Jump to content

The General's War


Kaiser Martens

Recommended Posts

Haas was presented with a comprehensive report on his land's situation by the General Staff and several ministers. Of them all, Field Marshall Fegelein, just arrived from the South, had the honor of explaining the main points.

"My General,

Austria is finally no longer a thorn in our side. We have now control over the situation and all of its former territory. We have seized several supply, ammunition and oil caches, others were destroyed by their previous owners. A few of our former enemies have in fact joined us...it is safe to say that the land is no longer a threat and conquered proper.

However, much of our gear was not up to the task. This is why we experienced almost one million casualties, all fronts of the war combined. We have equipped our divisions with brand new gear virtually in every case, and are now much more ready to stand up against what may come.

Following your idea that the Greeks and Italians may betray you, we are digging in and fortifying. We are trying to use propaganda to try to get the Austrians on our side - but the wounds of war are too deep for such a thing to have a great effectivity.

The Chinese have destroyed much of our Kriegsmarine. This is worrying. We cannot expel them by sea, we will have to expell them by land. They have a firm foothold currently under attack by our forces. But this is still the least of our concerns. The Benelux Areas and parts of Low Germany and Frisia as well as Hamburg reportedly are ceasing to acknowledge your authority, and we might lose several of our divisions to this rebellion. If they can make a deal with the chinese, Berlin itself can be threatened in no time."

Haas nods.

"Alright. We will focus on the Northwest. We have enough to defend the South well enough if the Pasta Eaters and the gay philosophers should come knocking. We had enough trouble as is taking Austria ourselves, we can now use it to our advantage if they wish to do the same. Put an armor reserve to cover the non-mountain Donau area however. But most of our resources and divisions ought to go towards the Chinese threat. If they are gone, the rebellion will be gone with them."

He made it sound easy. But it was not so. The Einherjar and the Valkyries were gearing up...they were already on their way to Stralsund and Danzig. Haas would soon enough essentially be attacked from all conceiveable directions...

"Now we have to see what the Chinamen do next and then we will send our Leopards to the fray."

OOC: We now have standard cnrp tech, only no nukes/wmds

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 71
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Slovenia

Denard and Dellion watch as the battered and torn vehicles of the Legion make their way past them one by one. Many have stretchers on them carrying dead and wounded Legionnaires. Besides the vehicles men are walking as well, they too help their fellow wounded Legionnaires. "Sir, that is the last of them," Dellion says quietly.

"Good, the long march is over, Austria still lives sort of, and the Legion didn't surrender," Denard mutters.

"Orders Bob?" Dellion asks.

"Simple, regroup, reorganize, and counter-attack."

"We have at best two operations capable divisions left to us and a motley assortment of shattered Austrian units that survived the collapse of Vienna."

"Don't matter, the other two divisions arrive tomorrow, as soon as they touch hit the beaches we are set."

"Beckwith is missing, so is Rol Mbembe," Dellion responds with a wave of exhaustion passing over his face.

"I pity the Germans then," Denard replies with a feral grin on his face.

[b]Bavaria[/b]

Legion Specials Operations Group Austria is waiting quietly. They were left behind hidden from sight after it became obvious that the Germans were going to smash their way through Salzburg and into the heartland of Austria. Once this was ascertained the 15 squads of Austrian Legionnaires went into hiding around the countryside to wait for the bulk of the German forces to advance past them.

One by one they carefully make their way out of their hiding places, well not all of them. Two of the teams were captured and wiped out prior to being able to don their German Uniforms and attempt to blend in with the German Army units that were streaming past their locations. The 13 that survived, six men to a team, pull on their German uniforms that signify their units to be German Military Police detachments and quietly begin making their way north into Bavaria.

[b]Central Austria[/b]

Rol Mbembe and the men of the 3rd Special Operations Group are in a scattered location. The 83 harden Legionnaires found themselves reinforced by various Legion Security Units that were cut off by the shock of the German advance. Mbembe is a veteran at this sort of fighting, he survived it against the Kickapoo, he's confident he'll survive it against the Germans.

"Send one burst transmission to all our units in central Austria and then we'll promptly shift locations. Keep it short, keep it sweet. They are to go to ground and begin attacking targets of opportunity. Standard rules of engagement, military targets only, the Austrian's loyalties probably can't be trusted at this point. If they get captured, they know what to do, and no killing prisoners, just leave them handcuffed somewhere the Germans can find them. So far the Jerries have fought a clean war in that regard, no point in escalating it to a dirty sort of fight of reprisals and revenge," Mbembe orders his radioman.

The man nods and fires up his advanced UFE ordered radio set. A short encrypted message is transmitted to the other squads of the 3rd Special Operations Group. The squad of men and Mbembe, all highly trained and experienced Legion Special Operations Groups members, wait until the man transmits and then they rapidly ex-filtrate the area. They do so at a low crawl as long experience has taught the Legionnaires that standing up and walking around is a sure way to catch a bullet.

[b]Squad 3, led by Lt. Fortuna, a veteran of the Kickapoo fighting, is positioned roughly 800 meters away from a German formation about fifty kilometers south of Salzburg. His sniper whispers,"No good hunting around here."

"Yeah, but we'll stay here just a bit longer, keep your thermal smock over your and let's just wait," Fortuna whispers back as the men of the 3rd Squad lie in wait after getting their orders from Mbembe.[/b]

[color="#8B0000"]Beckwith is in a bit of a bind. He's cut off, alone, and no real way to connect with Legion Forces. "Damn it to hell," he whispers. His current location is in the basement of a shell shattered Austrian house with the mortal remains of his radio operator lying on top of him. Of course this annoys Beckwith, but he knows better than to move.

'Wait till it is dark he thinks, no telling where the Germans are at this point in time,' he thinks to himself.[/color]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Brigades were on Innsbrucks doorstep, when news reached them that Vienna had fallen. After a long and bloody fight, they could not hope to defeat the Germans without support, nor could they be cut of from II and III brigades in Graz. Retreating down the valley, the battered and broken I Brigade, now numbering some 1200 men and a dozen tanks and under command of Lieutenant Grigori Sokolov, moved to rendezvous with the other units at Klagenfurt. 112 men volunteered to remain as rearguard, and stem the german advance. Every one of them knew they would be going to their deaths, but they still fought, to give their comrades time. the brigades were also joind by some 1600 Austrian regulars. Once joind with the rest of the brigades, they would move south, into Slovenia, and dig-in around Ljubljana, with the Legion forces already there.

Edited by Aggressivenutmeg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Sir, International Brigades survived," Dellion tells Denard.

"Damn, send a runner to check on them. Find out what they need. Pass the word with the reserve, anyone who wants to volunteer with them can do so and get a paid flight to Slovenia at our expense. Insurance provided as well," Denard says.

"Copy sir," Dellion says as he gets busy.

[b]Elmore Leonard Literary Advance, skip all the boring stuff and get to the fun stuff[/b]

The 5th and 6th Divisions have landed in Treiste bringing with them a massive wave of new equipment, men, and supplies. They've moved up to join the 1st through 4th. The 4th Division is scrapped all together along with the 3rd. The men and machines are transferred to the 1st and 2nd Divisions. The replacement equipment and men are doled out to the badly battered Divisions. Within hours the men are in place, busy, and getting ready for the coming battle.

With two divisions completely hammered into oblivion the Legion Battle Group reorganizes into 4 Combat Divisions of 16,500 men each. The 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th Divisions are armor heavy formations with large stocks of tanks and APCs. Their MLRS and SPA are present as well. Each division is further equipped with an over-strengthed Attack Helicopter battalion tasked with hitting German logistical formations once the time comes.

The 333rd Air Strike Group managed to survive more or less intact. Their planes and pilots flew out once their airfields came under attack. Their ground crews hopped rides on the nearest moving vehicles and made their way to Slovenia on their own. Things are a bit chaotic, but the F-18 Silent Fighter Pilots and their brothers in the F-165 Fighters provided by the factories of the UFE are eager to get back into battle.

Losses to date: 35,304 men dead and 22,345 wounded

Volunteers from Legion flood into the area by the hundreds. It starts with a trickle and before long nearly 25,000 veteran Legionnaires are standing outside the International Brigades encampment. A good number of the Legionnaires are veterans of the Kickapoo War, the Sudanese Wars of Resurrection, and a few other brushfire incidents.

Others are veterans who served their time and were put into the reserve. They are now bored and hunger for battle. The inactive reserve being the last to be activated ensures they'll probably not be called up, but the call by Denard gives them a chance to see action. They've taken it, all 25,493 of them.

Edited by Tidy Bowl Man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the Legionnaires joining their ranks, and training the new recruits of II and III brigades, and having been re-armed and re-supplyed by what the legion could spare. Now numbering some 33,000 men, the Brigades (I, II, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI), the Brigades were ready to face the Germans. International Brigade Command (IBCOM) under General Ian Kennady had set themselvs up inside Ljubljana, as the volunteers dug-in around the city. New rifles were distributed, anti-tank missiles, machineguns and vehicles were supplyed to the brigades.

Edited by Aggressivenutmeg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

(Imperial War Cabinet, Athenian Federation)

Once again the Federations emergency cabinet had been called. The fall of Austria was unexpected and combined with the recent change in foreign policy action was needed. As such the Imperial War Cabinet had once again assembled somewhere in Greece deep underground.

“Reports from the border and U-2 imaging shows that while the Germans are digging in a significant force at the border they are also dealing with a rebellion in the north. If we do not act now we may lose an excellent window of opportunity” Director Mengsk argued.

“That’s all great but the Germans aren’t the only ones caught with their pants down so to say. Most of our forces had been mobilized in preparation of a war in South America. If we want to act we at least need the First Army and probably most of the Fourth Army in Italy” Field Marshal Manolis responded

“Then don’t launch an attack from the ground immediately, fortify the borders with the Germans, our Navy and Air Force however are ready, we can close off Otranto to non-allied forces right now, our Atlantic Fleet is ready to move into position to attack the Germans in their homeland and our strategic bombers could effectively begin bombing Berlin. Meanwhile we redeploy the First and most of the Fourth along the border in preparation for a ground offensive. I do agree with Director Mengsk however. If we lose this window we may never get one again. I also have a feeling Austria is not the limit for the Germans and they will try to take positions like Trieste and Venice in the future.” Fleet Admiral Manera said.

“There is also evidence of forces currently active in Austria. In addition we should look into attaching the Austrians who fled to our existing forces. They are experienced, if we give them a rank in the Hellenic Army equal to what they had before and some training in Hellenic equipment I could see them being an excellent Vanguard in the eventual retaking of Austria, Switzerland and perhaps even Southern Germany for the Hapsburgs.” Mengsk said again, the many nods in the cabinet as a whole suggested that this opinion was a popular one.

“Very well, I do agree with your plans. Make the preparations, I also suggest me and the Eastern Empress declare a general asylum for all Austrians seeking to escape German oppression and I want to contact forces involved in the defense of Austria , use our sleepers for it. Tell them Athens will provide assistance in any form they may need.” Emperor Moretti said. “I do agree, we will make the announcement in an hour.”

