Invasion of the Caucasian Union

[Sarah Tintagyl]

On the order of Xerxes and the government of the Pure Lands, a vanguard force of a few thousand soldiers; reinforced by armor and artillery moved toward the border of the Caucasian Union. Using the mountains to screen the advancing movements, the Pure Land leaders, recruited out of the Priestess class, began to position their units to prepare for an intrusion of the border. The opening movements would be laid out to Lady Tyrannia when she arrived on the battlefield.

 

In order to keep the Caucasian military confused and on guard, the first offense would come from the air. Pure Land air attacks would bombard the border, targeting military outposts, fuel and food depots, and rail lines. In addition, one squadron of bombers would be ordered to head to the Caucasian capital in an attempt to cause severe casualties to the government prior to invasion. If successful, Tyrannia hoped the movements would place her enemy leadership into disarray. Following the air strikes, the vanguard forces would advance over the Caucasian border, supported by artillery barrages against organizing enemy soldiers.

 

The aim was to hit the Caucasians fast and hard, demoralizing them and bringing their government to a fast capitulation and upon Tyrannia's order...the operation commenced.

[Triyun]

Sander, flew in the first wave of the vanguard.  His F-70 Viper descended down from the skies upon the waiting aircraft of the Caucasian Union.  The aircraft handled remarkably well for being a twenty year old Rebel Army air frame just now refitted with modern weaponry.  Externally it sported a pair of four long range radiation seeking missiles, which would fire off into the distance towards the radars and output radio towers of the Caucasian Union.  The immediate attack would reduce the radar facilities of the union, allowing him to kick in his after burner and go right for the targets on the ground.  Opening his weapon bays, small diameter bombs dropped downwards, towards the feint dots that were the home hangers of the caucasian air force.  If things went right, pilots like him across the front would be conducting similar operations to deny the ability of the Caucasians to counter the invasion from the air.  Turning back towards the front now, he brought his plane up and around.  

 

He pointed his nose down towards the command and control center of one of the armor formations manning the front.  Aligning the AESA radars thousands of scanning emitters on the one spot, he would focus energy with such ferocity as to black out the communications of that section of the ground forces.  It was funny, he thought to himself.  Such primitives had triggered the collapse of the German Empire, only to now be subjected to the Pure Lands.  Germany must have grown soft.  

 

Across the front, the four wings of Vipers continued their mission of paralysis, clearing the way for Tyrannia's armor forces to envelope the initial elements of the Caucasian Army, while testing a multitude of new weapons and combined arms for training the military.  

 

Back in Babylon, Xerxes would listen tentatively to news from the Front, and most importantly, any stirrings of the Russian Bear...

[Markus Wilding]

The Pure Lands air force would find difficulty in attempting to penetrate the border and cause disarray. An extensive work of anti-aircraft guns and missiles had been constructed in the Union in previous years, along with the necessary radar and other detecting systems required to keep the edge to the Red Armies. Airplanes would find themselves tracked by heat-seeking and radar-locked missiles alike, while any force attempting to bomb frontline Soviet units would be harassed by three squadrons of PAK-FA fighters. Pure Lands bombers would also find great difficulty in penetrating the capital, as added onto the missiles, guns and fighters to intercept them, Tbilisi would have it's own complement of fighters which were mobilized to the air once reports came in from the border that a Pure Lands air war was underway.

 

While Sander's missiles would most likely be swat down, there was the chance most of his cohorts had bypassed the missile defenses. Several radar stations in Azerbaijan reported a loss in coverage. In addition, second-line units reported attacks on fuel and ammunition dumps, and at least one outpost had been annihilated, a total loss of about 240 members of the Azerbaijani Red Army and thirty staff members. Airbases in Armenia and Azerbaijan reported heavy losses in both aircraft and building damage.

 

On the ground, the Azerbaijani and Armenian Red Armies were prepared for this scenario. Units along the Azerbaijani and Armenian mountains would fall back and prepare for light infantry operations to harass and disrupt advancing enemy units, most likely infantry due to the terrain of the area. Along the left flank, the leftmost units would retreat to the city of Igdir and await reinforcements in the form of the 83rd Armor division, some 340 T-90G tanks prepared for battle. In addition to these numbers, the 1st Armored Dragoons would be called to reinforce the Red Army in Armenia, and to counter whatever infantry operate in the desert. On the right flank, infantry would remove themselves to the mountains if possible. Those unable to retreat to the mountains would fall back as far as possible to await further reinforcements.

