Novgorodskoye Imperiya

[Markus Wilding]

Vladilen Yukanovski sat in his office, very troubled. It had been many years since the Old World fell, and a feeling known in Novgorod as "Old World Blues" filled the air. This feeling referred to wishes of returning to the old, a hankering back to the times when Athens, the Greater Russian Empire, and Tianxia still ruled. These people were unkindly referred to in Novgorod's inner circles as autsaydery, or outsiders. The autsaydery were commonly made up of the unprivileged lower classes; the unemployed, the homeless, the addicts, the anarchists. The knayzes and tsars of Novgorod tended to pay them no mind, however. They clearly did not know what was good for them. Of course, that did nothing to comfort Vladilen. Many lands had been lost in the reform, notably Finland and the Baltic states. While Vladilen had no intentions to head any further east than was already claimed by Novgorodian soldiers, although he knew many in his inner circle demanded lands further south. Vladilen's thoughts were interrupted as Aleksey Igor Yakovlev entered, Vladilen's Minister of the Army. Aleksey bowed courteously. "My Tsar," he said before standing again. "Igornovsky," Vladilen stated flatly, "I trust you have a report?" Aleksey nodded and shuffled the papers in his hands. "The Army reports that we are currently training 238,080 strong Novgorodian soldiers for our Imperial Army." Vladilen frowned. The number was far lower than he expected. "You mean to tell me that a people that once pushed back the Nazis with over five million men has been reduced to a measly two hundred and forty soldiers?" Aleksey swallowed hard as he nodded slowly. Vladilen sighed and leaned back in his chair, looking out the window. At least it was a nice day outside. That made up for this horrible news. Although, to be fair, Vladilen had a feeling in the back of his mind that this was to happen. A people and a country that had seen war after war, first the Nazis in the 40's, then Pure Lands, and now the Great Collapse. Vladilen was sure the recruiters were surprised when even the first one thousand had signed up.

 

"Thank you, Igornovsky. You are dismissed." Yakovlev may have come from a working family, but as least he was respectable. There was much work to be done, for sure. Factories had to be built in Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Archangelsk to produce replacement parts for the precious few T-90 tanks salvaged from the Greater Russian Empire and produce more of the machines. Arms was to be an issue too, to be sure. While the massive amounts of Kalashnikov derivatives were sure to keep the Novgorodian Imperial Army supplied for the time being, new internally-produced arms were required. The AK-74 may be a reliable beast, but age will rot any machine. And I'm not even thinking about civilian goods yet, Vladilen thought.

 

Novgorod had a long way to go, indeed.

[Captain Enema]

 

Private
To: Novogorod
From: The Kingdom of Axum

Regarding- Trade

The Kingdom of Axum requires resources that perhaps the good hard working peoples of Novogorod can provide. We have oil and steel and we to trade for lumber as our lands are very dry and not known for growing trees that stand higher than 5 feet tall.  

King Beckwith of the Kingdom of Axum

[Lysergide]

Diplomatic Note from Sverige

 

The Kingdom of Sverige wishes our neighbors the best of luck with their reformation, and offers its hand diplomatically, economically, and militarily to help with the stabilization and recovery of Empire of Novgorod. It believes with the current state of Anarchy in the world, it would be in the best interests of both nations to co-operate.

[Markus Wilding]

 

Private

To: The Kingdom of Axium

From: The Novgorodian Empire

 

Regarding-Trade

 

Novgorod can agree to this arrangement. All we require is the needed tonnage and a port to ship it to. Your ships can dock in the St. Petersburg port.

 

Tsar Vladilen Yukanovski

 

 

Private

To: Sverige

From: The Novgorodian Empire

 

Regarding-Diplomatic Note

 

We thank Sverige for their kind words and wish the same. Currently, we must decline any offers of military cooperation until such time as we can reorient ourselves. Until then, do not hesitate to send a diplomat to Novgorod and we will reciprocate in kind for Stockholm.

 

Tsar Vladilen Yukanovski

 

[Markus Wilding]

Perverse as it may seem, I sometimes believe that the tip to my lips just reminds me to breathe.

