to Berlin with General Menshikov, and I‘ve arranged for you and your men to accompany me.” What a great opportunity, thought the Colonel as he peered out the window to the soldiers on patrol. “I haven‘t commanded soldiers during war sir, this is huge.” he replies excitedly. “well I guess if you count the rebellion, but that was different. Thank you for this honor sir.” “Pack your bags and kiss you wife and children Colonel, who knows when you‘ll get to see them again.” he shakes the colonel’s hand and smiles. “We leave at 06:00 tomorrow.” [b]Noon June 12 Ministry of Defense, Moscow[/b] General Menshikov sits at the head of the table now and a meeting with only members of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense. The new Minister of Defense sits across from the General scrawling notes to give to the Prime Minister. Vladimir Putin, as Chief of Intelligence is also present and stands in front of projection screen projecting a map of the Alsace-Lorraine region. “Tonight, at midnight special forces will be dropped behind enemy lines to organize and aid the German resistance at Metz, Nancy and Epinal, currently occupied by the French, it‘s important to note this will happen a full 24 hours before our official declaration of war. Although we‘re not seeking the element of surprise in this war it will be important for our opening clandestine operations. I have authorized snipers to assassinate French officers if given the opportunity.” “What about the communists in the south?” General Menshikov asks. “Surely we should be focusing on quelling the rebellion as well.” “The communists are an internal issue that the Prime Minister doesn‘t want us to get involved with. Not openly involved at least. The SVR will be working in the south to sabotage the communists at every turn, but it‘s nothing the military should worry about.” “Alright.” Menshikov replies. “Tomorrow at midnight our bombers will leave their bases in the east to attack the French supply lines. We‘ll be relying on the air force to achieve it‘s objectives until we can get a substantial number of troops on the ground. If all goes well we should be able to stall the French from advancing and push them back when the time comes. I‘ll see you gentlemen in Germany.” [b]11:45 June 12 Somewhere near Metz[/b] A Slavorussian cargo plane flies into French occupied airspace around Metz. Their mission still fresh in their minds from the briefing is simple: organize and aid the German resistance, sabotage the French supply lines and when at all possible assassinate French officers. It was a task they had performed countless times in the past, but many things could go wrong. The slightest mistake was the soldiers greatest enemy. Using the excuse that they mistakenly traveled into disputed skies the cargo plane circles around Metz and drops it load, three squads of special forces behind the French front line. eight well trained Slavorussian special forces soldiers, fluent in German and French, leap from the open bay of the aircraft. They are capable of surviving in harsh environments for weeks, and months if necessary with basic supplies. They are the best their nation has to offer. As they fall at high speeds toward the ground their transport plane discharges several crates they will have to recover before dawn. They land in different locations scattered across the countryside. After a bumpy landing and the soldiers individually make their way to the rally point. Captian Oleg Kuzov the overall leader of the operation and two others are the last to arrive. “We need to find those crates.” he says to his men. “If we don’t find them by the time the sunrises the mission could be compromised.” “How many are there Captain?” “Only two. Judging by our landing they probably fell northeast of our current position. We need to get out of these uniforms and into some civvies. After that we follow our orders, split into 4 teams: red, green, blue and yellow, and accomplish our objectives. If anyone dies it means I have to write a letter to their parents, so whatever you do, don’t die!” Just as Kuzov predicted the crates were together a few kilometers northwest of their rally point. Inside they found their civilian clothes, food, ammunition and money. The teams would make their way to Metz and separate in the morning. [b]8:00 June 13 Moscow[/b] Dmitry stands at the podium on the floor of the Parliament talking preparing to talk to the nation. The cheers and applause that remain from his entrance to the great hall die down. “Your Majesty, Honorable Senators and Deputies, citizens and people of the world: In a few hours Slavorussian bombers will leave their airbases behind to engage in the early stages of war against the French Empire and it‘s allies, who are at this moment enthralled in a war of their making with United Germany. We have been called by our German allies to aid in