 

Slightly behind the lines in Armenia and Azerbaijan, MLRS vehicles would set up and begin counter-battery fire on the Pure Lands artillery, as well as bring conventional 152 mm artillery into range for bombarding advancing infantry columns. A squadron of Mil Mi-28N attack helicopters would also begin attacking both soft and hard targets in Azerbaijan, and any armored unit was given priority for being fired upon. Spotters with retreating Red Army units made sure to call out the location and direction of any enemy armor spotted.

 

Overall, at least 450 soldiers lost their lives in the opening barrage, with another 274 wounded, 84 critically. Airplane losses totaled to around 17 Sukhoi PAK-FAs lost or damaged to bombings and dogfights, and 5 Tu-160s lost or damaged.  As usual, final numbers would be modified to give hope to the people of the Soviet Union.

Edited August 21, 2013 by Markus Wilding

[President Costava]

ARSTOTZKA - The President of the Arstotzkan Republic, Jorji Costava called for a ceasefire in the Caucasus and negotiations between the parts in a live speech on state TV early this afternoon, while a few miles on the other side of the Strait of Kerch the forces of Tianxia and Pure Lands attacked the Caucasian Union.

 

In his calm but worried pre-afternoon speech, the Arstotzkan leader appeared subdued but defiant, repeatedly pausing as he flipped through handwritten notes.

 

"This is the only way to overcome differences. I call urgently on all institutional and political actors and on civil society in Asia and the Caucasus to promote peace and stability by both word and deed", the President said during the TV speech. "I am deeply concerned over the consequences towards the civilian population which will be the first one to pay for this conflict. The Arstotzkan Republic will carefully monitor the situation on the other side of the Strait of Kerch and offers to host a neutral diplomatic table where all the parts in the conflict can hopefully reach an agreement and prevent this conflict to escalate, with unpredictable and terrifying consequences for the population of the Caucasus."

 

"The Arstotzkan Republic also encourages Greater Russia, a key player in Asia, to support the negotiations table." he added.

Edited August 21, 2013 by President Costava

[Sarah Tintagyl]

If the first foray into Caucasian territory caused damages to the Pure Land air armada, the second attempt would be more successful. The advancing Imperial vanguard would be ordered to target the enemy anti-aircraft as their primary objective and filtered through the borderlands of the two nations like a spreading plague. They targeted all installations foolish enough to give away their positions to the incoming air armada. These movements would result in a magnificent air battle for the Imperial air force having to engage the enemy airplanes in addition to the enemy fire from the ground. Losses in the air would be high, but Lady Tyrannia rested her assurance on the ability for the Imperial economy to continue to produce quality planes that could match the Caucasians in the air. Her orders to the air force were simple. "We push to the capital. When a plane goes down, another will take their place. Do not retreat."

 

A similar order was given to the ground forces, retreat was not an option. On a similar vein, however, they were not to bother a great deal with the enemy forces that fell back into the mountains. To prevent the encroachment of the enemy onto Imperial supply lines, brigades of the advancing army, those forces behind the vanguard, were stationed on important roads. Some were given the task of protecting the supply lines, which cut through the southern mountains on the routes toward the Caucasian capital, others were ordered to remain near enemy positions to keep them bottled up in the mountains.

 

This theory of battle would free of a large portion of the Imperial army to continue northward and accomplish three things. Bring the main Caucasian army out into the open, close the distance between the Imperial advance and the capital, and reduce the Caucasian ability to harass Imperial batteries on the border and beyond.

 

Though there was no sign of occupation on the Caucasian border territories, these regions would now play host to a large amount of Imperial soldiers. When entering towns Imperial Rhetoric would be passed to the towns people, focusing heavily on the poor. They spoke on the failures of Communism and the Soviet Unions predecessors. How could a government in this modern age call itself Marxist, Leninist, or Stalinist? The wealth of the Pure Lands would be advertised, bribes would be given for Caucasians to pick up their guns against their Communist overlords, but resisters in the towns would be killed. The Empire demanded loyalty from its subjects and those soon to be occupied and given that the Soviet government had yet to make a remark about the war, the Imperial Army used their silence to decry the Union's ability to fight back.