 

--------

 

Foreign Minister Boris Konstantinov sat in his office, finalizing the reply to Sverige. As he did this, Tsar Vladilem Yukanovski entered, clearly upset. Konstantinov stood, bowing deeply. "My Tsar," he stammered, "what is the matter?" Vladilem forced Konstantinov to stand tall, piercing him with his brown eyes. "Sverige has just sent so-called 'peacekeepers' to Finland! OUR land!" Vladilem paced the office, staring Konstantinov down. "I expect an answer for this gross violation of our rightful claims!" Konstantinov readjusted his glasses, sent askew by the force of Yukanosvki's hand, and blinked rapidly as he tried to formulate an answer. "W-Well, my Tsar, I can only assume that no order has gone out to the military to secure the area." Sensing that Yukanovski would not like this explanation, he added, "I don't truly know, my Tsar, it's not my department..." Vladilem closed his eyes and sighed heavily. His fists closed tightly, then relaxed. Although seething with anger, Vladilem visibly calmed himself down enough to address Konstantinov without shouting in the rather small office. "Then I will authorize such an order. Next time a claim is made on our rightful lands, I expect a report from you!" With that, Vladilem left, slamming the door behind him. Konstantinov exhaled, glad to be spared from Vladilem's normal wrath.

 

---

 

After a few hours, General of the Army Akim Dima Lagounov had mobilized the 1st Imperial Grenadiers Regiment and loaded them onto trucks, which sped from St. Petersburg into neighboring Finland. The 3,500 soldiers of the regiment would stick to the coast, heading to Helsinki and proclaiming to the citizens that they were now under Novgorodian protection. For now, the coast was all that was deemed necessary for Novgorodian interests. Should claims further inland be needed, General Lagounov had provisions in his orders to enforce them.

[Captain Enema]

 

To:  Tsar Vladilen Yukanovski
From: King Beckwith

We wish the timber to be transported to Mogadishu and we want to buy XXXXXXX tonnes. Shall we pay in hard currency, precious metals, or by other means?

- King Beckwith

[Lysergide]

Finland Defense Force

 

As the Empire of Novgorod forces closed into the border of Finland, they would be met by a road block shortly within the border, where 500 of the 5,000 troops deployed to Finland were deployed. The unit was made up of mostly light infantry, armed with assault rifles, with a few machine guns placed behind sandbag bunkers every 10 yards along the road block.. There were also ten pieces of older artillery, with armored plates welded to them to act as anti vehicle weapons more so than actual artillery.

 

A soldier stood in front of the road block with his hand out, yelling out in Swedish for the incoming trucks to come to a halt. While this was going on the rest of the units quickly went into red alert and a message was sent out to Helsinki where the Finland Defense Force command unit was located informing them of Novogorodian troops crossing the border.

[Markus Wilding]

And Glory be, these &*$#ers are ignoring me, I'm from another century.
 
--------
 
The convoy of Novgorodian soldiers ground to a halt, seeing the Swedish roadblock in front of them. The regiment's commander, Lt. Col . Nikita Zolnerowich, who was in the back of the convoy's several trucks, hopped out and immediately started questioning why they had stopped, and this didn't look much like Helsinki. As he neared the lead vehicle, he shook his head and sighed. He banged on the lead truck, and shouted for a radio. One was handed to him, and soon the St. Petersburg command center picked up. "Yes, the Swedish have seen fit to roadblock our advance into Finland. No, I don't know how they got here so goddamn fast." After listening to the response from St. Petersburg, LtC. Zolnerowich nodded. "Yes, sir. I will do that." With that, he handed the radio back to the soldier that gave it to him and pointed to two soldiers, one a sergeant, the other a lieutenant. The three walked to the roadblock, although Zolnerowich himself was unarmed. As they neared the roadblock, Zolnerowich put his hands above his head to show he had no ill intent, and said in perfect Swedish, "I wish to speak to your commanding officer at once. These two are by me to ensure that I am protected."
 
---
 
Classified
 
Vladilem Yukanovski had just received the latest Imperial Armed Forces report, which outlined the equipment they had - precious as it was - and what still needed to be produced in the factories. 60 new squadrons of aircraft had to be produced, both fighters and bombers. Perhaps there were some old air bases that hadn't been annihilated in the Great Collapse that Novgorodian soldiers could scavenge. Approximately 630 new tanks had to be produced as well, to supplement the T-90s already in service. Vladilem was sure that with patriotic fervor, Novgorod was more than prepared enough to build these machines of war. Vladilem detested war. It had ripped apart his home many times for centuries, and now it threatened to tear apart Finland yet again with Novgorodian and Swedish troops locked in a Mexican standoff outside the border. How had they moved so fast, he wondered. Perhaps the Finns had helped the Swedish, turned their back on Novgorod. Once Finland is rightfully Novgorodian again, there will be consequences for those who collaborated against the Tsar. It's for the better, Vladilem rationalized, they don't know what's good for them.
 
