NationStates Jolt Archive

19:49 over the city of Namkham

The sortie of Mig-19s had been flying at just over 6,000ft when the first Stingers had been launched, four exploded in mid air and the rest wildly climbed to evade the rest.

One of the more experienced pilots saw a missile flash, exlode and send shards of liquid metal through his engine intake, shredding the turbine like paper. He knew he'd have no chance of getting back to base or even to the airfiled so he pointed the nose down as hard as he could while firing 30mm rounds into the city. The government administrative building and Red Square came into view and he aimed the aircraft straight at it, a least to put his life to some use. Just as the plane was about to hit he yelled, "For the Revolution!"

So far around 23 planes ahd been hit, with 17 already crashed most into the city. 8 broke off from the rest of the sortie and headed downwards towards the town firing guns on a group of armoured vehicles. One pilot saw a large sandbagged building with a forest of anntennae on the roof and assuming it was a Ferrussian command post he strafed it for a few seconds then released all four of his bombs, hoping at least one would hit. His wingman also saw it and lined up carefully before releasing his payload as well.


The rest continued their mission, roaring a few miles South so the airfield was in view.

They cut their throttles and entered a shallow dive, firing their cannons , strafing planes on the ground before releasing their 500lb bombs. 3 more planes hit the ground in fireballs as missiles and gunfire filled the sky along with smoke and the dreadful sounds of war.

They then climbed once again, high as they could while turning for base and firing up their afterburners.

Just West of the Namkham airfield.

The frontline troops knew this was the signal, the last signal and they started to rush forward through the treeline while behind them mortars fired covering their advance. They knew the same thing would be happening at the town so they had to keep the Ferrussians occupied.
The initial assault forces were a mere hundred yards from the perimter fence and as the first few troops crossed out into the smoke filled open they ran as quick as possible to close the distance and open fire on the defenders who after airstrikes and chemical attack would hopefully be in complete confusion.

*edited for spelling (mostly anyway)*

Namkham Airfield

The gunnery sergeant has taken cover in a foxhole next to the runway on the Western perimeter just before the air strikes. Once he was sure the planes had gone he glanced around, struggling to see with his NBC mask on. It was clear though that they had inflicted a lot of damage, a pair of Harriers on the runway had been torn to shreds by cannon fire, a bomb had hit one of the main hangars as well as one of the barracks buildings and there were craters scattered around the taxiways. Men were running, panicking and trying to put out flames or help the injured. At least the ominous green haze of chlorine was starting to dissipate.

There was no sign of the promised Ferrussian air support, and he was now hearing the ‘crump’ of mortars being fired in the distance. Five junior enlisted men also in the foxhole looked at him for instructions.

“Okay guys, get your weapons ready, I think their coming at us, and don’t under any circumstances take off those masks.”

They nodded and a clatter of machinegun fire from the trees confirmed his suspicions.
He injected a fresh magazine into his Namkham Airfield[/i]

The gunnery sergeant has taken cover in a foxhole next to the runway on the Western perimeter just before the air strikes. Once he was sure the planes had gone he glanced around, struggling to see with his NBC mask on. It was clear though that they had inflicted a lot of damage, a pair of Harriers on the runway had been torn to shreds by cannon fire, a bomb had hit one of the main hangars as well as one of the barracks buildings and there were craters scattered around the taxiways. Men were running, panicking and trying to put out flames or help the injured. At least the ominous green haze of chlorine was starting to dissipate.

There was no sign of the promised Ferrussian air support, and he was now hearing the ‘crump’ of mortars being fired in the distance. Five junior enlisted men also in the foxhole looked at him for instructions.

“Okay guys, get your weapons ready, I think their coming at us, and don’t under any circumstances take off those masks.”

They nodded and a clatter of machinegun fire from the trees confirmed his suspicions.
He injected a fresh magazine into his SA80 rifle and positioned it between two sandbags. The radio came to life and it was the voice of the CO telling everyone who was fit to fight to get to the western side. Just as he finished, a mortar shell struck the ground not fifty yards from the fox hole spraying metal in a smoky explosion.