 

"Come with us," the banners read, "Save your people, your families, your honor. Together we can make all the world a Pure Land."

[Markus Wilding]

The air battle was starting to turn against the Soviet Red Air Force, and the pilots knew it. It was decided, apart from Mil Mi-28Ns on the front lines, all air activity not committed to defending the capital would be ceased unless necessary. Installations, of both anti-aircraft and RADAR variety, would find themselves under fire and most likely annihilated. Aside from that, a single large transport plane with full Soviet markings would head out to Athens from Tbilisi, with four fighters escorting it to the border.

 

From Gagra, the entire Red Fleet began to sail, with orders to head straight to Athens. Rumors came about that Chairman Innokentiy Zolnerowich was on the flagship, the RNU Soviet Union. There were also whispers on other ships that they had various government officials on board. These whispers ran amok on the battleships, destroyers, and frigates, and one even managed to start on one of the amphibious assault ships.

 

Also from Tbilisi, an armored convoy began to leave. This convoy consisted of 12 T-90G main battle tanks, 5 BMP-3M armored personnel carriers, two armored limousines and no less than four anti-air missile platforms. In the air, a wing of Mil Mi-28N attack helicopters provided support to prevent and interdict anything heading towards the convoy. The convoy's route would send it on a beeline straight to the Athenian border. An encrypted message was sent to Athens to advise them of the arrival of all three convoys and flights, with the message that Innokentiy Zolnerowich and his cabinet was on one of them.

 

Imperial forces who got too close to the mountains for comfort would be fired upon by snipers and machine guns. Unit 1704 operatives stationed within select units would begin concealing themselves and their fellow Red Army comrades into the terrain, making extensive use of camouflage and constant hit-and-run attacks to make their true position unknown. As the deserts of Armenia gave way to more suitable terrain for the Red Army, delaying attacks would be common. The Imperials had a long way to go before they reached the capital, and with coming reinforcements in the form of the Georgian and Russian Red Armies and their respective armored units, a long ground war was ahead of them as well.

 

Azerbaijan was a different story. The deserts stretched on for what seemed miles, and most members of the Azerbaijani Red Army would opt to instead retreat to the mountain range bordering Armenia rather than fight in the desert. The Dagestani Red Army would begin to mobilize for defensive operations in the north-eastern Azerbaijani mountains and link up with part of the Russian Red Army sent to help defend the pass to Georgia, and by default, Tbilisi.

 

Although most in the towns would be ordered by local military and civilian officials to ignore the messages, it was also demanded that they not allow Imperial soldiers or staff officers into their homes. Violence was not an option at this point, but covert KGB agents who were in the area made lists of those who wished to fight. These would be used for a future underground resistance. Imperial soldiers would often find their banners hacked up the next day, no doubt by nationalist or Communist radicals in the towns.

 

A map circulating within the Soviet intranet to all commanders - a marking of where the front line stands.

[Justinian the Mighty]

Prime Minister Kropotkin released a statement in response to the Arstotzkan president.

 

"We will monitor this situation as it unfolds. However the current regime in Caucasia has been unaccommodating and downright hostile toward Russia and Russian interests. Caucasia's work supporting and harboring international terrorists is only the latest in a long list of offenses against the peaceful people of the world and Caucasia must be punished. While we do not relish the thought of foreign invaders running rampant across Asia and Europe, but we will not interfere unless our interests are threatened or we see positive regime change occur in Caucasia."

[Centurius]

Acting on its previous offer the air, land and sea forces of the Caucasian Union would receive a warm welcome. The air units were escorted by the Hellenic Air Force to Sofia while the fleet was guided to ports in Bulgaria and Romania. The land force was rerouted to Ankara. The choice was made to head to these areas far apart to minimise the risk of a coordinated strike against a single place. Under the utmost secrecy the Chairman would be escorted to High Guard safe-house in the Alps where they would be able to use secured methods of communication to continue operating as a government.

[TheShammySocialist]

 

Open Statement from the Union of South Africa

 

"Recent years for South Africa, and even preceding the establishment of the state itself have made it quite aware of recognizing threats to peace and harmony. Many years have been spent wondering when a new threat may arise, we have been under the threat of shadow of subjugation and isolation from other nations. It has driven us to many ends to ensure that peace and harmony are kept, a balancing act is achieved, recognizing the threats before they build into ones that are overwhelming, to foresee challenges, to prepare for them.