Vladilem's internal monologue was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Enter," he boomed, and Marshal of the Empire Bronislav Vikentiy Kozlov entered the room. "My Tsar," he said as he bowed, "I wish for your approval regarding designs for the air force." "What of them?" Vladilem asked. Marshal Kozlov grinned and placed several blueprints on the Tsar's desk. "This we recovered from an Old World databank, designs for MiG-29 fighter aircraft. If we begin production now, we can have fifty of these produced by the end of the year, if we do not find more that survived." Vladilem looked over the designs, nodding his approval. "Begin production at once. I will look over the other designs later. Thank you, Marshal."

[Markus Wilding]

Mondays are for drinking to the seldom-seen kid.

 

--------

 

 

To: King Beckwith

From: Tsar Vladilen Yukanovski

 

The first shipment will head out now. Payment is requested in precious metals of any variety.

 

Classified

 

Despite the situation in Finland, an additional two regiments (7,000) would be mobilized. They would station themselves in Karelia, although several kilometers away from the border so as not to upset the careful balance in Finland.

 

Developments into scavenging and producing armored vehicles has raised the Novgorodian Armored Corps to 237 T-90 tanks. Armor crews are being trained in their use of their new vehicles and all are being repainted in Novgorodian colors (a green and white disruptive pattern).

 

Napalm is being considered as a front-line weapon and experiments are being made into producing man-portable flamethrowers, flamethrower tanks, and napalm bombs for aircraft. Man-portable flamethrowers will be produced to look similar to AKM rifles and rucksacks commonly used by Novgorodian soldier.

[Lysergide]

OOC: Sorry for the delay in this post, I got home from work late last night and passed out.

 

The man standing in front of the sandbag formation pulled his helmet up so his face could easily be seen before putting the thumbs of both of his hands into his belt. "I am Major Acke Ferdinand of the Finnish Defense Force. This unit is mine, and we are tasked with controlling the road to Helinski." Removing one of his hands from his belt he motioned to the soldiers behind him. "These soldiers are to ensure the protection of Finland from foreign aggression, until such a time that this region can stabilize and they can form their own government. May I ask what the forces of Novogorod are doing this far into Finnish territory?"

 

While the talks were going on, Helinksi Command of the Finnish Defense Force got in touch with Stockholm to talk about the situation of Novogorodian troops crossing the border into Finland. The Command Staff would inform Helinksi Command to put its units on high alert status with the potential of an armed conflict happening. The Finnish Defense Force didn't have any tanks, they were made up of light infantry deployed at road crossings into Finland supported by light machine gun crews, and older artillery converted into anti-armor weapons. In Helinski there were 170 Strf 9040C that could quickly move the 1,000 soldiers deployed there to any situation in Finland quickly that turned hot.

 

While this was going on, Stockholm Command put out general mobilization orders for Nordic Battle Group to start mobilizing into a general alert status so that they could start deploying to Finland if the situation went hot.

 

OOC: Edit made due to some spelling errors I noticed, and to shorten to the name of the vehicle.

Edited May 18, 2014 by Lysergide

[Markus Wilding]

LTC. Zolnerowich would lower his hands once he saw there was no hostile intent from the Swedish. The two soldiers by his side, though, would not relax at all, keeping watch for any aggressive movement by the roadblock. "Major Ferdinand, I only wish we had met under better circumstances. I am Lieutenant Colonel Nikita Zolnerowich, and the task of the 1st Imperial Grenadiers Regiment is to secure Helsinki and the southern coast of Finland for Novgorod." Noting the armaments of the so-called "Finnish Defense Force", Zolnerowich continued, "I am prepared to use diplomacy to resolve this situation. Bloodshed is not the Tsar's will today." That was partially true. Tsar Yukanovski demanded Finland, yes, but had no problems with killing anyone who stood in his way. That being said, a war was the last thing Novgorod needed. The troops of the Imperial Grenadiers Regiment were mostly armed with their AK variants, but had no organic artillery to speak of excluding the occasional GP-30 grenade launcher. Zolnerowich silently worried about the artillery pieces. The trucks the Novgorodian soldiers had arrived on were not built to handle a direct artillery shell, much less one aimed right at it. Zolnerowich hoped that his Swedish counterpart would accept Novgorod's simple claims and prevent a war so soon after one that engulfed the entire world.