After this the Cabinet would return back to their duties and issue the much needed orders.

---

All of the First Army minus 10,000 soldiers would redeploy to Italy. 100,000 men 1,000 M1 Cerberus and 2,000 support vehicles were also redeployed from Central America to Italy however with focus on the North-East. This would bring the total forces in Italy to 500,000 soldiers(Thracians and regulars), 4,000 M1 Cerberus, 1,000 MCS and 10,000 support vehicles.

XM1201s, XM1203s and XM1204s would be set up at secure positions along the German and French Borders, these forces alone would already be able to deal a serious blow to any invading force.

At the same time most of the Hellenic Air Force would be brought back to bases on the mainland with the rare exception of several B-10 squadrons that would remain in New Monaco, most likely because they were more effective when acting from a greater distance.

Finally the message ordered to be delivered to resistance forces would be delivered to them in a timely fashion.

---

(Trieste)

Trieste, it had always been a serious position to take into account, historically when it was Austrian, and over the last years it already was at risk once, now it would be at the frontline again. After the Austrian rebellion Trieste had been transformed into a modern citadel. Strategists expected it would take up to one hundred thousand men to take the city, even without its own defensive force. It would take even more now. There were around 10,000 soldiers stationed in Trieste accompanied by 100 M1s and 200 support vehicles. The latter consisting of all XM classes with the exception of the XM1202. By imperial order the municipal government had been dissolved and control in the city had been handed over to Field Commander Drago. If any German would dare to come even close to the city they would pay a price in blood. After all the military were the actual moderates, it were the loyal and patriotic citizens they had to fear.

---

(Atlantic, near the Portuguese and French coasts)

The Atlantic Fleet which had been ready for combat for months now would begin moving to positions near the German territorial waters, using all available countermeasures and the protection the ships themselves had tracking them and especially intercepting them would prove very difficult. More and more U-2As would fly over German and East French land to track all movements. The UFE was informed that Hellenic Forces would in a relative short timeframe join the good fight.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The People's Liberation Air Force and the People's Liberation Navy Air Group had been flying sorties over Northern Europe for about 48 hours. The F-1 and F-2 multi-role fighters had been making use of every ounce of survival equipment they had to survive the high risk environment. As they were flying wing air craft, tricks used to detect the more typical F-22 PAK-FA inspired fighters were relatively ineffective. Nevertheless the Germans were determined buggers and degrading the air defenses to a sufficient point where units could operate with constant fighter support was going to take some time.

Captain Li, of the PLNAG moved his F-1 over the North Sea towards the beach head after launching from the Imperator II Grand Carrier, [i]Mao Zedong[/i]. He scanned over the battle space using his heads up display.

"Strikers inbound. 3 Minutes. AI Infrared scan." Captain Li said as he scanned the skies over North Germany and the low country with his heads up display.

"Scanning... scanning... enemy acquired. Eyes on Me. 2.616 Richtofen, scanning... eyes on second Richtofen, nine o'clock. Units moving super cruise. 90 kilometers. Cloak active, analyzing, negative enemy sensor lock." the AI said reciting statistics.

"Move to Mach 1.8, reorient to attack. Prepare to engage at 45 clicks with HPM. This is Skull 3, engaging two switchers. Deploying weapons."

Captain Li reoriented his F-1 over the North Sea towards Germany. "Fry... fox." he said. The F-1s electronic attack suite flared to life as radar and microwave energy was concentrated onto the two Richtofen's in an instant point of light attack on the control systems of both planes. This was quickly followed up by the launch of two of two NGTAM missiles. The two weapons rapidly accelerated as they closed in on their targets using advanced image recognition technology combined with the secure ultra-bandwitdh uplink to complete the kill against the enemy reduced RCS fighters.

"Boogies, down. Incoming. Two SAMs." the AI said.

Li looked down, the opening of the doors seems to have given the enemy the window it needed to get a lock. "Engage enemy missiles with energy attack, increase to super cruise Mach 2.2." he said as he pulled the plane upwards accelerating before moving around.

Frying the guidance, Li watched as the missiles flew harmlessly by. "Anymore locks?" he asked.

"Negative enemy has gone." the AI replied. "Shall I forward to in bound air defense suppression?"

"Authorized." Li said.

"This is control, strikers inbound." a voice said over the radio.

"Roger." Li acknowledged.

Li's squadron of F-1s had recorded twenty air to air sortie kills within 3 minutes, a bit long but within acceptable air to air sweep perimeters. F-2s now moved in on the location for air defense suppression.

The multi-role fighters used anti-radiational missiles to hit SAM sites and enemy radar systems which had turned their sensor suites on, meanwhile they employed their high powered radars to engage in cyber attacks and jamming enemy circuitry to further degrade the capability of the German air force to respond.

"This is Twin Suns Lead, Sanctuary online, 3 minutes, go go." the voice of the F-2 pilot said.

With enemy air defenses temporarily suppressed in the areas around the bridgehead. UFE Tu-160s moved in, lead by two Rudolphs, one configured for AWAC and one configured for battlefield control. Networking with the F-2s armor positions on the ground would be lit up.

"This is Hydra lead, eyes on enemy armor. Engage, fox." the lead Tu-160 pilot said.

The skies of Germany litup as 16 Tu-160s unleashed their packages on the attacking German line. External weapons bays unleashed 14 anti-armor bomblet equipped missiles from each of the Tu-160s providing a wall of accurate artillery against the German position. Internal weapons bays of each aircraft then unleashed twelve ER-M-51s, the larger faster missiles rapidly were used to hit Luftwaffe air fields, radars and armor/ ammunition stockpiling sites across the rear of the German Lines.

"Lets bug out." Hydra Lead said. The Tu-160s quickly entered a high gee turn out of the safety corridor transmitting their targeting coordinates to the Qing Class battleships off shore. Initiating a heavy bombardment using rail guns, the Qing Battleships job would be to soften the armor line sufficiently, while the F-2s would move in to engage. Twin Suns had been using their EW suites to monitor enemy communications and prioritize targets based on frequency. It was a reasonable bet that the units sending out the most information were command units. F-2s would rapidly hit these targets with their ETC cannons before bugging out back to their carriers.

"Operation complete. Relief force in bound." AI said to Li. Li sighed. The captain brought his F-2s around maneuvering it back for dock at UFE mobile offshore base 2, deployed North between the Arctic and Scotland.

Replacing the force would be a second wave of F-2 and F-1 fighters to suppress mobile enemy air defenses and keep air superiority over the bridge heads.

===============================================================

Aboard the Franco Class Strike Submarine [i]Malice[/i] Lt. Commander Zhou sat at the command counsel. "Enemy naval defense suppression, operation. Objective, destroy enemy capabilities to engage surface combatents and air units. Target, Scandinavian Coast."

Lt. Commander Zhou leaned back in his seat as he initiated program, Silver Rain. As the submarine went near surface the hangar bay doors opened up, revealing oddly shaped packages.

"Strike Wing [i]Mailice[/i], Launch Authorized!" he said.

"We've got confirmation, arclight package is go, ETA, 4 minutes to target. We are clear for launch." one of the tactical console officers said.

Zhou nodded, the arclight missiles launched from the [i]Jade Emperor[/i] were designed to penetrate heavily defended enemy air space and release a high yield explosive against air traffic and radar control stations operating along the Norwegian Coast. With them down, the ability to scramble the Luftwaffe or use SAMs would be severely degraded.

The [i]Malice's[/i] Strike Wing then launched, 24 MPUAV combat drones. Jettisoning their boosters, the bird wings, low altitude ultra stealth units began their approaches, breaking off into attach teams of Six, One team would strike the Norwegian OTH radar site, creating a blind window to knock out capability of using ultra long range anti-naval munitions. Four more would be tasked with hitting luftwaffe air fields, while a final group would strike sites suspected of being able to deploy ASBMs, using HEMP weaponry.

The first wave from the [i]Malice[/i] was rapidly followed on by the stealthy Jade Emperor Class Destroyers [i]Sun Wukong[/i] and [i]Xuanzang[/i] using their rail guns, ETC guns, and ship to ground NGTAM missiles to hit the Norwegian Coastal defenses and concentrate on smaller radar, submarine pens, and mobile missile sites.

==============================================================

The FALCON intercontinental missiles had been deploy from Alaska to launch air suppression strike missions deep into Germany. But the F-3s and B-10s were flying the most dangerous sorties of the entire engagement. Their task was the destruction of the German Military Command Structure around Berlin.

The Falcons were essentially a high tech gap between an ICBM and cruise missile. The weapon was designed to carry a very high payload, very fast on sub orbit similar to a ICBM, however it behaved very differently on a radar screen. Capable of reaching Mach 20, once it got going it was very hard to stop, and more importantly it could adjust course and maneuver allowing it to have special effectiveness against missile defenses, generally designed either to stop ICBMs or cruise missiles specific type of flight pattern. As it was one of the most devastating weapons in the UFE arsenal, it also remained highly highly classified, rarely even shown. This day though, eighty would be launched from Fort Beihai, traversing Alaska North over the Pole before correcting themselves and coming downwards over Scandinavia.

The first twelve of these missiles were to hit strategic missile defense control sites in Scandinavia, while the rest would move through hitting the Top 20 high value command and control + radar sites within Northern Germany and Denmark.

This would make way for B-10s and F-3s on their strike missions.

The F-3s were in a mix of unmanned strike configuration and manned air interceptor configuration, while the B-10s were grouped into two strike teams, one too hit Germany's high value command sites, and the other to hit air fields. The air formation of about 80 craft total would move at Mach 5, giving it a high signature as it moved over the pole, yet it would be extremely hard to intercept with a degraded defense grid.

B-10s in the first group would dispatch a forward vanguard force of disposable cyber/ electronic attack drones to pick up enemy sensor systems and launch directed energy and cyber attacks on them, before relaying the coordinates to the F-3s. Unmanned F-3s opened up with anti-radiational missiles to hit sites breaking a hole through the enemies air defenses for the rest of the strike group. The picket force would also be tasked with scanning for enemy fighter signals, and relaying them to F-3 air interceptors. Concentrating their unified sensor systems on points to detect Luftwaffe interceptors. F-3s would hit them with NGTAM missiles using image recognition final kills, for terminal guidances if radar guidance could not be achieved. B-10s and unmanned F-3s meanwhile would acquire the targets about 500 kilometers from Berlin. M-51 missiles would shoot forth from the group reigning down on the Ministry of Defense, Reichstag, as well as the air fields and surviving naval stations along the Baltic Coast of Germany and Denmark.

As the strike group left the area, F-1s supported by Tu-160 R AWACs would be scrambled from the MOB and Carriers to engage enemy interceptors in air to air combat and further degrade their fighting capabilities.

==============================================================

In Austria, the UFE special operations forces of the Imperial Guard has found themselves increasingly cut off from the main line of fighting. The unit had taken some casualties, but was in no mood to surrender or withdraw. Holding up in the mountains, the unit was tasked with keeping Austrian resistance units organized, while holding some German troops in Austria rather than allowing them to fight in the North or continue South against Athens.