the defense of their country and in accordance with our alliance with the German state we will answer their call. On my orders Slavorussian forces will begin to wage restricted warfare against the French Army and its supply lines in Alsace and Lorraine to undermine the Empress’s ability to wage war. These next crucial hours will be instrumental in disabling the French and stalling them in their tracks. The focus of our mission is to expel French troops from Germany‘s borders. Regardless of historical disputes over the territory in question, Slavorussia recognizes that Alsace and Lorraine are legally territories of the German nation and that the invasion by the French breaks not only the Franco-German alliance, but the Franco-Russian alliance as well. In the interest of preserving our treaty with the French I offer the French government four hours to enter into negotiations with the German government. At the end of that period the Slavorussian Empire will see no option but to begin offensive operations. Though we enter this war with a short timeframe for the French to withdraw we will remain open to peace. The continuity of peace in Europe is after all the underlying cause for our involvement. Nevertheless we urge our friends in France to back down before then. To the Slavorussian soldiers who are about to be deployed, the fate of a nation and the survival of peace in Europe rests with you. The nation places it‘s faith in your ability to get the job done, and our trust is well founded. To the Slavorussian families who are praying tonight that their sons and daughters, husbands and wifes, mothers and fathers, return home safely return safely, know that the entire nation prays with you, and that the commanders of the armed forces will do everything in their power to bring the war to a quick and painless end for all involved. Though we enter this conflict with caution and a measure of hesitancy we will not back down. The French have broke our treaty and a message must be sent to anyone who would think to harm our allies. Slavorussia will defend her allies as if she were defending her own children. Together with the German nation we will overcome this obstacle and ensure that our Grand Alliance will last through the ages and prevail. Good night and may God bless us all.” As the Prime Minister left the stage, Slavorussian bombers based near the Ural Mountains would be leaving their bases bound for the war zone. They would fly nearly the entire four hours the French had been given to withdraw, and if they refused they would drop their ordinance on French soldiers occupying the region. Operation: Firestorm had begun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Martens Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 (edited) [b][u]West Front:[/u][/b] Things went on as usual. Different combatants with different banners sprung out of nowhere to either attack the French or to even try and destroy anything that may seem useful to them. After a while, the Germans started to cut off electricity and gas supplies from the zones, giving the struggles some sort of medieval feel among the many banners, uniforms and chaos. The German Resistance was not going to be by itself ever enough to shove the French back to their homeland, but it achieved its mission by forcing some troops to stay behind, even if at least to guard the supply lines. Now, the French started to move towards Sarreburg, Colmar, and similar small places as to ready themselves for their next and final assault against Strassburg. It was already humilliating for the French to suffer so many casualties due to irregular soldiers, without having met real resistance from the Regulars. At this point, the German Resistance attempted to change their way of operating. When the French would enter Sarreburg and Raine, they would in fact find no resistance. They would be greeted as liberators at last. There would be various French banners around the towns too...but after only a short time, things would take an unexpected twist. They were, in fact, Germans disguised as French! A number of them after having gone to hug and give beer to their French would-have-been Liberators in fact spontaneously exploded - it would later turn out that they had a large number of explosives hidden. Some others would instead use other means such as stabbing or firing weapons in close range. Those of higher rank would be targetted first, and once that the fassade was no more, the regular resistance which they had seen earlier would go on, with a few added flamethrowers. Beyond, Strassburg, had more time to gear up properly for a fight. All the roads and means of entering were physically blocked by dragon's teeth, czech hedgehogs and different areas had been laid with antitank and antipersonal mines, some of which were improvised. By now, those which did not want to fight had been able to leave, so the city looked like a ghost town. Several places had been prepared to trigger large fires, but later, once that the french managed to occupy it. They were trying to turn the place into one big trap to go along with the scorched earth used so far. Somewhere within the Strassburg Underground, those who were about to die sat and sung one of the most popular songs in what had once been known as Northern Germany. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on-CuaGMveg ) ----------- [b][u]Southern Front:[/u][/b] [i]Fall Hadubrand[/i] It was determined that it was best to strike right now, while others in the Southeast were ready or about to strike, and before the initiative was lost again to the Reds. They had to set the German Machinery into motion, for once that it was rolling, even if harmed, it would not outright break down. Maybe. Intelligence had determined that scattered around the border, the Reds had anywhere from 70 to 80 infantry divisions and 30 to 40 tank divisions. The quality of the Rebel and Loyalist divisions were for the most part the same, the only difference is that the North employed many officers of Silver and Nordlandic schools, which were at least theoretically supposed to be better, as they had more experience. Yet the South seemed to make up for this by being especially stubborn - not to say that the Northerners weren't. In the end, Army Group South ended up as composed by: Fieldmarshall: Tambarskjelve [i]Battlegroup Sölversvärd[/i] (Ten Hulsen) 26 Infantry divisions 21 Panzer Divisions [i]Battlegroup Mjöllnir[/i] (Runesson) 26 Infantry divisions 21 Panzer Divisions [i]Battlegroup Brünnhild[/i] (Krause) 26 Infantry divisions 21 Panzer Divisions [i]Battlegroup Teutonicus[/i] (von Möller) 26 Infantry divisions 21 Panzer Divisions [i]Battlegroup Rommels Wut[/i] (von Amend) 26 Infantry divisions 21 Panzer Divisions The divisions were supplied and organized for a four-pronged offensive, which was supposed to drill deep into southern germany. What they hoped to do was advance at a decent speed together at first, then when starting to encounter enemy resistance, unless if outnumbered, they hoped to create small pockets to reduce one by once as they advanced. It was not the traditional blitzkrieg, but rather they wanted this to be a conjunction of many small envelopment and reduction operations to push the front steadily. If they found any weakspots, they'd exploit them. Each of the units were "distributed" with a "geographical expert", that is, a person who was familarized with the terrain that they were ahead, that had served, fought, or lived there, someone who may know where enemies may choose to fight and how, to overcome this situation. They would not feel like outsiders or foreigners, nor invaders, but fighting for their home soil. Their duty was considered to be sacred. The Battlegroups have also been given a number of "attchments" (hoi2 style), which can be roughly summed up in the following manner: 1/3 almost of the brigades had Heavy Artillery, slightly over 1/3 had PzHs, 1/3 everything else of which AA and ACs are the most common. There were thousands of artillery, and hundreds of everything else accordingly. Artillery had always been one of the most important parts of the Reichswehr. 210mm Heavy Artillery w/trucks (Many) -Armored Cars (Some) -Light Tanks (Rare, maybe 100) -Heavy Tanks (Very rare, maybe 5) -AA Panzer (Leopard 2 + SAM attachment ) -Engineers (Commonplace, in order to overcome broken bridges) -Tank Destroyers (Few, less than 500) -PzH 2000 Artillery (Most divisions have this) The German Army got moving as soon as the Red Army had started their attack on the north. They had been watching with their satellites, and saw the artillery pieces firing and the rockets being fired. The armies, which had been waiting then and there, go forwards and before the first shells fall are already returning the favor and on the move. The artillery shells and rockets could well say hello to each other, passing close to one another on midair while travelling to their targets. The German AA, which was plenty and substantial, first tried to destroy the incoming rockets to preserve itself. Defending radar was no big priority, for they could simply make more and rely on satellite-based detection. That is what they would do against the incoming Red Air, which they would detect and fire upon. Soon, the German Luftwaffe - all 10 fighter squadrons with their 5 bomber squadrons - would respond and move forwards to intercept the Red Aircraft. It was a bit interesting to watch this from afar, as the equipment on both sides was almost always the same, only with a different flag. Coordinated by Air Marshalls "Von Danzig" and "De Vries", they moved in two "spears" against the incoming aircraft, taking on whichever enemies they could deal with while the AA tried to provide cover from