[Lysergide]

Putting his hand that he had extended to show the soldiers that were standing behind him on the road back down near his belt, he adjusted the strap that held his Ak 5 on his back to a position that was more comfortable. He nodded slightly while Zolnerowich was talking, after the other man had finished talking he responded. "I too wish we had met under better circumstances, as I had imagined with the reformation of the Tsardom I was under the assumption that our Kingdom was looking forward to positive relations. However, we have been in Finland for quite a while now, fending off rebels and roaming bands of brigands in this nation, and we have been received with positive results." Shifting his weight a little bit he resumed talking. "We have been defending Finland for a while, and have lost good people, but it is for a good cause in our eyes, and until such a time that Finland wishes to form its own government, we will be defending it from aggression foreign and domestic, so I am going to have to ask you to withdraw. All of our Nordic brothers and sisters are important to us, and we will give our lives to defend them." 

 

The Major knew that he didn't have a chance of winning the engagement, and if the situation turned into armed conflict the entire unit would more than likely be lost, but he was confident that he would at least bloody the enemy, as he knew that the converted artillery units could get off a couple shots each into the trucks and the resulting explosions would be able to do some damage before the Novogorod troops could effectively scramble to find cover.

[lkfht]

"The Republic of Italy welcomes Novgorodskoye Imperiya and wishes it the best of luck in its endeavors."

- Foreign Minister Melissa Manzi

[Markus Wilding]

A cold wind blew across the old road the men stood on. "I see," LTC. Zolnerowich said flatly. Taking a moment to look at their surroundings, Zolnerowich responded with "Well, this is rather unfortunate. I had hoped you would see reason and allow us to reclaim what is rightfully ours. I see now reason is not a word with which the Swedish are familiar." With that, he would switch to Russian and order the troops to fall back. Understandably confused, the drivers would then turn their convoy around and return to Karelia.

 

Three hours later, 50 T-90 tanks, followed closely by three infantry regiments both on foot and in trucks, returned to that same roadblock. They would stop roughly fifty meters away from the roadblock, and the lead T-90's commander opened his hatch and began to talk into a loudspeaker in Swedish; "This is the final warning authorized by Tsar Yukanovski, Tsar of Novgorod, Knyaz of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Georgia, and Grand Duke of the Russias. You have one hour to put down your arms and withdraw from this location and hand over control of Helsinki and the southern coast of Finland to the Tsar of Novgorod and all his holdings, or face the might of the Empire of Novgorod. Again, this is the only and final warning." When finished with his speech, the commander would close the hatch and get back into his tank as the infantry nearby watched, almost as if daring their Swedish counterparts to make a move.

 

As this was happening, the government in Stockholm would receive the following message:

 

 

TO: Kingdom of Sweden

FROM: The Empire of Novgorod

SUBJ: Finland

 

To Whom it May Concern,

 

You may be hearing reports of the Tsar's armies crossing over into Finland to enforce Novgorodian claims on the land. This is true. The Empire is currently on a mission to reclaim her rightful Finnish brothers and sisters, to rejoin them with the Novgorodian Empire. Attached is exactly what we intend to claim - no more, no less. We are perfectly willing to hand it over to a new Finnish government once a referendum is held and once it is cleared with Tsar Yukanovski, but we must have this are under our protection at once. Should your soldiers withdraw, we promise that we will not pursue them or harm them in any way. Furthermore, we will look over the unfortunate incident that led to this discussion and will not further pursue interests in Finland, as Helsinki and other southern ports are our goal.

 

I shall make it clear again: should this land be ceded to Novgorod, we will not pursue any further into Finland, north or west. This is a promise directly from not only the Novgorodian government, but from Tsar Yukanovski himself. It took much deliberation for this consensus to be reached, and should this very generous offer be declined then we will have no choice but to enforce our claims through military action. We in Novgorod sincerely hope that reason can be found in Stockholm's hallowed halls.