Dmitry kept his frequency hopping radio on only to receive messages. When one came in, he read it. Smirking it had been one he'd been waiting for.

[quote][i]Prepare for Reinforcements.[/i]

[i]Weapons Packages Incoming.[/i][/quote]

==============================================================

On the ground, UFE troops were engaged in heavy fighting with the German forces brought in to counter attack. MCS units would be have their active kill systems tasked with the ferocity of German Armor. UFE forces resorted to using their active camouflage systems. Troops would blend into areas, allowing the Germans to advance with minimal fire before flanking them, generally during the night, and counter attacking around their sides, enveloping and destroying them.

In armor to armor engagements, 120 mms were proving less effective against Germany's heavy armor. Fortunately fixes were being found, with units reprogramming the guided missile shells aboard the ETC 120 mm MCS and 105 mm MGT Styker IIs for guided penetration from above, where enemy armor would be the weakest. The enemy may be able to push back the lighter armored vehicles of the amphibious forces in a head to head fight, but the UFE troops would simply have to deny them that fight. Where the enemy would begin to take the initiative, NLOS-C 155 mm ETC Howitzers, NLOS-M 120 mm guided mortars, and portable NLOS-LS tactical missiles would be used to provide close fire support to cover withdrawals, or in some cases even enable counter attacks.

The Germans of course would have their own artillery. UFE forces would need to rely on their UAVs to locate and defeat these systems. Most UFE ground expeditionary units had been outfitted with short range UAV platoons, which were capable of deploying stealth short range drones capable of giving a birds eye view of the battlefield. These would then relay positions to both air force and artillery battery positions to bring down fire on the German Artillery.

That said, fighting this kind of fight would not sustain an invasion. The PLA heavy armor would be needed if the push against the German main line was to begin in earnest. Ground Effect Aircraft loaded with Furys, Titans, Juggernauts IIs and some of the UFEs most crack infantry brigades would begin the long deployment into Germany now that enemy air defenses had been somewhat degraded.

============================================================

Ryu Hayabusa, the left hand of the Imperator himself would be tasked with meeting with this Raven fellow. Being one of the few true trained ninjas as well as a assassin, he knew both how to stalk and when he was being stalked. Despite his suspicions people were following him several times during his journey, he was fairly confident he'd avoided detection to meet with this Raven. Nevertheless he could not help but be nervous, knowing that extraction was at least a good half hour away if something went wrong.

Edited by Triyun
Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Hauptfeldwebel , there is a train approaching," whispers one of the Austrian Legionnaires who just so happens to be dressed in a German Army uniform with the rank of Gefreiter appropriately placed.

"What of it? We are right next to a train-line you idiot," grunts Hauptfeldwebel Priem.

"Well, it is one of those big armored trains sir," replies the lowly Gefreiter.

"Oh, OHHH... good lord, that changes everything," grunts the Hauptfeldwebel sarcastically.

"Sir, need I remind you our orders at to take out targets of opprotunity along with assisting local rebels?" the Gefreiter asks.

"No you need not remind me as I'm the guy with the rank on my shoulder. Need I remind you we have no real way of taking out an armored train?" asks the Hauptfeldwebel in a stern voice.

"Perhaps the ATGM?" the Gefreiter suggests.

The Hauptfeldwebel looks at the Gefreiter, looks at the ugly heavy barrel of the Anti-Tank Missile, looks back at the Gefreiter, and then looks back at the Anti-Tank Missile before saying, "Well ain't that some (smelly fecal business)!"

"Shall I deploy the soldaten sir?" asks the Gefreiter.

"Of course, L shaped ambush with the ATGM on the long axis. Get ready to run for it if that damn thing is packed full of Germans. Where is our lazy sniper? Out taking a kip somewhere?" asks the Hauptfeldwebel.

"No sir, he's already set up, along with the rest of the men, in fact were are just waiting on you to move because you are standing in front of the Anti-Tank Missile launcher, and I suspect you'd not like having it go through you to get to the train," replies the Gefreiter.

"Of course, good work," replies the Hauptfeldwebel who runs through how he plans to write up this incident. If it is successful the credit will of course fall to him, if not, there is always the Gefreiter that can be blamed.

With the train pulling into sight the men of the Legion Special Operations Group Squad # 2 prepare to spring their ambush. Twelve men, 10 assault rifles, 1 ATGM, and 1 7.62 sniper Walther Accessorized Rifle are made ready. A few anti-personnel mines are dispensed as well. Simple claymore directional mines to the front with a few more on the opposite side of the track in the event survivors try mass for a counter-attack in that area. They are not contact mines, so if they aren't needed they can be collected later after safely stored away.

"Sir, we are ready to fire," says the lowly Gefreiter.

"Fire then," grunts the Hauptfebwel as the Gefreiter taps the gunner on the shoulder who in turns fires his heavy AT Missile at the locomotive of the train just as it enters into the kill zone.

Edited by Tidy Bowl Man
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[b]Ferlach, Austria[/b]

Despite the heavy fighting in Vienna, La Regimente Creole had not seen heavy action in the war yet, being relegated instead to duties behind the lines as the men drilled as much as possible and learned basic tactics to fight with. When the Austrian capital fell, the regiment, having gained about two hundred more volunteers since its formation, was able to retire south towards Slovenia in an orderly manner. The regiment had been able to acquire enough vehicles to be able to move all of its personnel at once, and had begun its transfer south as Vienna fell. Juan and Francisco both loathed the inaction they had seen since arriving, and the morale of the regiment had plummeted with the loss of Vienna.

There was still hope for coalition that had come to defend Austria, not all had been lost, a glimmer of hope kept the regiment going as it was transferred south. The survivors of Vienna looked ragged and exhausted, as Juan observed them on the drive south.

"They look as bad as we do, is there no outfit that isn't ragtag in this entire war besides the Germans?" chuckled Francisco, as he sat back against the wooden slats that lined the back of the prime mover he was sitting in the bed of with Juan. He cradled his M60 machinegun barrel up between his legs, carrying ammunition in belts across his torso. Juan had become part of Francisco's machinegun team after the gunner, Pancho Urribe, had been killed during an airstrike on their encampment.

"Word from battalion is that we'll be setting up a position south of Klagenfurt, near Slovenia," noted a soldier, across from them.

"We've been told that five times about five different other places, what makes this place so special?" asked Juan, as they crossed over a bridge, a line of mountains to their south.

"Because this is one of the last towns before they get to the passes of those mountains, the International Brigade put a rearguard in Klagenfurt, we'll be the rearguard here, or so they say," responded the soldier, pointing up at the mountains ahead of them.

"Or so they say," mouthed Francisco, rolling his eyes.

"Welcome to Ferlach, gentlemen!" called out Lieutenant Jose Alvada, their platoon commander, who was standing and looking over the cab of the truck at the approaching village.

"Just another town we'll be spending one night in, I wonder how the local brewery is," grumbled a soldier next to Juan rhetorically, looking down at his worn boots.

A smaller jeep-like vehicle rolled up beside their truck, and the heavy 6x6 prime mover rumbled to a halt. Juan looked over the side of the truck to see their battalion commander, Captain Philippe de Pocques waving the vehicle to a stop.

"Lieutenant Alvada, good to see you! I want you to deploy your platoon and Lieutenant van Dyk's platoon across this road near this orchard and copse of trees you're coming up to. I want your men in fighting positions and ready to conduct defense operations as soon as feasible," called out de Pocques, in his usual posh accent.

"Understood sir, will we be receiving any support?" asked Alvada, looking slightly nervous at de Pocques' orders.

"The whole regiment is digging in here, Lieutenant, this is the last real defensible position before Slovenia, we need to buy as much time as we can for any more retreating forces behind us," said de Pocques, his words piquing the interest of many in the truck.

"Understood sir," replied Alvada, saluting de Pocques.

"Godspeed, Lieutenant," responded the battalion commander, before returning the salute and having his driver speed off down the column of trucks.

"Looks like we won't be walking this entire war," said Juan, as he cradled his M16A2 in his arms, looking at Francisco. The tailgate of the truck dropped down, and the men began dismounting, and looking around at the lush green valley that would become the alter for their baptism of fire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[i]Austria and Slovenia:[/i]

Of course, resistance was to be expected even though that the conquest was essentially done. Still, some of the older, most experienced veterans simply said: [i]"Almost: Not Enough."[/i]. This would prove to show wisdom as different groups - sometimes just a handful of men - seemed to make little ambushes and block key roads around both zones. The newer, younger soldiers were almost always the ones which would be caught, being led by Haas' politically motivated young excuses for an officers, which had been appointed only for loyalty and not for any skill.

This situation caused for several interesting exploits to happen...but the reality was undeniable. These handful of groups could never hope to stem German advance for long. After their fine time, groups of well trained troops - the Parachutists combined with Light Armor, which was good in these difficult terrains, would systematically move on. They were being called informally "The Pest Control Divisions", they were working around the clock to take out every trouble area.

And that would seal the enemy's fate. With Helicopter support, once that they were spotted, they would not be able to hide within Austria easily again, and would be hunted down like feral, aggressive wolves. In just a matter of hours...

"General Haas. Operations are going well. The amount of ambushes is starting to decrease...we have not heard of new ones for hours. Our "Pest Control" groups have done a good job..." Sure enough, but casualties sure had piled up. They just conveniently chose to disregard them, making it seem as if Austrian and their supporters' efforts had been wholly useless, while this had not been the case.

"At last!"

[i]The Armored Train:[/i]

The rocket flies through the air and...hits the locomotive head on. A spectacular explosion takes place as at first, the superstructure of the armor resisting, fire is spat out from the hole created by the rocket, until then, the whole thing explodes before their very eyes, deafeningly, forcing the train to stop as an alarm rings.

Taking out the locomotive would be the last of their concerns...

The large and medium turrets of the train begin to turn. They seem to have spotted. It will only take another second or so for these to fire. Several wagons stop and people begin to pour out to fight - too many people. They hear shouting in German and Nordlandic and soon enough the first bullets are shot in their general direction. They have stirred the bee-hive...

[i]Ferlach:[/i]

When the Brigade entered, they found that there were mixed reactions. People wanted nothing to do with them, they would be killed for harboring any such people. At the same time they couldn't simply kill them themselves - so they flee the area chaotically!

This has the side effect that the incoming German column knows that something is wrong when seeing the people behave oddly, even if the Austrians do not in fact [i]warn[/i] them about it. They have then no hurry...

They merely start to go around the town and surround it. Reinforcements are on their way, and they will wait until they have amassed ridiculous amounts of fire and manpower before moving in to cleaning the town. They were getting decent at this, they thought the enemies to be simply leftover angry Austrians that did not want to give up. Soon enough, a couple of PzIII tanks begin to roll in - probing before a full assault.

They would manage to delay the Germans alright, maybe someone would build them a statue for their heroic resistence when the war was over...but they were staring at death, and they knew it.