below. Regardless of how the battle went on the air, at the very least, they would not allow the enemy Bombers to have their way throughout all of Germany. The air, not just the land, would be an insane battle, which made the French campaign in the west pale in comparison. Some of the Rockets sent forth by the North were "Scout rockets" with high velocity cameras to find out more about the battlefields right away. Soon, upon the enemy positions, many rockets were fired, and for a while both sides had launched so many things up and into the air that two rockets even randomly collided in midair. Such were things when dealing with hundreds of rockets. What were the odds? Both sides were likely to suffer moderately high casualties soon. ------- [u]At the Bunker:[/u] -"Instructions at this point have been issued and confirmed. The offensive is underway. I hear that the Southeastern Allies have begun their attack too in part. Hm." "Ratsherr. Two ships, Explorer and Bismarck, have survived in the south and reached Martenshaven, which still resists, after having sunk some Red Ships." -"Award them an Iron Cross in that case...tell them to remain there to assist the defense of Martenshaven. If they are lucky, maybe the Slavic and Hellenic offensives will save them and the city." "Very well. Here are the news on the French advances." The Ratsherr examines them along with Martens the Elder and Tambarskjelve. It all looks good. From the looks of this, France may not have had a chance at all if it weren't for the south. It filled them with pride and yet with frustration. -"Alright. Send some cargo missiles to Strassburg to help them prepare. That is all we can do. If the French want to occupy Elsass-Lothringen, so be it. It'll hurt them more than it will help them....hmm. Any news from Norway and Russia?" "Yessir. Russia will send us 250 of their finest warriors to hold the French, which will allow us to redeploy Army Group West to the South as two new Battlegroups. Norway is still deliberating internally, but at least they have allowed Finland passage." -"Well we find ourselves in debt with our allies." Martens the Elder interrupted. "I guess that this will change my long term FA aspirations. After all.." - he is interrupted by Tambarskjelve. "Don't count your eggs before they hatch." The Ratsherr goes on, "I will make soon an announcement towards the French but also to the world to clarify our position regarding the ongoing situations, maybe it will help others decide in our favor. How are the Finns doing?" Tambarskjelve goes on, "Their transport is underway. We will have them deploy just north of AGS to form their own Battlegroup. "Army Group Perkele." They will assemble first at Leipzig, then advance to Weimar and from there straight south to join in with the offensive. Their aerotransported divisions have been rerouted to this location accordingly. They will arrive there earlier. We'd send them to the front, but we want the Finnish troops to arrive all at once if possible and fresh. Our infrastructure is state of the art, they should be there soon. Make sure that they send us someone here to the bunker to coordinate." Ratsherr Martens nods. It all seemed so orderly and simplified from here. In reality, it was incredibly complex and chaotic. ----------- Martens spoke to the world again, "Frankreich, (France) It is a disgrace what you have done to your own nation and ruling. You have sent yourself as a nation headlong into a complete, total disaster. This will be your last opportunity to reconsider your actions. You are still in time of pulling out, in fact, you're still in time of honoring the MDP which we held, still in time of fighting on our side rather than against us. Have we not been reasonable? We had never taken any land which did not have German majorities. We had held plebiscites. This battle is uncalled for. We are giving you a second and last chance to do what is right and back down to instead fight for Europe as a whole. What do you think that Communists - Stalinists, hardcore communists - would do but next invade France itself, which is a monarchy? Even the best of victories against Germany would ultimately be a defeat for France. You must know this. The cycle of conflict between France and Germany must end. If it does not end now, peacefully, it will end up later when we reach Paris, restore the borders, and allow the French to vote for a President after removing current rule. Those are our goals. France is something we can, and should live with. They are merely misguided by poor leadership. I am sure that if they had spoken to us about their issues with Elsass-Lothringen, we could have done something. But they are asking to be rectified. You have declared war on us, but stabbed us in the back. Now I dare you to look at us in the eyes and declare war a second time by continuing. If you should choose that, your