 

The threat that rises from the Near East is a troubling one, these collective regions that have fashioned themselves as the 'Pure Lands', and we, unlike a number of others, recognize the threat for what it is. Although we have had our differences with the actions of Caucasian Union over the years, its actions disagreeable on a number of occasions, every nation in this world has the collective right to sovereignty and to protect that right. This invasion and global indifference to this first stroke of power, an unprovoked attack on a single nation, a storm is building. And we recognize that storm for what it is; a threat to global peace and prosperity.

 

It is for that reason that the Union of South Africa hereby enforces a complete economic embargo of the Pure Lands, no ship originating from its lands will be welcome in South African ports, and no South African merchantman will be found in her ports. The South African government will continue to assess the situation and those assessments will lead to further action as deemed necessary."

 

Adolph Paton

Outgoing President of the Union of South Africa

Edited August 30, 2013 by TheShammySocialist

[Triyun]

The air battle was starting to turn against the Soviet Red Air Force, and the pilots knew it. It was decided, apart from Mil Mi-28Ns on the front lines, all air activity not committed to defending the capital would be ceased unless necessary. Installations, of both anti-aircraft and RADAR variety, would find themselves under fire and most likely annihilated. Aside from that, a single large transport plane with full Soviet markings would head out to Athens from Tbilisi, with four fighters escorting it to the border.

 

From Gagra, the entire Red Fleet began to sail, with orders to head straight to Athens. Rumors came about that Chairman Innokentiy Zolnerowich was on the flagship, the RNU Soviet Union. There were also whispers on other ships that they had various government officials on board. These whispers ran amok on the battleships, destroyers, and frigates, and one even managed to start on one of the amphibious assault ships.

 

Also from Tbilisi, an armored convoy began to leave. This convoy consisted of 12 T-90G main battle tanks, 5 BMP-3M armored personnel carriers, two armored limousines and no less than four anti-air missile platforms. In the air, a wing of Mil Mi-28N attack helicopters provided support to prevent and interdict anything heading towards the convoy. The convoy's route would send it on a beeline straight to the Athenian border. An encrypted message was sent to Athens to advise them of the arrival of all three convoys and flights, with the message that Innokentiy Zolnerowich and his cabinet was on one of them.

 

Imperial forces who got too close to the mountains for comfort would be fired upon by snipers and machine guns. Unit 1704 operatives stationed within select units would begin concealing themselves and their fellow Red Army comrades into the terrain, making extensive use of camouflage and constant hit-and-run attacks to make their true position unknown. As the deserts of Armenia gave way to more suitable terrain for the Red Army, delaying attacks would be common. The Imperials had a long way to go before they reached the capital, and with coming reinforcements in the form of the Georgian and Russian Red Armies and their respective armored units, a long ground war was ahead of them as well.

 

Azerbaijan was a different story. The deserts stretched on for what seemed miles, and most members of the Azerbaijani Red Army would opt to instead retreat to the mountain range bordering Armenia rather than fight in the desert. The Dagestani Red Army would begin to mobilize for defensive operations in the north-eastern Azerbaijani mountains and link up with part of the Russian Red Army sent to help defend the pass to Georgia, and by default, Tbilisi.

 

Although most in the towns would be ordered by local military and civilian officials to ignore the messages, it was also demanded that they not allow Imperial soldiers or staff officers into their homes. Violence was not an option at this point, but covert KGB agents who were in the area made lists of those who wished to fight. These would be used for a future underground resistance. Imperial soldiers would often find their banners hacked up the next day, no doubt by nationalist or Communist radicals in the towns.

 

A map circulating within the Soviet intranet to all commanders - a marking of where the front line stands.