[b]The North:[/b]

[u]Sea:[/u]

The remainders of the surface fleet were deemed to be unsuitable for offensive operations yet quite suitable for the defense of Oresund. That would be their mission for the rest of the war, and they would probably see no action. Still, they stayed on the move, fearing missiles.

The new, modernized submarine fleet was different. The twentyfive submarines had been released shortly after the attack, and would begin to patrol the areas "behind" the Chinese fleet, hoping to be able to catch convoys and supply lines. Now and then, very carefully and without risking themselves, they would perhaps try and take torpedo shots at anything chinese, be it underwater, on water, or even on the air however unlikely such an encounter would be. The subs were well equipped, but were too few to change the outcome of the war, so they captains were told to be "conservative" about their use.

[u]Air:[/u]

Haas was no strategist. He only crunched numbers, and read reports by the hours about different air-engagements. He knew this much: That if he would give the Chinese any windows, they would exploit them. Death from Above...
He no longer produces bombers. They are at this point irrelevant. His concern is keeping the skies safe, therefore he ensures that wherever a Chinese plane may fly to, it should find a fair share of SAM sites, fighters, and detection arrays. He knew that he couldn't simply round them up and kill them as he had done with Austria, so instead his priority is the replacement of lost aircraft and then the reinforcing of particularily troublesome areas. Small detachments of trucks with anti air rocket launchers were also deployed, far from the frontline and rather improvised, but good enough was the hardware to with some luck detect the foes and hurl rockets their way. It was not a matter of whether if the Chinese Air would be attacked or not, it was a matter of when during their sortie it would happen.

Although things may seem a bit annoying, one could not deny that Haas' prioritizing of air business would come at a cost when compared to the Sea and Ground forces. So even without necessarily "Winning" they already were hurting Germanian war efforts considerably, just by flying there.

[u]Ground:[/u]

When the Germanians noticed that the enemy was somehow "Hiding", they were told to use their helmets' special visors - thermal vision, IR vision. This would allow them to identify the concealed enemies, hopefully quickly rendering their ambush tactics useless. The Tanks too seemed to know what to do, the enemy rockets were halted by their active defences time and time again. Of course, there were only so many shots that they could deal with before running out, so now and then unexpectedly a mint condition Leopard would head back very quickly to get its active defences reloaded before fighting on.

The Chinese were, in principle, quite able to find the 155mm and 210mm PzHs of the Germanian units. But that seemed to mean nothing, as they were never on the same spot for any amount of time, always firing and on the move. Their preferred target was of course the Chinese own artillery, which would sometimes be spotted by means of a "Scout Missile", a CM with cameras destined to find out where the foe was. Normally, these would then be followed by actual missile spam, but instead, the target of the german missile spam seemed to be the Chinese fleet.

Having tracked it by means of other Scout Rockets, satellite images and information from the submarines, rockets would begin to rain upon them. And when this happened, and when the fight on the ground seemed to be going - and while the Athenians remain uninvolved - it actually seemed that Haas COULD win. Yet the large scale revolution was only a few verbal exchanges away, in a clandestine little meeting in the west...

And then, the Chinese missiles started to hit Germania. Haas called out for the Missile Defence, which only seemed to be able to stop a few of them. "What is the meaning of this! One of these rockets nearly hits [b]US[/b]!"

[i]Hayabusa and Raven:[/i]

This "Raven" seemed to be an unusually short man with very black hair and simple, medieval type of clothing. Somehow, the name seemed to suit him well, one could imagine the pale, black-eyed small Germanian somehow making the same sounds as the animal proper.

The place where Wilhelm had once awaited his final journey had now been turned into some sort of mix between a tiny museum and temple. Raven turns to see Hayabusa, only when the ninja decides to be audible enough to allow for such a thing.

"Gods Bless. We have no time to lose so we must speak quickly. We have six of our best divisions in the west ready to be "couped" by our rebels. Haas has put his own commanders on our divisions, which is why their performance is low. But we are ready to get rid of these Viceroys. We need to know if China will be willing to end the war, no questions asked, without submitting Germania to demeaning treaties and without vulnerating its territorial integrity."

"...Some things would be worse than Haas. We need to know, if we are to see the Chinese as the allies of Germania again, that the country will not be even more crippled by a peace agreement than it is currently being crippled by Haas' actions already."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Legion Group- Athens

Denard, Dellion, and Deltrane are quietly seated around a table. They look at each other in silence. The problems they face are numerous, the solutions they have limited, and the time they have even shorter. Rather than muck about Denard makes an executive decision and says, "No, we aren't going to wait on anyone. If no help is to come, we attack alone if need be."

"Very well sir, you know we'll follow you no matter what. Even if the chances of success are slim to none," Dellion says.

"I appreciate that my friend, but you won't be following me. You are being detached immediately to gather up the scattered Austrian troops and putting them in one unified command. Some 75,000 managed to make it across the border and are in all sorts of places waiting for directions," Denard orders.

"They'll be in no shape to perform offensive actions anytime soon," Dellion replies.

"I realize this, but you are to gather them under one banner and to remind them they are Austria's hope and pride. I'd put an Austrian in charge of them but apparently some maniac in Vienna went insane and shot up the General Staff and this has left us with a distinct shortage of General Officers," Dellion informs the two men who sit at the table with him.

"What will I do for equipment?" Dellion asks.

"Beg some off the Athenians," Denard says.

"Gotcha, round up the Austrians, and get some guns, won't be too difficult," Dellion mutters.

"What of me sir?" Deltrane asks.

"I'm putting you in direct command of the Legion Group and I'm taking over command of all Legion Austrian Forces until we can dig up an Austrian General to take over their own forces," Denard responds.

"I'm guessing you want them ready to move?" Deltrane asks.

"You guessed right," Denard replies and finished with saying, "Everyone get busy, I have work to do

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Central Austria

Eluding the German Army units is pathetically easy. So far the Legion Special Operations Groups Squads operating in Central Austria are sticking to their orders and laying low. They are moving only at night, and even then they keep their thermal smocks on. They know their role and that role is to keep their eyes open and to wait quietly.

They hear several small scale actions from what they can only guess are the Austrians who survived the initial assault. They quietly wish these men and women all the best of luck, but their orders are clear. Rol Mbembe himself reminded everyone that their orders will be coming shortly and to stay out of sight.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

"How the hell does a fully loaded train that just got hit with an ATGM not be derailed when it is haring down the track at a full clip?" asks one of the Legionnaires.

"Beats me, but I'm not getting messed up in that," replies the Sargeant as he motions his men to evac the area. Their mission is finished, make a nuisance of themselves. Whatever is on the train can fend for itself. They simply aren't equipped to take out armored turrets on an armored train that seemingly is managing to not be derailed just after having it's locomotive blown to smithereens by a shaped charged warhead.

The Legionnaires slip away into the forest and take another route rather than the way they came in an attempt to confuse pursuit should any come. Rather than taking the time to collect their claymores the Sargent ripple fires them all at the same time showering the armored train with a wave of hot ball bearings that undoubtedly would reek unholy havoc on the paint job and not much else.

The rest of the squads quietly begin taking up position outside of various Southern German towns. They quietly wait, watch, and take notes. They'll move in on these locations when they are good and ready to do so and not a moment before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[b]Ferlach[/b]

La Regimente Creole's four reinforced battalions of infantry plus support weaponry dug into the area surrounding Ferlach with impunity ahead of the advance by the German forces. The terrain surrounding the town to the south allowed for a strong defensive perimeter with ample protection against flanking attacks. South of Ferlach, the terrain became wooded and hilly, favoring infantry defense and lessening the ability for the Germans to maneuver with heavy armor. The regiment would establish itself in a shape relative to an 'upside-down fishhook', with one battalion covering Ferlach proper. Another infantry battalion would secure the flank of this unit along Route 104, in the woods southeast of the town.

Covering the left flank of the units anchored in Ferlach, a battalion and two companies of infantry from the fourth battalion would spread over European Route 652 and into the wooded hills southwest of Ferlach. Two companies of infantry would be kept at Unterloibl with motorized vehicles to provide a mobile reserve for the defensive force, and if needed, a final rear-guard on European Route 652 if the regiment was forced to retire.

Spotter units observed the Germans beginning to array nearby, but instead of attempting to shell the German positions, the support units of La Regimente Creole would hold their fire, opting to stay hidden amongst the orchards and woods to the south of Ferlach.

As the Germans made their first foray against the town, Juan and Francisco would watch as a duo of German tanks began a probing action towards their positions astride European Route 652. As the two tanks began their advance towards the well-concealed fighting positions, a forward anti-tank team posted in a building about one hundred yards ahead of their orchard, armed with an AT4 missile launcher, fired two successive rounds at the lead German armored vehicle, both aimed at the front drive sprocket of the vehicle. Upon the AT4 being loosed off, the troopers would begin popping smoke before exiting the building and moving to a new position. The Battle for Ferlach was set to begin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[b]Air:[/b]

The F-1 and F-2 fighters utilized active defenses to defeat surface to air missiles as they were deployed. The combination of flying wing shape and super cruise made detection of the F-1 and F-2 extremely difficult, additionally because the planes had advanced sensor receiver systems, they were able to detect when the Germans were able to trace back the infrared and radar waves deployed by the German surface to air sites. UFE fighters quickly hit back with directed energy attacks to jam the targets and in the case of smaller units fry the circuitry completely while strike aircraft would be fed the location of enemy surface to air targets so that they could be engaged and destroyed.

The rest of the defenses were a different matter. The Germans were fighting rather antiquatedly, and the UFE would fully exploit it, to wipe out a goodly chunk of the German defenses early.

German missile spam was among the most common tactics used, the Federation had anticipated this with the deployment of the Tu-160 Rudolph energy warfare platforms. As missile positions revealed themselves launching bombardments onto the fleet, the sophisticated sensors of the Tu-160 Rudolph would spring into action detecting missiles moving over large areas. The first line of defense would be to concentrate their vasty body array of AESA radars to fry the circuitry of enemy missiles, as they approached range, powerful nose mounted lasers would think the missile groupings further. F-1 and F-2s substantially lower intercept capability could steal be utilized as the fighters were linked in with integrated broadband data links allowing them near instantaneous engagements within whatever sectors they were operating in. Targeting data would then be relayed to fleet units which would launch their own missile interceptors at maximum range to defeat the enemy missile waves. The Integrated UFE missile defense systems would give the German missile forces a run for their money, defeating most of the missile units before they had a real chance to approach the fleet. While there were some damages, the missile spam was not as exploitable against UFE units than others in the past.

Data would be relayed to B-9 Mk III bombers which were ordered to forward loitering and tasked with locating enemy missile launchers. Loaded up with NGTAMs the MK IIIs would swiftly dispatch of launch positions before mobile systems could evade engagement.

F-1s and F-2s were ordered to use their stealth to evade the Luftwaffe where it fully deployed itself in numbers which the UFE planes could not exploit their qualitative edges in. Instead, the forces would rely on the stand off weaponry provided by the UFE's navy to further degrade the basing capability of the German air force to denegrade how many sorties each pilot could generate. The UFE had already hit many bases in Germany, and the likelihood of the Germans being able to produce operational air fields which had the facilities to maintain fifth generation war planes in any relevant numbers was unlikely.