 

- Foreign Minister Boris Yuri Konstantinov

With authorization from Tsar Vladilem Yukanovski, Tsar of Novgorod, Knyaz of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Georgia, and Grand Duke of the Russias

Edited May 18, 2014 by Markus Wilding

[Lysergide]

Nordic Battle Group

 

The Nordic Battle Group had been order to mobilize its forces, and it had done so in a quick manner as it was set up as the Kingdoms fast reactionary force. It had mobilized its forces, put its towed artillery and anti-aircraft weapons on the back of its  Strf 9040C, and loaded up its Armored Cavalry Infantry into them as well. The Stridsvagn 122's were at the head of the convoy, followed by the Stridsvagn 103's as they knew that if fighting broke out, they would be needed to quickly disengage from the convoy when they got near combat zones to suppress enemy formations until the Infantry could arrive. Following them would be the Archer Artillery System self propelled artillery, behind them the Strf 9040C's, then behind them the light and heavy infantry units sitting in trucks driving them in the convoy. They would then be followed by the supply trucks, which would have the task of supply logistics constantly to the Battle Group from Sweden as well as creating forward supply depots should combat break out. They were currently passing by Lulea, with about 10 hours left to go to reach Helinksi.

 

Finnish Defense Force Virolahti Road Block

 

With the arrival of tanks, as well as an impressive force of three regiments, numbering around 10,500 from Novogorod, the Garrison had quickly redeployed to their battle stations, manning the converted artillery pieces, as well as manning the machine gun nests and soldiers generally deploying along the defensive line. The garrison hadn't been deployed with the expectations of large formations of armored vehicles as such they were very limited in the recoilless rifle department, however there were a couple Grg m/86 that were brought to defensive positions, but were kept hidden from sight. After the message was received, the Major radioed into Helinski Command. After a short exchange of words, the Major turned off the radio before giving passing general orders to be run to the soldiers, he made his way out from his command tend and walked up to the sandbag bunkers so he could be seen by the lead T-90 tank.

 

He turned to look at the soldiers under his command before turning his head back towards the formation of Novogorodian soldiers in front of him. He raised his right hand up into the air slowly, before bringing it down in a swift action, yelling loudly, "Fire!" With that motion and his words, the ten Haubits FH77 opened fire, each marking their own target. The Machine Gun nests all lit up in fire as they began to pepper the Novgorodian soldiers with bullets, and small arms fire from the Ak 5's opened up at the enemy formation as well. There were a couple streaks from the hidden Grg m/86 recoilless rifles, but at the current ranges, they were more fright value than actual threats to the enemy tanks.

 

Finnish Defense Force Helinski Command

 

Helinksi Command had given the Road Block orders to open fire on the Novogorodian troops. The orders had come directly from the King of Sweden that they would not surrender an inch of their Nordic brothers soil to a foreign aggressor. With that action, Helinski Command began to mobilize its troops. 500 Troops would load up into 85 Strf 9040C, put into tow ten of the Haubits FH77's deployed in Helinksi, and they would begin to mobilize to deploy to a short distance North of Kotka. They would move out immediately as they knew that the first road block would only be able to defend long enough to allow the troops to get there, set up the guns, deploy defensive sandbags, and get their infantry fighting vehicles into positions where they could utilize their 40mm auto cannons to maximum effect.

 

Stockholm Air Base

 

With the news that the Novogorodians had returned with a larger force, and reports being sent in from Helinski Command that the order had been given to fire, the pilots and flight crews began to mobilize quickly, they had to get the jets ready to get into the air soon, as they knew that they were going to be needed to provide support for the troops on the ground.

 

Diplomatic Reply to the Empire of Novgorod

 

By time you receive this reply, I am sure you are already receiving reports from your very own troops that they are being fired upon. The Kingdom of Sweden does not recognize your claims, and does not take kindly to the fact that you have not once, but twice crossed into our sphere of influence. Finland has been a Protectorate of ours for some time, we offered them assistance after the great war, and they received us with open arms, we have protected them for quite some time, and they have expressed interest of not returning to being a subject of Russia ever again. We have formed a very close tie with our Nordic brothers in Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, and while they do not have their own governments as of yet, we were invited into each country to defend them, and until such a time it is that they form a government and ask us to leave, we will continue to defend them. Your claims on those territories are archaic at best, and if you wish to point out that the Tsar's of old held the nation, or the Greater Russian Empire held them at one point, I would like to point out that Sverige of old held them at one point, so I suppose you could say we had a claim to conquer them, however we do not act upon it, and they had once gained independence when the old Tsardom collapsed during the Communist Revolution.