 

Stand off land attack cruise missiles would be used to do logistical bombing targeting roads in the North far behind enemy lines with the SEAD mission having been largely successful.  This would cut the materiale support lines and logistical lines for the ground forces attempting to hold out in the south.  Air fields would be targeted further by streams of SRBM initially cratering runways and destroying air hangars followed on by aircraft deploying large clusters of bomblets onto them to keep crews from repaving them.  6 high altitude Tu-160s flying 20 kilometers behind the line, escorted by electronic jamming aircraft would begin engaging units attempting to enter and leave the fight with large numbers of small diameter bombs delivering precision fire to instill paralysis on enemy forces.  Cyber attacks and electronic jamming, along with the destruction of space relay points, and telecommunications lines would cut off communication both within and out of the country.

 

F-70s would easily pick apart the Mi-28s as they were deployed across the front.  The deployment of helicopters without air support would be a costly waste of life and machine for the Caucasians.  (Seriously its a dumb idea)

 

Along the mountain Azerbijiani front teams of elite shock troopers would suppress the hold outs using precision fire mortars and nerve gas to hold them in place.  Shock troopers would then enter the enemy positions as other teams of infantry would infiltrate behind the line and cut off possibilities of retreat.   Meanwhile mechanized units and armored units would utilize their speed to get behind the retreating army rather than directly engage it, and form a holding line, while slower general infantry would be used to come up the rear, enveloping large groups of the enemy army.  

 

In Dagestan strategic bombing would begin hitting the material of the army there as it mobilized.  F-70 fighters would strike the remaining air defenses and radar installations in the sector rapidly, followed on by Tu-160s launching land attack cruise missiles from stand off range to come in below enemy radars and decapitate the head quarters down to the battalion level.  This would be followed in by electronic warfare aircraft escorting heavy cargo planes flying at high altitude.  While the EW aircraft suppressed enemy ground defenses the large planes would drop incindieary cluster bombs on mobilization points suppressing its ability to mobilize.  Following onto this, three airborne divisions would be dropped into the area.  They were assigned to target enemy units while they were still disorganized, moving in small rapidly moving units with heavily empowered local commanders.  This was done in support of a drone campaign that systematically targeted and killed enemy commanders and party leaders in the area.  This would effectively paralyze the marxist-leninist civil-military decision making structure while individual combat units were annihilated and unable to respond.

 

In Armenia, drones were tasked to support the ground forces, attempts at engaging in geurilla operations would be costly, as drone support would be tasked to both provide overhead imaging to direct fire and fire themselves to rapidly attrit the Soviet special forces.  They would also target officers and party leadership to once again destroy the marxist leninist top heavy decision making structures of the enemy.  This would be done in concert with mechanized and armored forces ignoring enemy lines while infantry and air power engaged them and charging forward and around them cutting their logistical routes and forming a rear lines to envelop units and destroy them before they could further escape.

 

Finally an armored spear head would be thrust up through the pocket in Armenia along the valley towards Tblisi.  CAS aircraft would be tasked at clearing the way for it, as forward armored cavalry would keep in constant contact with the enemy front line providing constant updated coordinates to the air power not allowing the enemy line to reform at any point along the way.

Edited September 6, 2013 by Triyun

[Markus Wilding]

Soviet fighters would be scrambled to counter any and all air aggression attempting to enter the north, the primary directive being to deter and swat away any attacks on Tbilisi. In addition, Soviet military personnel would deploy as many counter-EW measures as possible to defend against the onslaught of technological attacks.

 

In the Azerbaijani mountains units attacked by chemical weapons would instantly begin putting on their gas masks, and made contact with all other units in the area that the Fascists were now deploying nerve agents against the Red Armies. As this got to command level, a message was sent on the intranet to all commanders informing them that nerve gas was in play and all units should deploy gas masks upon entering their positions. Fascist shock troopers attempting to breach the line would be fired upon by accurate sniper fire and suppressive machine gun fire, effectively preventing any advance. (OOC: Seriously, you're attacking mountains and going up against machine guns and snipers. There's no way they can move up.)

 

As the line moved up, Soviet armored units would begin entering the fray. Primary targets would be the Fascist main battle tanks and recon vehicles as artillery in the rear fired upon the advancing infantry units. This would prevent infantry anti-tank teams to effectively fire on the Soviet tanks.

 

The Dagestani Red Army would quickly be ordered straight to the front to avoid the Fascist air attacks. Armored units in the area would be ordered to deal with the enemy paratroopers, along with 3,000 Unit 1704 troopers to act as infantry escorts for the tanks. Drones in Armenia would find no targets to shoot at. Party leadership and officers had gone into hiding, and no guerrilla warfare attempts had been made yet. There was only talk of fighting.