people will know why Germany is Odin's favorite nation: We always boost the ranks of his Einherjar by destroying one enemy after another, and soon your whole army will feed the ravens and then serve them in such manner. With the Southern Rebels...we will not behave like this. We will give them no negotiations, no place to hide. War will continue against the Southern Stalinists, until every one of their pitiful republics are restored to Germanic or Slavic order. They are a beast, one which cannot be reasoned with, and we would be wasting our time reasoning with them. The only reasonable thing which can be done to them is putting them down with lethal force. For if we allowed them to go on, the same thing would happen as has always happened ever since South and North split up. From Nordland to GDR, from GDR to this, it is the same powerbase, the same aggitators, and only when Berlin rules supreme over Germany will the continent be stabilized. We will [i]never[/i] surrender. This is for us a Holy War. The Black, White and Silver Armies will strike and reach victory no matter the cost and no matter how long it may take. The time for diplomacy with them has Come and Gone. They Red Beast will never rest until we create and force it into its grave for good. [i]Walhalla![/i] Edited July 26, 2010 by Kaiser Martens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manetheren Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 [b]Swakopmund [/b] The barracks debates between soldiers never ended and even in the backwater posting of Swakopmund did soldiers find time to debate world affairs. Most of the focus was on the affairs of their homeland, yet many of the soldiers, especially the ethnic Nordlanders and ideologically driven men of the Armtha SS had an eye on Germany as well. When the great fleet had returned home to reconquer the southern states, the Armtha SS had been left behind. Partially this was due to the new Presidents hostility towards them. After all, an ideological paramilitary had no place being supported by the government of a democratic society, and so they were left here as the new guards of the Tahoe-Transvaal province. This left the men in limbo. Not Transvalers but not really Tahoan anymore either....legally at least. The men opposed communism with the zeal of a crusader and to see their great ally Germany fall under communist sway once more was more than they could bear. Their frustration at being trapped in Africa, neither capable of fighting for their homeland or against the red tide was reaching a boiling point. Daily confrontation with provincial government was becoming more violent. It was decided to send the men north. Volunteers were asked to write their resignations and were transported to a waiting cruise ship, where a "takeover" was staged and the SS men who had desired to fight for Germany would get their chance. The men had their gear transfered to them in the night, all Tahoan markings removed and replaced with the SS armband bearing a black celtic cross on a green and red stripe. In addition to small arms, a number of armored vehicles, enough for one armored battalion were on board. The ship sailed north, in international waters along its normal cruise route. It entered Scottish territorial waters but instead of disembarking at London like scheduled, the civilian crew was sent ashore and the ship set a fast pace towards the Netherlands, being escorted by German coastal ships the last few miles. The men disembarked and gathered their gear. Far from home, far from hope. They would fight and die to defend freedom from the communist horde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Martens Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 (edited) OOC: I'll wait some posts before deploying the troops, since they are supposed to have come from far away. IC: But in a way, they were closer to home than ever. When they arrive to Amsterdam they are greeted by a delegation of Nordheim Celts as well as a number of Tahoean refugees that had ended up in Germany earlier. They had been brought to give the newcomers a morale boost, and saluted them as brothers as well as protectors. A young child was told by its father, "These are the men who have come from our original country, far away, to protect us from the French Empress and from the Communists. When they fight, and they win, we will be able to make ourselves a new home here or otherwise we can go back to America...go ahead, son." - The child steps forwards and does his best military salute towards the Armtha. These were only 10.000 men - one division - but they were considered and expected to be elite, and so would be given the best German equipment that was at hand. Soon, they are given beer and shipped to the East, where they'll get acquainted with their new VDL-made Body Armor, where their division will be given an Armored