Further target information was given to to hit training bases of the German air force. They had already made the Germans hurt. It was said that a pilot who survived their first ten engagements was unlikely ever to be shot down, but before that there was a pretty decent chance they would be. Since the Vietnam War most powerful nations had sought to give these first engagements to pilots at training facilities. The UFE would now prioritize the knocking out of these training facilities using stand off sea based missiles.

Further attacks against radar facilities, training bases, and air fields would come first from the Xia Class Battleships. Close in air fields near the coast would be hit with rail gun bombardment, while deeper in, ER-M-51 missiles would be utilized. F-2s were ordered to run full stealth, using their passive sensors to probe missile defenses while the missiles were inbound. When signals were detection, the F-2s were given clearance to engage enemy ground sensors using their electronic attack capabilities and use anti-radiational missiles to degrade enemy missile defenses as those defense came online.

The F-1s were tasked with maximizing air to air kills in small air engagements versus large scale fighting. The fighters would concentrate on their air to air kills sharing their integrated 'smart build' combat AI data with the entire F-1, F-2, and F-3 engagement force on the capabilities of the enemy air craft to sustain g-forces, radar and IR frequencies where they were vulnerable, lock ranges. This would boost the F-1 kill count while allowing them to exploit and increase their kills against the enemy. If the enemy would deploy their fighters in large numbers the F-1s edge couldn't overcome, the F-1s would be ordered to withdraw back to the integrated air defenses of the carrier and mobile off shore basing groups. The end goal would be to degrade the quality of the pilots that Haas could field as well as the number.

F-3s would be placed in the rear of the battlefield loitering in UCAV configuration with mid air re-fuelers prolonging endurance. All combat units would be tasked with scanning for german AWACs, battlefield control planes, and mid air re-fuelers. When groups were located, the F-3s would be scrambled using their speed to catch the enemy's support craft and destroy them.

18 B-10s would then follow this up, the units would be each tasked with hitting a major German air base striking at their targets from 1000 nmi away out of air defense range. Disposable drones would be forward deployed with their combination of arclight and er-m-51 missiles to conduct cyber attacks and electronic attacks against missile defenses as they went in and relay detected signals to a second group of 20 F-3s escorting the attack from the rear. The F-3s would then engage these signal originators with long range missiles to wipe them out as they came online before returning to bases with their B-10 strikers.

The end results of the air strategy would be to effect the German Air Effort in its soft underbelly. Haas could make all the air planes in the world, but with the UFE degrading radars, pilots, pilot training, support air craft and air bases the planes would just be expensive husks unable to fly on the same tier as the UFE forces.

[b]Navy[/b]:

P-8s were dispatched to deploy a mobile submarine sonar detection grid. UAVs were dispatched with electro-optical IR detection mechanisms to search using thermo bubbles created by submarines. A final group of aircraft were dispatched with a grouping of synthetic aperture sonar, synthetic aperture radar, electro optical IR detectors, and magnetic anomaly detectors to aid in this effort. These group would be supported by the UFEs own attack submarines to begin the hunts against the Kreigsmarine's wolfpacks.

Using the UFEs mobile off shore base as a logistical hub, the UFE would begin using its Pelican ground effect vehicles as their primary logistical transport groups, and keep key sea assets like replenishment ships around UFE safe zones where attacks by submarines would get them into suicidal engagements with UFE surface combatents that out gunned and out ranged the enemy submarines.

Nevertheless, the UFE had lost two replenishment ships, and an oiler, which would hinder the intensity with which the UFE could bombard the positions along the German line.

The UFE attack on the surface fleet guarding the coast would come in two fold. UFE LEO electro-optical satellites would be assisted in search by Zheng He Command ships mobile OTH radar systems as well as the deployment of three ultra-high altitude dirigible search UAVs. This combined picture would allow the UFE to paint a picture of the combat space which it would deny to the Germans.

Mapping out the Uresond, the UFE forces developed a plan of attack to hit the strong hold again, and further degrade the surface fleets ability to deploy forward. Even if it remained in port, it still represented a potent stand off munitions and integrated air defense system for Denmark.

At night, deploying [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Grumman_X-47B]A-47-D[/url] UCAVs as a first line of attack would be from the air. 18 F-1 Fighters would be ordered to fly rear action, going low super sonic with sensors off to maximize their stealth during this engagement. They would be moving as a fighter screen for the attack drones. The drones would approach the naval strong hold from multiple vectors at low subsonic flying with terrain, making them quiet, stealth, below radar, and difficult to detect with IR. When they were within 100 nmi combat range, they turned their sensors on quickly fixing locks on the enemy surviving surface combatents unleashing two NGTAM Anti-Shipping Configuration. The hypersonic missiles would quickly move in to kill their targets. But there was another surprise. If the Germans turned on their sensors to get a lock on these targets, they would quickly be picked up by the more stealthy F-1s still in hiding, who in turn would send the combat data to 6 B-9 Mk IIIs flying out at 600 nmi. The B-9s would then be able to acquire targets for their longer range stand off ER-M-51 hypersonic missiles, which had been equipped with onboard electronic countermeasures and larger warheads. These would then be able to close in on the German fleet without having to turn on their sensors and deliver a second even more devastating blow.

A-47s would then turn on their sensors to relay combat data to the surface fleet which would then execute another follow up punch. MPUAVs would be used to hit air defenses in the area, while the surface fleet fired off 80 arc light hyper sonic missiles onto the naval fortress to give a third punch against the surface fleet but also hit ammunition stores and support vessels which could service the u-boat fleet.

UFE surface combatents would also engage the German satellite groups. High powered concentrated lasers would be used to blind their electro-optical lasers and in some cases fry the circuitry themselves. This would substantially diminish their capability to track the UFE forces both on ground and at sea.

[b]Ground:[/b]

UFE forces had some advantage on the germans, as unlike other's active camouflage, the UFEs had some minimum resistance to IR making the counter attacks less effective. The Germans seemed to be thinking they were still fighting the Austrians in their boldness. Unfortunately someone had forgot to pass them the memo the PLA enjoyed both a more advanced set of equipment, and had seen much more combat than the German line. The German arrogance on the ground would be made to pay several fold.

As the German Leopards active defense proved better than anticipated a change of tactics was in order. UFE microwave defensive weapons would be redirected at the German tanks themselves. At high concentrations the UFE would run through batteries more quickly, but the concentrated devices were capable of jamming the German anti-tank defenses for the UFE guided missile shell round to go through the Leopards armor. As tanks were defeated, UFE low observability fire acquisition drones would relay pictures of troops evacuating the tanks. The unmanned helicopter imagery would go right into the heads up display of combat brigade team sniper lines. The snipers would target officers and experienced units to knock them out to make an retreat from engagements disorderly so that the UFE could then break them.

NLOS-LS IIs would be used as the primary weapon to hit German Artillery as it moved. While the Germans were relying on guns, the UFE's mobile missile launchers could keep a single missile in the air for up to thirty minutes loitering over the battle space. The Germans would take a shot, and the UFEs overhead synthetic aperture command and control units would forward in a target to the NLOS-LS IIs which would then slam down into the German unit to knock it out before it had time to continue moving. If Germany turned on their radar systems to shoot down the low cost NLOS-LS missiles, the air campaign would rapidly close in on the position and hit them with anti-radiational missiles.

UFE artillery positions meanwhile would be supported by the networked presence of the UFE AWAC UAVs, which would give them a better sense of the drone presence, than the AWAC neglecting Germans. AWACs would be ordered to use their concentrated AESA radars to burn the drone circuitry as they attempted firing acquisition. S-51 tactical surface to air missiles would be used to support this, using their infrared sensors developed to engage RCS targets to hit drones as they loitered within the combat space.

UFE reinforcements had finally begun arriving via ground effect vehicles including a vital 180 Fury Super Main Battle Tanks. The weapons of such devastation the Germans would not have a clue what hit them.

UFE forces would now begin their counter attack. In their game of cat and mouse, the UFEs lighter NLOS-C and NLOS-M artillery pieces had the edge against german heavier more conventional self propelled artillery. Having defeated most of the enemies shells with active defenses if they could hit their positions it was time to press the attack.

UFE F-2s would be ordered in on enemy artillery and armor positions using their high powered micro-wave weapons to fry even hardened transmission systems of enemy units. They would quickly send targeting information to artillery units all around a battle space which would then concentrate fire on these positions to wipe out a target while the F-2s were still attacking. The F-2s attacks had the secondary advantage of jamming enemy active defenses leaving them near sitting ducks against the UFE counter offensive.

The marine infantry advanced on the German units with speed and precision. Avenger UAVs overhead directed their synthetic aperture radars down on the German positions, both to map their positions and provide and overall field of view, but also to concentrate their radars on the enemy to jam their equipment. Each avenger would hit be tasked with using the two NGATM Ground Configs in its internal weapons bays to knock out command vehicles. This would be followed by marine light artillery, mainly guided mortars hitting the German lines. First shells would be high powered flash and sonic detonations followed by anti-infantry air bursts.

Using the chaos created by this Marine fire line platoons of snipers would engage from long distance. The air force's precision mapping enabled them to set their sniper rifles smart ammo to have maximum effect, programming their large caliber rounds to accurately detonate into groups of people, rather than just individuals.

UFE Blackhawk helicopters would be tasked with infiltration of the German rear line simultaneously with the main push. Two groups of these units would be deployed. The first were the air cavalry penetrator helicopters used to engage key line positions of the German forces. Equipped with onboard advanced tactical jammers and high powered micro wave weapons they would fry tactical radar systems and tracking while engaging air defense positions across the line with stand off munitions and long range chain guns.

A second group would be the budding fleet of UFE stealth black hawks. Flying on 'quiet' below radar so that bounces from the surface would render long range radar near useless, using UFE air sweeping and attacks on AWACs to defeat look down radar, and using its stealth as well as group 1s suppression against the german radar positions, this group would deploy Imperial Guard units into the german rear line, landing on command and control and enemy logistical battalions with shock and awe. HPM weapons would be used to sweep enemy electronics to fry them in instant before commando teams of 40 xenias armor equipped units hit targets. Priority would be given to hit officers and NCOs as well as communications levels so that the raids across the line would happen in the maximum chaos and disrupt the capability of the Germans to organize against the broader counter attack.

As enemy positions were raided, intact communications equipment would be taken back onboard the helicopters to return to the UFEs cryptoanalysis companies for further degradation of the enemies secure signal capabilities.

UFE NLOS-AA Hydra would use their ETC AA cannons to suppress German forces with heavy and rapid fire. The rapid fire of these units enabled them to engage smaller armored vehicles as well as dug in positions of infantry, allowing for further room to maneuver. Ultra low observability fire acquisition drones would deploy as a vanguard force of the air cavalry to support this. Using their SAR and EO-IR scopes they would engage enemy heavier AA and armor vehicles both with their own dual anti-tank missiles and electronic jammers and forward combat information back to the reduced radar cross section helicopter gunships the UFE had operating in the rear. These gunships would engage targets suppressing them from beyond visual range, enabling the advance of UFE mechanized forces.