 

Meanwhile, the armored spear would find itself thrust against the Georgian Red Army, with the Tbilisi fighter complement taking to the air to stop the Fascist air force. The 2nd Red Army Dragoons would be first to meet contact with their Fascist counterparts and to delay enemy action long enough for Red Army engineers to block the passes and roads leading to Tbilisi, where approximately 50,400 soldiers of the Georgian Red Army and 2,000 Unit 1704 operatives prepared their defenses in every nook and cranny of the city.

 

In the intense fighting, 1,274 Soviet soldiers lost their lives with another 840 wounded, 63 of them critically. Airpower losses amounted to a vast majority of the three squadrons deployed to the front and much more behind the lines, along with all of the attack helicopters destroyed.

[Triyun]

 

Macro Air Situation:

 

Fighters attempting to scrambling up would make themselves more vulnerable.  Having to gain energy on the ascent, they were sitting ducks, as all thrust power had to be made to the initial climb.  But against stealthy F-70s, by the time the aircraft were detected, they were already in weapons range of the fighters.  Fighter groups were ordered to not waste missiles and instead use guns to destroy the enemy aircraft where they completely lacked manuevering energy, turning the defenses into a turkey shoot.  Consequently radars that were turned on to detect and engage the bomber forces made themselves vulnerable to attack revealing their position.  Given the lack of aircraft in the air, and the F-70s were able to perform the anti-air mission with no casualties (note this stacks up to US experience in Vietnam and Gulf War I when they were able to catch the Iraqi and Viet MiG forces on the ground).

 

F-70s would call in LACMs onto the target from rear areas, using their synthetic aperture radars to update coordinates on the missiles, as they stealthily came in using the terrain of the area to remain undetected by enemy radars, along with the ongoing jamming.

 

Azerbijiani Mountains:

 

There would of course be degrees of delay in putting on gas masks, as the communications was being heavily harassed between units.  Even the intranets weren't secure as large amounts of electromagnetic energy were used to force open wireless apertures in the network at which point tailored malware would be inserted to wreak havoc on the internal networks.  Not only would there be malwares which introduced commands to surge power thereby frying systems and kinetically destroy systems, but there would also be scores of false information planted among enemy units.  The effect of this would be to destroy the reliability of communciation between units further hampering coordination.  

 

While machine gun nests and snipers may have been an effective strategy against large units, shock troopers were a different story (I'm sorry Markus but the Germans proved you wrong in 1917 here).  Sniper units would be homed in on by acoustic signatures and the dispersed small units would direct fire onto the target.  This was supported by accurate supporting fires from precision mobile mortars and teams of shock troops storming forward, and continuing their maneuvering upwards, taking advantage of cover and suppression fire to enable their advances, allowing the forces to quickly regain the initiative after the initial losses in each engagement.  

 

Machine guns were somewhat easier to deal with, these positions where highly vulnerable to air attack as well as the tactics used against the snipers.  Additionally the fires of the shock troops assault rifles had similar capabilities.  With the enemy wearing gas masks, and similar equipment, their mobility would be impaired.  With electronic warfare units suppressing enemy anti-air fires, mobile air cavalry would suppress positions enabling helicopter born infantry to flank positions and continue to encircle groups at the mountain and subject enemies to artillery fire and encirclement and destroy tactics.

 

Dagestan and Armenia:

 

The Soviet forces would move into a trap, positioning themselves for utter annihilation.  By engaging infantry with artillery, the Soviets were using their forces sub optimally while revealing their positions.  Aircraft would use their synthetic aperture infrared sensors to pinpoint muzzle flashes across the front, sending information to the Pure Land's own artillery units.  Counter batteries would then be directed onto the artillery units almost immediately.  Meanwhile dispersed infantry would be somewhat effected by artillery, but not to a large degree, due to the difficulty in concentrating fire and ability to take advantage of cover, continued their advance.  While there were pockets of losses it was not enough to significantly slow forces down.