attachment of Tank Hunter "Perkunos". Then they will surely be sent to the South... While making sure that the French fleet does not approach the Netherlands, the Kriegsmarine starts to move closer to Iceland. Edited July 26, 2010 by Kaiser Martens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malatose Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 (edited) As soon as the word was given, the Slavic Federation initiated "Red Scar", their offensive into the GDR.. [b]Space and Air Operations:[/b] The first stage of the Slavic military offensive began. Silos from strategic areas in the Federation opened up. Out of them launched over fifteen ICBMs, with LEO Trajectory flight paths. The ICBMs were modified "Slevesky" missiles. Each of this massive intercontinental ballistic missiles were equipped with thirty-two anti-satellite kinetic kill vehicles. The mission for these missiles were simple. Knock out all communist communications, links to and from ground stations, and guidance technologies; thus, crippling the country significantly. As the ICBMs reached their intended, the deadly kill vehicles were unleashed. The anti-satellite kinetic kill vehicles were split amongst the communist satellite networks. The kinetic vehicles would shred the satellites, damaging them immensely. Any satellites still operation would be destroyed completely by a second wave of these kinetic kill vehicles. Altogether, the attack would be destructive and Slavic military officials hoped that the enemy communications would be crippled severely, if not completely. After the initial strike, the second was launched. Another wave of the destructive "Slevesky" intercontinental ballistic missiles were launched. This time, two dozen of these mammoth beast were launched. Each missile was equipped with ten high explosive MaIRVs each. The intended target for these missiles were areas of strategic importance to the communist. Military airfields, supply depots, major manufacturing centers, railroads, and highways were the intended target for the MaIRVs, although targets of military importance were given high priority. Each of the ICBMs reached their individual LEO Trajectory flight paths and the MaIRVs were launched towards their targets. Using their advanced targeting, in the form of inertial with stellar sensor update and terrain matching radar for MaIRVs, the enemy targets would be hit with pinpoint accuracy. With their high explosive warheads and Mach 14 kinetic energy, targets would have a difficult time escaping heavy damages. Indeed, the around the clock impacting of these high speed munitions would cause tremendous panic to communist forces and would hopefully prove to be a morale reducing weapon, at least the Slavic military hoped. The goal of the opening attack was simple. Knock out enemy space assets; thus, severely damaging their war fighting capabilities. Almost simultaneously, the Slavic Air force began their operations. The entire bomber force of the Slavic Federation was placed in the skies. However, they would not launch the basic bombing runs of old. They would mostly be air mobile cruise missile launchers, intended to stay behind Slavic lines well protected by both Slavic fighers and surface to air missile batteries. Their main goal would be the suppression of communist air defenses. The bombers, which were a combination of the GLI-133 Ank'ríat Super Heavy Bomber and the Lukochenko "Blitz" Advanced Heavy Long Range Supersonic Multi-Role Bomber, neared the border, they unleashed their deadly payloads. Thanks to the massive concentration of bomber power, a combined force of over one-thousand Valhalla Air-Launched Air Defense Suppression Missiles and Norse Air-Launched Anti-Radiation Missiles were launched at RADAR and SAM sites. The Valhalla Air Launched Air Defense Suppression Missile utilized an advanced passive radar-homing seeker with additional home-on-jam capabilities against ground-based radar jammers. Along with this, a MMW radar and LADAR guidance package is also provided, in case the targeted radar is shut down. When coupled with the GPS system, this can also permit the precision targeting of specific vehicles alongside the targeted radar, such as control centers and the SAM launchers themselves be targeted. The Norse Air Launched Anti-Radiation Missile were guided by Inertial with GPS, passive radar-homing seeker w/ home-on-jam with MMW radar and LADAR at terminal. These missiles would slam into RADAR and SAM sites with their 100kg HE-Fragmentation and 45kg HE-Fragmentation warheads. The missiles, themselves, operated a speed of over Mach 1.2. The Slavic Airforce would conduct three waves of these attacks on communist air defenses. Thirty minutes, after the massive offensive against RADAR and Surface to Air Missile sites, the final offensive was launched. However, this offensive would be more of a psychological