A combination of Stryker II, EFVs, and Mk-28s would advance against the German positions with mobile gun systems and active defense units in the front. A picket force of unmanned ground vehicles would be tasked with gathering enemy signals and jamming enemy gear as well as providing active defenses and target acquisition for the mobile gun systems to engage targets at beyond the visual range. Mechanized forces would be tasked with working alongside artillery and close and high air support to isolate enemy positions and form a flank around them before unloading shock troops for the kills.

Shock troops with xenias armor would then advance, relying on their armor and the heavy suppression to close in on german infantry. Closed in, the UFE troops employed flash bangs, smoke, and other suppressive measures along with area effect smart ammunition to clear german positions.

With reinforcements still arriving the PLA and PLA-Amphibious Forces were limited in the speed at which they could advance, but the beach head would become considerably more difficult to dislodge.

[b]Hayabusa and Raven[/b]:

Hayabusa listened to the proposal, "The UFE has no desire to take over Germania. We are here to protect our Austrian Brothers. Protecting them from anyone is non-negotiable. If Germania overthrows Haas, I think the Imperator will look favorably on it. That said, I know the Imperator.

He believes in victory. If you guys want to pull something pull it now. Because once the UFE builds up its army and completes its air sweeps, Germany is going to be in for the biggest ass kicking." he said with a laugh.

Edited by Triyun
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[b]Southern Austria- Operation Mauler[/b]

Denard, Deltrane, and Dellion sign off their individual stations and turn their attention to the tasks at hand. That task being the counter-offensive against German forces inside of Austria. Loyalty to the Empress Maria Theresia and their oaths to defend Austria and all Austrians demands no less of the Legion. The leading edge of the attack that kicks off first will be towards Villach.

Villach, a small sleepy city just over the border is crucial as it effectively blocks one of the two mountain passes inside of of Central Austria, specifically the most direct route between Salburg and Slovenia. The 5th Division (Armored) and it's 16,500 men are tasked with capturing this objective. They'll have help doing so from the 333rd Air Group and the 3rd Special Operations Group.

Other forces in play to support this specific push are the thirty three remaining Legion Mobile Cruise Missile Launchers and their Block-B Medium Range Cruise Missiles. Also the Legion's MLRS and SPA assets in the area are ready and willing to do their bit as well from their dedicated fire brigades.

Legion artillery of all sorts is normally distributed to Regimental Combat Team control for effective tactical use. The narrow operating theater brings Denard to the conclusion that they are better served with grouping the Legion Group's artillery into two larger formations to allow the Legion's Armored Regiments greater mobility and to concentrate their remaining artillery assets even further. The Legion Armored Regiments aren't without their own tactical fire support, not in the slightest.

The standard 155 mm Legion SPA units having been collected into the fire brigades is replaced by the older Legion Reserve 105 mm SPA units. The machines have been retrofitted with new more powerful engines, an upgraded fire control suite, and a much more versatile suspension system was added. They aren't as deadly as the 155 mm weapons, but they are a potent tool to the Regimental Commanders of the Legion Group when combined with the strategic use of Legion Fire Brigade Artillery units.

The 333rd Air Group has their own orders. Their numbers at 48 F-18 Silent Fighter Bombers and 72 F-165 Fighters comprise nearly all of the available Legion front-line fighter strength. Reserve Units of F-16 Fighter Squadrons are filling the gaps in various Legion bases where Legion Air Wings once stood guard. The 333rd has orders to secure the sky above Villach and to prepare to provide tactical air support to Legion Ground forces in an on-call role.

The 1st, 2nd, and 6th Mechanized and Armored Divisions have their role to play. Once Villach has been attacked by the 5th Division they'll disembark on their own journey to hell and back. Nearly 50,000 Legionnaires and their vehicles will push towards Klagenfort Am Worthsee. Their goal is to secure the city before the Germans organize enough to defend it.

Operational firing plans are as follows:

1st all 155 mm and MLRS units will salvo their munitions against German forces in and around Villach.

2nd an Alpha flight of 24 F-18 Silents and 36 F-165 Interceptors will take to their air above Villach and begin attacking ground targets and runways to deny the Germans that option for reinforcing their forces.

3rd a Beta Flight of 48 F-165 Fighters and 24 F-18 Silents will sortie towards Klagenfort and begin attacking German formations found in the open, but only after a special strike for any airports in and around the Klagenfort area.

4th the 5th Division will cross the border and attack in strength behind a wall of fire provided by the 2 Legion Fire Brigades and their weapons.

5th once the 5th Brigade is across the border and moving the two fire brigades will halt, turn their fire towards Klagenfort. They'll begin engaging German forces with a rolling bombardment designed to pave the way for the Legion assault.

6th the 1st, 2nd, and 6th Mechanized and Armored Divisions will strike towards Klagenfort at the best possible speed.

7th Austrian Units under the command of Dellion will begin crossing the border to take up support and garrison roles. They will begin recovering equipment from Austrian depots in order to rearm and to prepare for a more active front line role.


[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/7m0fq.jpg[/IMG]

[b]Central Austria[/b]

Rol Mbembe and the men of the 3rd Special Operations Group have their roles. Once they are given the go command they will begin hit and run attacks on German convoys and mining the roads in four specific areas. The Central Austrian Mountains would make pursuit difficult for the Germans, or so it is hoped. The 83 Special Operations Group Commandos silently wait near their four areas of operation knowing their attacks will be preceeded by a concentrated volley of cruise missiles.

Each transport hub designated as a critical choke point will be hit with eight medium range cruise missiles. Once these attacks take place Rol and his men will do their best to stall German units from repairing and moving through the area.There is a possibility of Air Support, but Rol suspects that his chances of having this pulled off properly are slim to none.

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/br0VB.jpg[/IMG]

[b]Southern Germany[/b]

The 12 surviving Legion Special Operations groups have their orders. They begin making their way towards German rail tracks, roads, bridges, and other vulnerable targets. They swing into action as they carefully cover each other while attempting to rig the sites for demolition. Their mission has been changed from attempting to instigate a German uprising to slowing German troop movement into Austria to the best of their ability.

Legion no longer has an interest in internal German affairs, the Germans signed their fate when they attempted to murder Denard just a few hours before.


[b]Dawn, the sun is just rising[/b]

The hammer of Legion Artillery blazes away from across the border. Legion aircraft and Legion Cruise Missiles climb into the sky and they make their way towards their targets.

A single slogan on the side of Legion vehicles can be frequently seen, "Kill Them All".



OOC: See the Road Less traveled thread for the "German" Assassination attempt on Denard.

Further, Austrian troops under Legion control will not be used in a front-line capacity. They will be used for rear area duties until Sarah takes control of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

By now the Athenian Federation had waited long enough. Austria had basically fallen, the Germans could very well start winning and now they had even attacked someone within the Athenian Federation. All forces were taken to Alert Condition Beta, the readiness level just below an all-out nuclear war. With units ready a statement would be made to be transmitted worldwide. First of all an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would hand over a letter to the German ambassador, in it the declaration of war was formally issued to the German state. Only 5 minutes later the broadcast would air, in front of a window overlooking Athens Empress Notaras sat behind her desk in the Imperial Palace.

[quote]My people, for too long have we stood idly by as the forces of evil took over Europe. For too long have we tried to ignore it and just focus on our own affairs, southern Europe was at peace after all. The time for waiting is over. A few minutes ago an official has given formal notice to the German ambassador in this city of our intent. The Germans have attacked our allies, the Germans have attacked our ideals, the Germans have even gone as far as attempting an assassination on someone within the Athenian Federation. The time for waiting is over. On behalf of the Athenian Federation, with the support of parliament and the Western Emperor I hereby declare a formal state of war upon the Germanic Union. The time for waiting is offer, we will make the enemy burn.[/quote]

One of the most risky cities to Athens most likely was Martenshaven, to be honest the Hellenic Army simply wasn’t sure what to do with it. After much arguing a diplomatic approach was chosen, the city would be surrounded by the Hellenic Army and bombers were ready to begin leveling the city however before any actual action would be taken an Athenian envoy acting under a white flag would arrive at the city to deliver a message from the Magistrate of Foreign Affairs to be delivered to whatever governing organ the city had.

[quote]To whomever it may concern,

The Hellenic Forces have surrounded your city and are ready to begin combat operations. Due to your unique location we understand you may be less supportive of the government in Berlin. As such we offer you a possibility to end this without bloodshed. If you surrender to the Hellenic Army and agree to host an Athenian detachment tasked with making sure your city does not undertake any operations against allied forces your city will be spared. After the war it will be allowed to decide its own future, whether to be an independent city-state or part of another German state. Any movements after the arrival of this message suggesting a plan to attack allied forces will be considered refusal of the proposal.

Yours sincerely,
Jean-Luc Picard,
Magistrate of Foreign Affairs of the Athenian Federation[/quote]

The main assault would take longer, Imperial Command had decided that attacking from Italy was too hard and risky, attacking from France would only reinforce an already effective attack by UFE forces. The key would be to attack from Slovenia. Reports were unclear on the condition of the German advance there however enough information was available that something had to be done fast. As such an entire army was being assembled in Trieste, right now there were already 50,000 soldiers, 500 Cerberus and a combination of 1000 vehicles from the XM series, mostly NLOS Cannons and NLOS Mortars. That was excluding the Trieste defense force which in itself could not be allowed to fight outside of the city. More were to come but this force would already be a significant foe to the German forces. To be save the Hellenic Air Force would keep 2 U-2Ds over Slovenia and Austria, contrary to those in Martenshaven these would do something completely different than jamming signals, they would use them. Over all known German frequencies, both civilian and military messages would be sent with disinformation. Messages such as the death of General Haas, a revolution in Scandinavia, even a revolution in Berlin. The goal of this would be to take away informational awareness from German forces. While it would still be easy to find out the truth over alternative communication methods by that time the damage would have been done as the Germans could not fully trust their intelligence. In coordination with this attack U-1s would fly from bases along the north-eastern border. Soon around 100 UCAVs would head for military targets in Austria and Slovenia. Camps, German bases, munitions depots. Everything the Germans owned and which would not do harm to the Austrian civilian population. While each U-1 had only a few weapons the combined force would prove to do quite some damage. To defend against enemy fighters and anti-air weapons 3 F-1 squadrons escorted the U-1s, due to the low speed and newest systems the stealth of the F-1s would make it pretty much impossible for Germans to track them. U-2C AWACS in the air would allow easier tracking of defensive sites, if any anti-air or radar systems were found the F-1s would use their electronic warfare capabilities to take them down. In addition 10 of the U-1s were specifically tasked with attacking such anti-air sites if electronic warfare was insufficient.