 

As armored forces advanced as fast as they could while not contesting bombing of logistics, the enemy would rapidly use up their fuel supplies, while their logistical tail would be highly vulnerable to continued harassment by Pure Lands air power.  Meanwhile the T-90s vulnerability would be on full display while they advanced.  Pure Land old RA Orca CAS aircraft would use their cannons to strip off the T-90s reactive armor as they advanced, while they used their payloads of anti-tank missiles to attrit some.  However, the real strength would lay in range of cannons.  

 

GPS guided tank guns and mortars would then be brought to bear on the enemy tank force as it advanced, engaging and destroying the now more vulnerable (due to the stripping of their reactive armor tank force).  The first group of tanks would attrit and destroy as many Soviet Tanks as they could before the soviet force could themselves get into gun range, moving into a forward line to hold the center of the Red Army, while two other spear head forces would move around into spear heads and create break throughs on the side, clearing the way for mechanized infantry and recon forces to pour through and attack the enemy rear already being attritted by air power.  Close in T-90s would be able to do some damage to forces which made initial contact, but fire power would quickly be brought to bear from multiple directions against the now reactive armorless forces.

 

This would create two pockets of enemy forces.  The group first enveloped by the Pure Lands army (see previous post) and then the second group trapping the armored reinforcements the Soviets had sent.  As these pockets were squeezed now by the Pure Land Army into denser locations, SRBMs would be brought to bear onto these units, using cluster munitions to destroy the enemy core as the ground forces continued advancing inwards slaughtering the Soviets mercilessly as they went.

 

 

As Soviet forces attempted to advanced up to engage the airborne units, Orcas stripped Soviet armor forces of their reactive armor as F-70s did deep strikes against the battalion and brigade HQs of armor forces and destroying the Soviet own air fields and close air support units.  The Airborne infantry would then proceed to engage the soviet tank forces with anti-tank missiles, as they were now highly vulnerable to missile attack, especially with electronic warfare continuing to suppress the remaining soft kill defenses.  Meanwhile the air borne would remain dispersed, disallowing the bringing to bear of heavy fires.  

 

Airborne infantry would take a pocket defense strategy, allowing enemy forces to advance into a pocket, and then with air support close the pocket and destroy the individual units slowing the group of armored forces.  Thus contributing to the larger battlefield objective of separating and destroying the Soviet army, while allowing the light forces to minimize their losses, by denying exposure to the strength of enemy armor.

 

This would be followed on now by a whole second echelon of three mechanized/armor corps size forces now advancing into the operational area, bypassing the large Soviet force already engaged and charging up North unopposed.

 

Push to Tblisi:

 

Like other air units attempting to defend across the country as they ascended into the skies, they would be rapidly taken down before they could gain much maneuver energy.  Air support would continue to attrit the Dragoons as they attempted to make contacts.  Outranging the enemy guns the armored columns would rapidly engage the enemy forward force holding them down and attriting the enemy enough to allow the center force to punch a whole straight through and continue its advance northwards towards Tblisi smashing into engineering groups before they could complete their work.  Meanwhile electronic warfare would deny the enemy to take advantage of any sort of remote detonation.  Rear groups would meanwhile take advantage of the break throughs, to engage and flank the armor forces, compressing them into small pockets, and preventing pursuit of the armored spear heads.  Initial lines in the hold force would sustain moderate casualties, but  LACMs and SRBMs would be used to engage and destroy the T-90s far more vulnerable to cluster munitions with their reactive armor stripped, thus quickly allowing the forces involved to seize the initiative, while EW units jammed radars necessary for missile defense.

 

The remaining air power of the enemy force would now be fully engaged by a wave of SRBMs and LACMs being launched in a combined salvo directed at the remaining command and control centers, centers of enemy communications, surviving air fields and air hangars.  With enemy radars now both attritted and jammed, the defense would be extraordinarily difficult, as they two types of missiles required radars pointed in completely different directions.  

 

With enemy air power now suppressed, a force of high altitude B-52s would move over the country (please remember EW craft are still jamming sensors), and began hitting logistical depots on their approach to the Coast where they dropped scores of naval mines into the harbors to block further retreats and supply lines into the country, even as Pure Land forces had almost completely cut the Athenian border.

 

Meanwhile a private diplomatic message would be send to the Russian Czar.

 

To The Autocrat of All Russians Mikhail,

 

The Pure Lands has nearly achieved its military objectives with regards to the Soviets.  Both you and I know for too long this cancer has been allowed to fester, spreading lies and filth across these lands.  Why should it?   Why should great men such as you and I have to live in a world where we exist to serve weaker ones like him.  