move, designed to scare the enemy population into submission. In the skies, the combined force of all the federations GLI-133 Ank'ríat Super Heavy Bombers and the Lukashenka "Blitz" Advanced Heavy Long Range Supersonic Multi-Role Bombers were equipped with the Arquebus II Long Range Hypersonic Cruise Missile. These missiles would be targeted at landmarks of significant value to the communist. Items of importance such as the Vienna City Tower, DIB 200, and the Century Tower were targeted with ten hypersonic cruise missiles each. The missiles, themselves, would fly at speed of mach six, and would be guided by Inertial with GPS, imaging IR and LADAR at terminal phase. The missiles would have a mixture of 1600kg HE and 600kg penetration warheads. The missiles were aimed at the middle and base of each structure, in order to quickly compromise the structural integrity and allow for a quick collapse. [b]Ground Operations:[/b] Just as the assault from the Arquebus II Long Range Hypersonic Cruise Missiles commenced, the Slavic ground assault began. The opening assault began with a massive barrage of artillery. A combined array of multiple launch Rocket systems, self-propelled guns, and self propelled howitzers bombarded the communist border regions. The self propelled guns used a combination of High Explosive and Extended Range Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions. The Extended Range Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions carried up to seventy-two small anti-armor/personnel grenade sub munitions. The round is capable of successfully engaging unarmored vehicles, soft skinned vehicles and personnel, at extremely long ranges, which amount to some forty kilometers for a howitzer and around eighty kilometers to one hundred kilometers for the advance field artillery system. Slavic forces also employed the SADARM Round otherwise known as the Sense and Destroy Armor Munition, which is an extended program to the M898 munitions of the US Army. The round carries a host of anti-armor sub munitions that release themselves on top of enemy light armored vehicles, penetrating the top armor. How it works is that the round uses a parachute like device to slowly fall over the target and at a certain height, dictated by a range of sensors, the round divides into two submunition penetraters that use their own sensors to search and destroy for enemy vehicles. When the target is located the submunition fires an explosively formed penetrator [EFP] at it. This massive artillery bombardment would go on for over forty minutes, in order to soften possible enemy defenses for the invasion. In conjunction with the artillery and gun systems, the of multiple launch rocket systems fired into the distance. These rocket launchers fired thousands of high explosive, anti-tank, cluster munitions, and heavy saturation rockets onto enemy defenses. Secondary trucks attached to the systems reloaded the MLRS systems within thirty seconds. This allowed a continuous rate of fire to blanket the enemy forces. Alongside the "regular" artillery fire, missiles from the Slev Tactical Flamethrower System fired into the distance as well. These rockets were mostly aimed at the forest alongside the border. Each of these MLRS warheads were equipped with a 70mm Fuel Air Explosive and had a 15m kill radius (open area, far more effective vs. confined spaces). Indeed, everyone who was in the blast radius of these MLRS missiles would be incinerated. Just like the artillery bombardment, these continuous rocket strikes would go on for forty minutes. Of course, the artillery forces would employ “shoot and scoot” tactics. This would make counter battery operations difficult for the enemy. After the artillery strike ended, the Slavic ground offensive began. The Slavic force was divided into three fronts, otherwise known as army groups in other militaries of the world. Two hundred thousand troops, one thousand four hundred tanks, and three thousand pieces of mobile artillery supported each front. The Central Front was tasked with moving into the central part of the GDR, the Southern Front was tasked with moving towards the South and Northern Front was tasked with meeting up with North German troops and continuing forward. Slavic forces were, of course, equipped for Nuclear, Biological and Chemical warfare, as they did not know what to expect. Each Slavic front was supported by it’s own air army, mostly provided by Frontal Aviation, which was the tactical command of the Air force in charge of tactical and fighter aircraft. Frontal Aviation would provide battlefield air defense, close air support, and interdiction. Indeed, this was to be in the form of guided munitions and long range air to surface missiles, which would strike enemy formations, as the Slavic offensive moved forward. [b]Naval Operations[/b] The Slavic Navy moved forward towards the ships