 

However if you would like to throw out claims and threats, we are very glad to push towards a claim that we wish the return of the territories of Ingria, Kexholm, and Keralia from Novogorod as those were once part of the Greater Swedish Empire at one point, and we would like the return of those territories at once. Perhaps a trade? You can have Helinski, and we can in return take your great city of Petrograd and all the territory around it?

 

If not, then you will find that this armed conflict will be a bloody one, and you will quickly learn the strength of our Swedish Steel. We are a nation that was reborn in the fires of the global war, we rebuilt our nation on the blood and bones of our fallen brothers and sisters, and we have a resolve that you will find you cannot break. As this war draws out, as long as there is a son of Sweden holding an assault rifle in the defense our Kingdom and the defense of our Nordic brothers, he will fire upon his enemy.

[Uberstein]

An ambassador from the Baltic Union of Ubersteinia, Nojus Simoneit, would be sent to the Novgorodian Empire to establish relations.

 

[Markus Wilding]

The Baltic Union's ambassador would be more than welcomed to Novgorod.

 

The only response the Swedish would get from their note would be as follows:

 

 

No.

 

Tsar Vladilem Yukanovski, Tsar of Novgorod, Knyaz of Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Georgia and Grand Duke of the Russias

 

-------

 

 

The Novgorodian infantry who had dismounted would dive to the sides of the road, covered from machine gun fire. Those on the trucks, however, weren't as lucky. Seven were hit directly by the artillery guns, taking out about 140 soldiers, and leaving countless others wounded. The T-90s then turned their attention towards the artillery positions, and fired upon them. Two of the lead tanks, probably slightly suicidal and insane, fired their main cannons and then proceeded to directly ram the artillery, hoping to crush it underneath its treads. The others who had not joined in fired on their opposing Swedish infantrymen with their 12.7 mm and 7.62 machine guns. The infantry that had not gone into cover fired back or simply died, being hit by multiple guns at once. 55 soldiers fell in the opening moves of the attack as the others dove for cover and fired back, and the T-90s began to maneuver up to provide further protection for their infantry. In all, 218 brave Novgorodian soldiers were lost in the opening move by Sweden, prompting a general mobilization from Novgorod, of both land and air forces. Although only 20 of the precious MiG-29 aircraft had been found or salvaged, they were deemed good enough for the defense of Novgorod and her holdings.

[Captain Enema]

A RORO ship filled with precious materials, specifically 100 Self-propelled 155 mm howitzers with fuel, spare parts, lubricants, and a mixed load of munitions are on the way to pay for the timber ordered by the Kingdom of Axum. These vehicles are of older manufacture but have been fully refurbished and taken from the Kingdom's military reserve vehicle depot. Another 200 Tunguska SPAAG vehicles are included and these too carry spare parts, munitions, fuel, and lubricants. 

Edited May 18, 2014 by Tidy Bowl Man

[Markus Wilding]

The ship would be more than welcomed in St. Petersburg, and its cargo would be quickly crewed and transferred to Karelia, where they would stay and organize to head towards the front once needed. As this happened, another ship filled with even more logs of wood would be sent to Mogadishu for another payment of "precious metals".

Edited May 19, 2014 by Markus Wilding

[Captain Enema]

Another ship would be sent, a RORO ship no less. Upon it would be precious metals in the form of 30 S-300 Cruise Missile launching vehicles, a supply of missiles, spare parts, fuel, and lubricants. Further, an additional 75 fully refurbished and modernized BM-27 Uragan MRLS vehicles with spare parts, fuel, munitions, and lubricants. Another 200 BMP-3 APCs with add on reactive armor and specialized mounts for guided AA and AT missiles are loaded on with spare parts, fuel, and muntions.

 

 

ooc- Be very careful how you send in these vehicles. Try to keep the timeframe of your battlewith Lysergide and the amount of time it takes this stuff to reach you in mind. Battle is moving in minutes, hours and cargo moving in days and weeks.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Tidy Bowl Man

[Lysergide]

Danish Defense Force

 

As part of the war effort against Novgorod, the Danish Defense Force would move all of its artillery pieces towards the coast lines and they would effectively block off the straights leading into the Baltic Sea. Nothing was going in, and nothing was going to be allowed out. The Sverige high command made it priority to move more artillery from their depots that weren't attached to any units to the islands, and the Danish and Swedish Coastlines. They would begin transmitting on open frequency so that any ships that were outside of the firing zone that the sea lanes were closed, and any ship that attempted to go through it, would be sunk.