Only 10 minutes after the aircraft started on their operation the offensive force in Trieste moved into action, ironically using a kind of Blitzkrieg to rush through allied territory and quickly surround enemy locations. Slovenia seemed to really be a no man’s land, torn between resistance forces and the German forces. This required a special kind of attack, resistance forces were told to coordinate with the commanders while the army took great care to avoid hitting known resistance sites. To make it easier on the locals most of the vanguard consisted of Austrian soldiers that joined up with the Hellenic Army after their withdrawal. Forces would first go for the port city of Koper, known to be a strategic location for any kind of German shipping into the Mediterranean this city would not get it easy. Preceded by U-1 strikes against German targets soldiers would begin entering from the north of the city as LCS in the Adriatic began their own missile strikes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OOC: I have got to admit that I am quite exhausted due to having to reply to 4 different people at once on my own each post. So I'm just gonna make blanket replies one for the North and one for the South mixed in the form of reports to Haas. >_<
It's just that whenever I've gotta post here it's like **Groan** Not this !@#$ again. I am simply tired.

I know I should be doing a better job. Not replying right makes me seem like a dick. My apologies. This war needs to end.

IC:

It was a heavy, cloudy gray day under Berlin in Haas' bunker. The only sound was that of officers moving back and forth through the installations, the occational beeping of some communication device or computer, and clear Germanian voices issuing orders or making sharp questions. On a great hall, Haas, a number of Generals and Officers and other aides were sitting across a large round table. On the background, a band played:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTug4r5yYD0

There were several Germanic Union flags around, several glasses of Mead, and many papers, including an actively-updating map on a massive screen. They were all studying the nation, running the armies, receiving information and sending orders.

Reports arrive to the front and are brought to Haas. On that day, the world seemed to be about to end, and the last nails on the General's Coffin seemed to be nailed.

"Mein General. I am afraid that I have disturbing news."

-"Spit it out. I have no time for...weakness and euphemisms...What is it?"

"The Athenians have declared war on us. Martenshaven apparently has refused to surrender, but ceased to acknowledge our authority and instead has sent a legion to fight alongside them and against us. We are outnumbered, and there are several enemy units evading destruction, behind our lines, operating."

Haas' face seems to darken as he tilts it forwards, grimly. Others stop their business to listen on to the Aide's report:

"Our Generals have dug in in different areas throughout the mountains, and are likely to be able to resist for a long time. However the flatland area around the Danube is more vulnerable. We are arranging for General Fegelein, whom is in charge of the zone, to receive further troops so as to be able to hold the line..."

The map changes, the situation in the north is updated. Now it shows the Chinese Foothold on Germania.

"Our troops were performing decently against the Chinese, and were on the verge of pushing them out into the sea. Then it appeared that they used some new technology to achieve partial invisibility, our attack which seemed successful at first, ended up playing right into their hands. Our helmets' detectors cannot see them, they have ambushed us. Then, our reinforcements arrived...only that we discovered that Seventeen Divisions from Western Germania which were supposed to attack the Chinese, instead, have..."

"We cannot dislodge the Chinese from our skies. We are in danger even here...our navy is too small, and one third of our Air Fields and Detection Arrays have been destroyed. They continue to launch missions, at this rate we will hardly have anyplace to launch our aircraft from. We are blind in the Northern Sea and Western Scandinavia. In the south, some sort of Austrian remanents continue to make small ambushes of our divisions, people are saying that there are simply ghosts out there attacking our troops."

"If we cannot stop the Chinese Air operations we will become blind. They are going for our command lines as well. We have underestimated them, they are at least as trained as we are, if not more, and many soldiers are refusing to confront the Chinese "Invisible" infantry. Morale is low..."


He gulps. "They have rebelled against us and have struck our own forces from the flanks. The heads of our Generals have been chopped off by axes and sent to us by mail. The West and Hamburg have rebelled against your rule, my General, and as we speak our forces in the northwest are pocketted and surrounded. Their leader, a man named Raven, has stated that the Germanians and the Chinese would, together, push onto Berlin to kill you."

Haas' fist balls up. Then he rests it against his lips.

"...That is not all. Kaiser Martens' train has been assault and freed. Him, some Austrian Operatives and a popular mob have created what they call "Florian Geyer's New Black Army" and are roaming through the south, causing uprisings to eventually march upon Berlin. The southern armies' supply lines are compromised...and.."

The General's face lifts, his eyes open widely. Would this ever end?

"Einherjar and Valkyries have landed on Stralsund and Rügen. Tambarskjelve is with them. They are marching towards us as we speak."

Haas seems to calm down, unexpectedly, surprisingly. He nods and starts to write on some paper with a golden pen. He almost peacefully recites,

"We will fight on. Development of our Nuclear Weapons is going as scheduled. If we can finish these weapons on time, we can still turn back the tide. Mobilize all of our reserves, create a perimeter around Berlin and then attack in all directions. Send our remaining Elite Divisions to fight the Einherjar and Valkyries. We will be able to delay them all enough. Use our remaining Eastern Troops to fortify Berlin. Send those new Tanks and SPGs to Fegelein as he had requested. And get him on the line. I wish to speak to him. If he can fend off that nation of effeminate philosophers and lazy pasta-eaters, we can make the whole thing hold." As he spoke the last sentence, everyone could feel the deep, intense hatred that he had for the Athenians, whom he felt had betrayed him. He nearly grinded his teeth as he spoke of them. They would be the first target of the nuclear weaponry, he decided.

Everyone continues with their job, and Haas folds his arms as he waits for Fegelein to be on the screen. Instead, some other lower officer shows up, blasts being heard around him as he is under fire. Haas frowns and asks, formally, "Who are you? Where is Fegelein?"

The officer, rather nervous and with some dust on his face from the ongoing war says, "Sir, we cannot find Fegelein. We have looked throughout the area but apparently he took the best vehicles with himself and headed for the north. Rumors has it that he has defected and is sending Martens these vehicles. We need reinforcements immediately, Sir! The Athenian Armored Divisions are making progress...we cannot hold on much longer."

-"I want to speak to Fegelein immediately! I do not care if he is gone! Turn your army around, find him, and bring him to me! TO ME!"

"Sir, if we do that we will be killed!"

"BRING ME FEGELEIN! FEGELEIN, FEGELEIN!" - Haas looses it, standing up and taking out his cavalry saber, hitting the table and then his laptop several times. He walks out of the room slashing things at random, complaining about the betrayal, about it all...

Still agitated, hours later he arrives to a site, east of Berlin to check on the development of the Nuclear Warheads. These are his only hope.

"I will show them...how to win a war..."

The circle around Berlin was closing. The South was being isolated from the North. The General's War rages on.

Edited by Kaiser Martens
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Vienna, Legion Group-Austria

Dellion and Denard watch as their combined forces encircle the city. They pushed their men hard to make it this far. They never intended to fight in the mountains. They motions and line of attack merely screen their lines of supplies from thrusts in the mountains.

The Battle for Vienna was brutal, very brutal, but in the end it is won by the combined assault of Legion and Austrian forces. Dellion, having stood down after the discovery of a high ranking Austrian of merit in a local gaol who requested to take over the Austrian 1st Army.

End Results.. Southern Austria Liberated. Vienna Liberated. A provisional Austrian Government installed as a temporary measure. The war in the mountains would no doubt cost some more men, but as far as Denard and Dellion are concerned Legion has paid its share of the butcher's bill and more.

Legion Special Operations Groups in Austria are withdrawn south of the border and told to keep their eyes open on the German rear areas.

43,343 Legion Dead, 38,480 Legion Wounded and Missing. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Legion Division are immediately put on stand-down outside of Vienna. These Divisions are shells of themselves and have been working under the war banner of the 1st Division for the time being.The 25,000 men with the International Brigades are recalled to Active Legion Duty and ordered to begin reporting to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Divisions to bring them up to strength.

While this happens the 4th, 5th, and 6ths Divisions are pushed all the way to the border with Germany and told to kill any German or French soldier who refuses to surrender immediately. The 1st Austrian Army, a shell of a force down to 52,000 men is put to work organizing itself into an 80,000 man defensive force for Vienna. The other 30,000 coming from militia sources and units returning to the Austrian fold from other foreign military units.


OOC: I'm done with this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After their rout into Slovenia, the International Brigades had been re-armed and re-supplied with legion tanks, APCs and Artillery. After a week of preperation, they advance with the legion assault into austria, holding the flank in the city of Villach. As the Legion forces had moved to liberated Vienna, the International Brigades had moved to capture Salzburg. 33,000 men and 2,500 tanks, APC and self-propelled artillery, would smash through the german lines, and quickly secure the city. 3 Brigades would advance North to capture munich, while the rest would continue to fan out the the mountain regions in the west, and even move into Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

There would still be hard fighting to come, however with unrest in northern germany, and the chinese invasion, it was expected that the war would soon draw to a close, and they could all go home.

Edited by Aggressivenutmeg
Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote]
[b]To: Commander Denard, of the Austrian Foreign Legion
From: Maria Theresia II, Empress of Austria[/b]

[i]Commander,

You have my absolute thanks in handling the situation in Austria and Slovenia with such discipline and honor. I fear however that my regime and my governance has taken a toll on my body that I cannot recover from with any small speed. It pains me to watch my country fall and that I am not there to help defend it. Until such a time that I am able to return to power, if at all, I appoint you, Commander as Regent of the Empire and all responsibilities of government fall upon your shoulders. With more diligence, Austria may one day return to it's time of glory and strength. Until that time. Godspeed.

Sincerely,

HIH Maria Theresia[/i]
[/quote]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"Sir, it appears that Task Force Vienna was destroyed after a prolonged fight around the city. Although we still have a large amount of troops in Austria, these troops' supplies have been cut off by the common efforts of Rebel Germanians, Martens, Austrians, and as of lately, Chinese advances. The remaining units have stated that they would resist as long as they can, but they are low on fuel, ammo, and other supplies, even food. It is a matter of time until they are forced to surrender."

"Now there are trouble in the east as well. Taking advantage of our lack of forces, some Prussian Rebels have begun sabotaging our roads and rails..."

"We will not be able to hold on much longer..."

Haas then speaks, "Gather our remaining forces. We will not sit here and wait for the Chinese to merrily come to us on their own terms. If I have to lose, I will do so on my own terms!"

Hours later, when the Einherjar and Valkyrie arrive to Berlin expecting a battle, they find the city deserted as far as authorities go, almost in anarchy. Tambarskjelve asks the locals,

"What happened? Where is Haas, what is the meaning of this, has he surrendered?"

-"No he has not. He has taken his remaining troops, maybe one fourth of a million fanatics, and headed northwest to...to die. There's no other way to describe it."

"Hmpf. Alright. We go to the west..."