of the German Democratic Republic. As a precaution, the Slavic Navy placed a Anti-Submarine shield, which mostly consisted of towed and hull mounted sonar systems. Towed decoys were also deployed, to throw off enemy systems and to make it extremely difficult to track the Slavic fleet. From the decks of the 'Petropavlovsk'-Class Fleet Carriers, various aircraft launched into the distance. These fighters would act as interceptors in the fleet’s Combat Air Patrol perimeters. Airborne Warning and Control Aircraft were also dispatched to act as forward RADAR systems. These systems would be connected to the main ship borne RADAR systems, greatly increasing their range and potency. While the fleet was fully prepared to engage enemy forces, they would not be doing so directly. The first attack would come in the form of the nation’s Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile forces. In space, federation assets in the form of Satellites with EO (Earth Observation), CCD Imaging (charge-coupled device), and SAR (Synthetic aperture radar) had already pinpointed enemy ship assets. Working with this was radar altimeter, to measure the ocean topography, a communications relay network for data linking the radar information from the other assets (awacs or the like, 400km from the target) and GPS down linking. After doing the necessary pre-flight calculations, three Anti-Ship Ballistic Missiles fired into the sky, each one equipped with ten MaIRVs fired into the sky, each one guided by a complex system. Initial guidance for the missile is inertial, to plot reentry over the spot where the target should be. Terminal guidance will be imaging radar, autonomous laser targeting, and onboard passive ELINT targeting sensor. The advent of advanced image processing technologies, image recognition couple with autonomous laser targeting introduces greater accuracy. Each of the MaIRVs would slam into the enemy vessels with their high explosive warheads and Mach 14 kinetic energy. No ship would be able to withstand such an assault. Indeed, it would be a crippling blow to enemy naval forces in that area of operation. Edited July 26, 2010 by Malatose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uberstein Posted July 26, 2010 Report Share Posted July 26, 2010 (edited) Classified: The Republic of Finland's deployed troops, including the airborne, would start to make their way towards designated assembly areas near the front. [b]Assembly Area 1:[/b] 50°57'3.75"N 11°26'0.59"E Commanding Officer: General Heikki Kottila Divisions: 4th Airborne 8th Airborne 12th Airborne 16th Airborne Presidential Guard Total: 50,000 Infantry 100 Mannerheim Tanks 250 95 S 58-61 Recoilless AT Guns 200 M102 105mm howitzers 100 155mm GH52 APU towed howitzers [b]Assembly Area 2:[/b] 50°58'32.50"N 11°13'4.39"E Commanding Officer: General Samsa Veitonen Divisions: 1st Infantry(T) 2nd Infantry 3rd Infantry(T) 5th Mechanized(T) 6th Infantry 7th Infantry Total: 60,000 Infantry Wheeled transportation for 50,000 Tracked transporation for 10,000 300 Mannerheim Tanks 500 155mm GH52 APU towed howitzers 50 Steinhammer G 150mm Self Propelled Guns 250 95 S 58-61 Recoilless AT Guns [b]Assembly Area 3:[/b] 50°54'57.97"N 10°52'18.76"E Commanding Officer: General Aapo Lampen Divisions: 9th Infantry(T) 10th Mechanized(T) 11th Infantry 13th Infantry 17th Infantry 19th Infantry(T) Total: 60,000 Infantry Wheeled transportation for 50,000 Tracked transporation for 10,000 300 Mannerheim Tanks 500 155mm GH52 APU towed howitzers 50 Steinhammer G 150mm Self Propelled Guns 250 95 S 58-61 Recoilless AT Guns Meanwhile, the reserves back home had started to be assigned to where they would defend. The beaches had the Czech hedgehogs rolled onto them and the anti-landing concrete pylons double checked. Those that showed signs of any wear and tear, which would be few due to them being rather new, were wraped in sheet metal and covered in barbed wire. Barbed wire was strung between the hedgehogs along the beaches north of Turku, most of it donated from farms. More anti-ship mines were deployed by civilian fishing vessels that were too small to be used for troop transportation, mainly in a band that made it impossible to approach the southern Finnish shore without knowing the routes, which were supplied to the Slavorussians, Norwegians, Germans, and of course the Finnish sailors. The Republican Navy would guide in larger ships with their small converted fishing vessels. 30,000 in Raasepori 50,000 in Helsinki 50,000 in Turku 20,000 in Mariehamm 10,000 in Laitila 10,000 in Pori 10,000 in Oulu Most of them moved in their own cars, so to any satellites watching it would appear like a vast movement of civilian vehicles, not the movements of an army. Edited July 26, 2010 by BaronUberstein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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