 

Stockholm Air Base

 

With the jets loaded with their payloads, they would begin to tally up on the runways. They would be broken into two groups. Twenty aircraft would be sent on missions in rotating order in groups of two to ensure that they controlled the waters north of the Scandinavian Peninsula. They were given orders to relay to any ship attempting to move through that area that they were to turn around and return to their point or origin, if they failed to comply they would be sunk. Sverige was taking no chances of allowing anything to get into Novgorod, because anything could help supply their war effort.

 

The other forty jets would be mobilized into groups of ten, and would begin flying sorties over Finnish Airspace. They were tasked with hitting any Novgorod troops that had crossed the border, as well as maintaining air superiority.

 

The first jets for each group began taking off, and they were in the air within a matter of seconds heading off to their designated zones, and the next jets were waiting in rotation, for the report that the first jets were on their way back so they could take off.

 

Stockholm Central Command

 

King Karl Gustaf stood in front of his military staff as he looked over map of the front lines as well as the territory that the air force would be covering. He knew that once the Nordic Battle Group arrived to the front lines, they would make a push back, and use their armored columns to drive the Novgorod forces from Finland, and depending on the Novgorod response to return to the status quo and drop their silly claim, that he would probably have to order his forces to drive straight into St. Petersburg itself. "Gentleman, it seems that we should being the general moblization of our Battle Group Ragnarök, while our armored divisions of the Nordic Battle Group are large, and they are one of the units that we used to stabilize this country and the regions around us, the Russian Horde has a vast manpower pool to draw their soldiers from. Since we already had Ragnarök and Livgardet mobilized with the deployment of the Nordic Battle Group, it should be no problem to get them on the move within the hour. This will allow us to, if the Novgorod Tsar doesn't see reason to drop his silly claim to a territory he has no control over, it will allow us to utilize a second battle group to open up a second front against his Empire, one will drive directly towards Saint Petersburg, while the other will move through Karelia, and put pressure on his rear vanguard and threaten any defense he draws against us in fear of encirclement. Now make this happen!" The Command Staff jumped as he raised his voice at the end, they all ran off to begin preparations for his orders and get them under the way as soon as possible. The King had made it clear when he hook the throne, that he was ruler absolute and during times of crisis, anyone who didn't fall in line, would be removed.

 

Finnish Defense Force Virolahti Road Block

 

The forces that were deployed at the road block knew that once the order was given to fire, that they would never see home again. But they all knew it was a sacrifice they would have to make, and it was one they were willing to make for their fatherland. The sight of helmets popping up, holding their Ak 5's up and firing off a few shots and falling back down under behind cover could be seen all along the defensive line. The exploding sound of the two of the forward artillery pieces, and the resulting explosion of its ammo knocked out a large number of Sverige soldiers. Orders were barked out by the commanders of the other artillery pieces to the crews of them to begin rapid firing. The lose of two of the artillery pieces put the road block defense force closer to defeat. There was yelling from the Officers as they barked orders to their units, and the screams could be heard of dying soldiers that had been shot.

 

Major Ferdinand had been able to get back to the command tent without getting injured once the firing had started. Runners kept coming in and out of the tent, the fighting had only been going on for a little while, but he was already taking reports of the casualties, as he wanted to keep live reporting going back onto Helinski. Over the radio, he yelled into the microphone to Helinski Command "So far, we have lost two of the pieces of artillery, 86 Soldiers Dead, They have armored columns, and outnumber us heavily, Where the hell is our Air Support!? We are going to get butchered out here without them! At least give us a chance to bloody them before our unit is lost!"

 

Helinski Command would send back a reply from a much calmer radio man that was obviously not in the middle of a firefight. "Jets have been scrambled from Stockholm Air Base, Please rest assured they will be there, just hold onto your position, and don't give quarter to the enemy. May Odin walk beside you all in this battle, and know that the Valkyries will reward those soldiers by bringing them to Valhalla."

[Dillon1102]

A small corvette, the Resolution, would be sent to the White Belt. A white flag would be flown directly under the Cascadian flag to show that it meant no harm to the Danish not the Swedish people.