---------------------------

Not too far from there, Haas' Last Armies advanced on their death march, to their last stand. The soldiers were strangely motivated by the notion of reaching Valhalla, their faces were a mix of happy insanity and a grim expression which one would find often on a funeral. It *was* their own Funeral. And somewhere within the Army Group, in his Panzer, Haas himself commanded them as they headed right towards the enemy, meeting a few retreating, panicky leftover units on the way. They hummed or sometimes sang the tune to the popular march,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehl6F90rj3U

The war might be lost, but the remaining fanatics would not go down without a fight. As Haas marched, even those who wanted to see him dead watched with a modicum of respect. The General was a past that needed to die in order to move into the future.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

While vague the reports did paint a clear picture. The German will had been mostly broken and it was now time to finish the beast. Forces were stationed throughout Austria and along the Italian and French borders. Resistance was reported in the Austrian and Swiss mountains, a few days earlier this would have been considered a grave threat to the Hellenic ability to strike however now it was just an annoyance. 100,000 soldiers were ordered to stay in the general area of the known resistance formations. Their orderes were strictly to hold them in place until their supplies would end. The remaining force had an entirely different mission. In 2 groups the remaining forces began their march north. 100,000 soldiers, 100,000 Thracians, 1,000 M1s, 1,000 MCS and 4,000 different support vehicles moved ahead from the French border. Their primary objective was to conquer the remains of Western Germany, specifically Alsace-Lorraine, Baden-Wurtemberg, the Rheinland and Nordrhein-Westfalen would find the Hellenic Army beginning to occupy cities and the region in general. Great care was taken to be as kind to the people as possible. Soldiers would not come in guns blazing, each location of importance would receive requests first. It was expected most cities would not oppose the force if guarantees were given that local authorities would remain to function. If a city opposed the move however more force would come in in the form of U-1s and B-10s ready at airports to begin bombing runs for convincing.

The second force consisted of 200,000 soldiers, 100,000 Thracians, 2,000 M1s, 1,000 MCS and 6,000 different support vehicles. Their objectives would mostly be the same as the first force. March north, keep resistance at bay, assume control peacefully and if that would not work with force. These forces would march until Berlin at which point whatever form of authority was there would be given a chance to surrender to the coalition.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The German line advancing at the Federation was something which was not entirely unanticipated, indeed the Germans seemed to have a great proclivity to attack. However, it was hardly the UFEs intention to allow them to have an honorable death. They'd created too much pain in this world.

"We've confirmed the enemy army has left the cities and is on the move against us in the open field." Kou said.


Jia watched the advance via live overhead reconnaissance from Qingyuan. "Inform our commanders they may unleash 'Heaven's Will' upon the enemy. Take care to target their larger armored units, rather than smaller garrison ones in towns or anything. Inform Ariadne, to get her planes clear." he said with a smirk.

"As you wish my lord." the commanding general said.

"You may fire when ready." Jia said. "Now Haas, you will see the fire power, of this fully armed and operational global strike system!"

Kou smirked, "$%&@ yeah!"

With the enemy blinded, they would miss Ballistic missile launches across the North Sea heading towards Germany. This would quickly be supplemented by super heavy lift launch vehicles deployed in Alaska.

Fifty ballistic missiles in all deployed over 150 anti-battalion sized tungsten rain weapons against the center of Haas's line and his head quarters unit. Hundreds of thousands of small tungsten rods came down in a thunderous cloud from the high atmosphere upon the battalions as they advanced through the German country side. It was without a doubt the most horrific site an army could behold, defenses were useless.

Following up on the tungsten rain, the UFEs Tu-160s launched volleys of missiles into the Germans line. 200 ER-M-51s were fired, unleashing more area effect flechette's onto the German positions at the front.

Theater range ballistic missile launchers quickly followed up on the German position, inundating their armored division with volleys of napalm. At the same time F-2s used their microwave weapons at high dial to fry the transmissions of the tanks making them unable to get out of the carnage.

UFE fury super main battle tanks then began the advance. Their 152 mm shells used guidance from overhead units to fire far beyond visual range against the enemy positions. These were supported by the Titan self propelled guns and NLOS-LS II missiles too utterly annihalate what remained of the enemy line, as the UFEs own forces were advancing.

NLOS-Cs and NLOS-M artillery pieces were positioned with rapidly advancing armored cavalry units using speed and concentrated fire power to achieved break throughs, and then concentrate artillery in on enemy positions from the rear.

Helicopter gunships closed in on from the sides as well creating break throughs for airborne infantry which were using primarily the stealth black hawks to fly with less chance of enemy detection. These units were dropped on a rear area location, activated their camouflage and sit as German units were forced back before opening up with ambushes. Additionally they provided on the ground sights for strike aircraft both manned and unmanned which were launching a constant sortieing against the army group.


The overall goal was the softening and surrounding of the German army. While it was still bigger than the UFE expeditionary forces, the combination of air power, aerial and space intelligence, speed, and active camouflage would allow the UFE to outmaneuver and better concentrate its guns across the battle space leaving it in a position to annihilate the German line once and for all.

----------------------------------------

Ryu looked out the window of his stealth black hawk. "We're inside the target zone now." the pilot said.

Ryu nodded. He looked around him at the members of the Imperial Guard Wet Team, "strikers are inbound. Confirmation, enemy air defenses and electronics capability is neutralized, F-2s report no more electrical signals."

Ryu nodded. The F-2 squadron that went in ahead of them had hit the remaining integrated air defenses and launched an electro-magnetic attack at the enemy command center. Haas would now be forced into the black for a bit.

"Alright men, lets move out, its time to kill that !@#$%^& like the dog he is. You're ordered to shoot him. Do not allow him any sort of honorable death or allow him to be made a hero. Hunt him down, put a bullet in his brain or a knife in his back. Get the body. Then we move out. We are the left hand of the Empire, it is time to prove our value!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haas looked up, the attack had been vaguely detected and reported to him, missile defences would do what they could, but it was clear that most of the firepower would get through. He was disgusted.

"Cowards. Is that all they got? Fighting from afar, with missiles? Pathetic. Ignore them, move on, speed up."
He hoped that by advancing quickly they would still be able to avoid being targetted, although he did not know - he only suspected - homing capabilities. The battle group moves on recklessly and quickly, not seeming to be at all phased by the destruction going on everywhere around them. Haas stared forwards and drove on as tanks around him were struck and destroyed, while others seem to break down for no apparent reason. Nobody seemed to care. One could not make up their mind, whether if these people were brave or simply too stupid for their own good.

What happened was that the units deployed in the rear area, which only rarely were discovered by what remained of the Air Defences and Interceptors, did not actually get to do anything, because the Germans hadn't been pushed back. The Chinese Main Battle tanks encountered then Haas' last army group's might head on. It was truly like fighting a berserkerr, nothing more, and nothing less. The General had - already - lost half of his units due to the massive combined arms strike of the enemy before being able to engage Chinese units, which was a catastrophe yet somehow did not seem to have any effect on the troops other than the sadness of seeing some of their comrades dying without being able to at least fight someone first.

The Tanks and Troops that were now assaulting - the survivors of the long distance massacre - would fight as if posessed by the devil. They did not expect to win, so they had nothing to lose. It was just the final explosion of a dying star. No matter their ferocity and skill, their logistics were annihilated, no matter how well they might fight, how many shots their powerful MBTs may resist, they were dead men walking, and the Chinese were no easy targets, they would often seemed to hit the Germanian Armor out of nowhere due to their forward scout vehicles. In the whole mess, shrapnel from a broken nearby tank flew and hit Haas on the side of his face. It had almost killed him, but it only managed to cut his cheek open.

[i]"Fire!"[/i]

His Tank would be distinguishable, as it was the only one to carry a Flag.

In the southwest, the Athenians were neither welcomed nor repelled. They were greeted by Meyer-Lefevre of the Francogerman Brigade, which ever since the government collapsed had protected Elsass-Lothringen, instilling martial law to prevent anarchy. He moved the road barricades so that they might all march towards the distant Berlin. In the south, in the mountains of Austria, the troops had ran out of food...in just a matter of days, they would surrender.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What shots got through the fierce active defenses would bounce off the Furies armor as they continued their advances. Targeting their radars and microwave emitters at the Leopards they jammed their active defenses and used their 152 mms to tear through the armor of the the tanks.

UFE mechanized forces surrounded groups of infantry as they resisted and engaged them with area effect smart munitions to further degrade them, before shock troopers were sent in to mop up the rest.

In many areas UFE forces sparked ambushes as troops advanced from the rear, surrounding positions and calling in air power to finish off foes.

Everytime German units had closed the distance and seemed to get effective fire solutions on the PLA, units would withdraw and hide while land based stand off weapons, air power, or sea power would be called in to neutralize the enemies advantages, the PLA groups would then reappear on the attack.

The scenes were repeated across the broad front. The German's reliance on heavy armor and land charges was proving to be obsolete against the integrated combat systems of the Federation's air, land, and sea forces.

With Haas's tank being confirmed to issue commands, and having a flag on it. It was easy for the Imperial Guard strike team to find it. Using their lasers, they painted targets on its escorts, relaying the information to an overhead force of Tu-160 bombers. Within ten minutes of being painted, missiles struck each of them knocking them out.

The strike force then revealed itself. The man next to Ryu fixed a small projectile launcher on the tank firing, releasing a localized high power EMP to disable the vehicle. Imperial Guard snipers would pick off infantry as Ryu's strike team charged the location. Forcing open the tank with a charge. Ryu's HUD quickly confirmed the facial match of General Haas. Raising its blade in an instant, Ryu impaled him through his throat severing his spine his body, a cold execution. Tossing the body out of the tank, he threw in a charge before jumping clear.

"Target eliminated. Strike clear. Team is to be out in three."

As the team was extracted, six ER-M-51s detonated fuel air explosives over the target area completely cleaning the area of witnesses or life. There would be no one to tell the General's story.

Ryu sat back. "We're inbound to the [i]Triyun II[/i]." the pilot said. "ETA two hours. Executor Ding has been dispatched to personally oversee the final stages."

Ryu nodded. "Roger."

He looked at the corpse.

"You've brought on a lot of !@#$." he said.

=============================================

At offshore base the final preparations were being made for sixteen UFE combat brigade teams which would be making the drop on Berlin itself.

Strike aircraft from across the fleet were being outfitted for what was expected to be the mother of all air campaigns when the UFE hit the capital of Germany itself. With Haas gone, the question was, would his surviving officers still fight or would they abandon the cause before the campaign was extended well into the city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The large force received fairly little resistance on the march to the German capital the only reason their advance stopped south of Brandenburg was the simple fact they wanted to avoid friendly fire. The final campaign if the Germans did not surrender would come from the Hellenic Air Force. The entire bomber force of the Air Force would be prepared for action. 300 strategic bombers, 264 B-10 and the other 36 Tu-160s would be armed with a combination of hypersonic cruise missiles and normal cruise missiles, for every 3 normal cruise missiles the bomber would have 1 hypersonic cruise missile. Each would be armed with conventional weapons.

In addition all fighters in Europe were prepared for action on a moments notice. Along the frontline and on the airbases there would be the traditional silence before the storm. Now it was just waiting on the actions of Germany.

A message would be relayed to UFE forces.

[quote]Hellenic bomber squadrons and fighter escorts ready for operations against Berlin.[/quote]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...