 

I would like to propose an agreement.  A private meeting between the two of us to achieve peace between our two lands.

 

Sincerely,

 

HIM, Xerxes I of the Pure Lands of Persia, Babylon, and Assyria

Edited September 13, 2013 by Triyun

[Markus Wilding]

OOC: Not seeing much point to replying to air force %*#@, since that's all #*%@ed and I don't understand air war. Congratulations. Technobabble and #%#! for the win.
IC:

In the Azerbaijani mountains, units receiving fire would begin to pull back even further into the mountains, or attempt to head to the flanks to link up with other comrades. The Azerbaijani Red Army would not allow itself to be encircled again, and as such counter-attacks and delaying tactics were common. Soviet riflemen with the machine gunners would fire back on their Fascist counterparts, and Unit 1704 operatives armed with LMGs and MMGs would lay down suppressing fire as they retreated. Snipers would either fall back or move to new firing positions after taking shots or mortar fire. To confuse and disorient the Fascists, Soviet troopers would deploy smoke grenades and lay grenade traps in their former positions as they fled.

In Dagestan, the newly-arrived Australian Brigade would be ordered to assist in the attack against the Fascist paratroopers as Unit 1704 and the Russian Armored Corps took damage and casualties. Those in both the Soviet and Australian ranks armed with MMGs would be ordered to fire upon all suspected pockets of resistance as sharpshooters harassed and killed enemy officers. T-90s not engaged by anti-armor rockets would fire upon the airborne units with its 12.7mm machine gun and main cannon.

In Armenia, the Dragoons would be ordered to dismount and begin firing on the Fascist tanks with their RPG-29s. If no Fascist tanks presented themselves, they were to fire on the mechanized infantry to prevent any further harm to Soviet troopers or tanks. Eventually though, individual units would begin to pull back until at last the entire force had soon withdrawn from combat, though not without severe casualties.

Georgian Red Army engineers now had effectively blocked the passes to Tbilisi, preventing an armored approach along the main roads. While some losses came about from the lack of a remote detonation possibility, there were still enough engineers left to fall back to Tbilisi and prepare the defenses in the city itself. These defenses would consist of 12.7mm machine gun positions set up in buildings along major roads, small concealed units in homes and other buildings, ammo dumps and resupply points along the Metro, and snipers were given free reign to roam as they pleased. Those with Dragunovs would stick to the inner city, while the Unit 1704 snipers with the SV-98 would prefer to keep watch on the outskirts of the city.

As the intense fighting raged in other parts of the Union, silos in the North District opened up and launch coordinates were prepared. Along the front of Dagestan, Armenia, Azerbaijan and two miles behind the push to Tbilisi, 5 missiles were launched. These missiles were to act as EMPs, destroying all communication between either side. While this effectively left the Armenian and Azerbaijani Red Armies out to dry, it was deemed a necessary risk by the Soviet High Command in Athens to proceed with the strike.

[Justinian the Mighty]

"This is the true face of the Caucasian regime. Inciting nuclear war is only the latest crime they have committed, but the world looked away when the Caucasian government gave its support to terror the organization that destroyed the Russian space rocket in midair. Everyone ignored its unwarranted aggression against its neighbors and ignored our calls for intervention. Now the blood of innocent civilians will be on all our hands. If I were still prime minister I would direct the Russian armed forces to liberate Caucasia immediately." – Former Prime Minister Kropotkin.

[Triyun]

The fighting in the Caucases would continue for approximately a week.  The use of nuclear weapons did little to stop the fighting, instead causing wide spread suffering, along with damaging a few of the older model tanks.  The net effect though was the spread of radiation and fall out to the neighboring Great Powers.

 

With the leadership cut off from its armies by the Athenian reaction to the nuclear attack, the Communist forces quickly found themselves enveloped in four separate pockets, including a capital which would be subjected to a now 'justified' bombardment by the invading Pure Lands army.  In total 10 divisions occupied most but the far north of the Caucuses.  The vast majority of the World's energy supplies now lay in the hands of a single power.  

 

The Pure Lands had established itself as a great power, and established a strong defensible border against an attack from Europe.  Now the attention turned south...