[Uberstein]

[Classified]

With the Swedish act of closing the Ostland Straight, two actions would be undertaken. First, Ubersteinian civilian traffic would be told to ignore the blockade. Secondly, using a combination of An-12 and An-72 transport aircraft, the 6th and 7th Infantry Divisions would deploy to the unguarded airport in Hamburg, and move north to seize the Kiel Canal, in Germany, a territory not claimed nor held by any Swedish forces.

 

This deployment would take no more than 8 hours, with flights making sure not to go over the Baltic, and the reserve force of 2,752 soldiers would be hastily deployed to guard cargo trains, which would take a Vilnius-Warsaw-Berlin-Hamburg route to keep supplies moving to the two divisions posted on the canal. These supply runs would likely be able to be made in roughly 24 hours round-trip. Several S-300 anti-aircraft missile units would be shipped out on the first trains, and these trains would be given coverage by an AEW&C aircraft, as well as three squadrons of FM-1 (Gripen) multi-role fighters.

 

The 1st through 5th Mechanized Infantry divisions would go on full alert, and two more AEW&C aircraft would begin to patrol the airspace of the Baltic Union. With 400km of radar coverage each, it was a simple matter to cover the entire nation with two. Fighter aircraft would be ready to scramble at any sign of intrusion.

[End Classified]

 

The following announcement would only come after the deployment of forces at the Kiel Canal had occurred:

"The Kingdom of Sweden believes it holds the right to blockade innocent nations. The Kingdom of Sweden has threatened to sink any ship trying to pass through the Ostland Straight. This includes Ubersteinian civilian vessels. To the Kingdom of Sweden, I not only call your bluff, I raise. Not only will Ubersteinian vessels run your blockade on international commerce, but I have taken the necessary steps to ensure that such a criminal act cannot be sustained. Until such time as the channel is formally opened, all trade with Sweden will cease. All Swedish nationals within Ubersteinia will be detained, searched, and deported, in that order. Finally, the proud soldiers of the Land & Sea Guard have seized the Kiel Canal, and it will remain open to all naval traffic with the exception of any ship registered in Sweden or flying a Swedish flag. I do not react kindly to threats, especially when my nation has remained a neutral party in this situation." -President Uberstein

[Dillon1102]

With the ubersteinian acquisition of the Kiel canal, the small Cascadian corvette would turn around and sail around through the Kiel canal. They then would ask the Ubersteinians for permission to dock.

[Markus Wilding]

The next such shipment was also well-received, with these new vehicles heading straight to St. Petersburg for safe keeping, where the new crews would train. Meanwhile, with an announcement that the Swedish had seen fit to blockade the Baltic ports, the switch was made to Archangelsk, where coupled with several heavy-duty icebreakers, a new cargo ship filled with timber, hidden stores of German gold, and iron ingots took the very long route to Mogadishu.
 
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Steady We Must Stand
 
The artillery pieces were now exclusively targeted by Novgorodian tanks, the two ramming T-90s having arguably the best firing position on the enemy. The main cannons of the T-90s would take aim directly at any artillery pieces in range, firing the instant a shot was loaded. As enemy guns began to fall silent, Novgorodian infantry began to carefully move up on the flanks as well as on the main road, keeping watch and firing upon any gunner who dared poke his head out. Soon the T-90s also followed to provide cover for the infantry and protect against any bullets that were sent their way. Those in range also fired upon any artilleryman who had not faced the wrath of the T-90's main cannon yet, and as per normal both the 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm machine guns continued their suppressing fire. In all, 47 more Novgorodian soldiers lost their lives to enemy fire, with more wounded. Those that had been wounded were quickly and without haste brought back to the trucks where medics began their work.
 
Meanwhile, LTC. Zolnerowich radioed back to STAVKA that the roadblock was nearly secure, and to begin sending reinforcements to aid the advancing column. STAVKA approved this move and thus the transfer of one infantry division was authorized to Karelia. This division included four regiments of infantry - two grenadier regiments, one anti-armor regiment and one heavy infantry regiment. Also authorized by STAVKA was the transfer of 4 Mi-8PPA and three Mi-8TVK helicopters to assist in direct ground support. These units would, of course, have to take some time to organize before heading out on their mission.

Edited May 19, 2014 by Markus Wilding