He could now see a huge wave of NLA troops advancing straight for the fence, and to his horror saw an RPG streak from the trees and blow a massive gaping hole in the razor wire perimeter. He tried to count the men but realised quickly that they had about twice as many soldiers as were defending the base, in the first wave alone.

He looked down the sights of his rifle, aimed and squeezed the trigger, taking down an enemy, the others also started firing. Tracer rounds started zipping over the position narrowly missing the gunny’s head. There was a loud thud and the sergeant looked around to see an unexploded mortar round just to the side of the foxhole. This wasn’t good, he quickly decide they needed to get the hell out.

“Guys, we gotta go, ASAP, now, lets get out of here.”

He jumped to his feet and threw himself over the top of the sandbags and started sprinting back eastwards, realising they were the troops closest to the fence. As he ran he beckoned to some other soldiers who were running forward to reinforce the positions, to retreat, which they did. When he was about a hundred feet from the foxhole the mortar round exploded destroying it completely. He looked around for the other members of his group and found that three of them were already crouching down in a crater along the runway, but two had been killed by gun fire when they were retreating.

The defence of the base was now in tatters as the first NLA soldiers reached the breach in the perimeter fence and were laying down heavy suppressing fire,

]SA80 rifle ([i) and positioned it between two sandbags. The radio came to life and it was the voice of the CO telling everyone who was fit to fight to get to the western side. Just as he finished, a mortar shell struck the ground not fifty yards from the fox hole spraying metal in a smoky explosion.

He could now see a huge wave of NLA troops advancing straight for the fence, and to his horror saw an RPG streak from the trees and blow a massive gaping hole in the razor wire perimeter. He tried to count the men but realised quickly that they had about twice as many soldiers as were defending the base, in the first wave alone.

He looked down the sights of his rifle, aimed and squeezed the trigger, taking down an enemy, the others also started firing. Tracer rounds started zipping over the position narrowly missing the gunny’s head. There was a loud thud and the sergeant looked around to see an unexploded mortar round just to the side of the foxhole. This wasn’t good, he quickly decide they needed to get the hell out.

“Guys, we gotta go, ASAP, now, lets get out of here.”

He jumped to his feet and threw himself over the top of the sandbags and started sprinting back eastwards, realising they were the troops closest to the fence. As he ran he beckoned to some other soldiers who were running forward to reinforce the positions, to retreat, which they did. When he was about a hundred feet from the foxhole the mortar round exploded destroying it completely. He looked around for the other members of his group and found that three of them were already crouching down in a crater along the runway, but two had been killed by gun fire when they were retreating.

The defence of the base was now in tatters as the first NLA soldiers reached the breach in the perimeter fence and were laying down heavy suppressing fire,

***** Secure encrypted transmission *****

TO: Ferrusia, Kahtan, Nimbata
FROM: Thirtycaliber


-- Begin Message --

We are assembling a riverine patrol force. It is made up of a large contingent of PBR's (OOC: Patrol Boat River - basically a boat with 4 mg's and a grenade launcher that can operate in as little as 12 inches of water. It's real US equipment from Vietnam, with some engine upgrades). Since Nimbata is a nation with many small waterways,we assume this force could be well put to use (in a pinch, th PBR can be operated out of a rice paddy due to its unique capabilities). We can disrupt enemy movement of men, arms, supplies, etc. along canals and rivers, significantly weakening their ability to strike into Nimbata's heartland. This force is a supplement to a carrier battle group, which will arrive in two weeks (2 RL days). Approximately 3 weeks (3 RL days) after that, an amphibious group and another carrier battle group will arrive. We'd like to know in what area of the country would our initial PBR force be most useful. Since the jungle is full of small waterways, the craft could run fire support missions in areas of heavy fighting. Or the previously mentions interdiction missions. With the amphibious group will come several thousand Marines, who will be available for combat operations and to train militia (OOC: read as 'whip those mothers into a real fighting force') immediately once in-country. We hope that this coalition should now be able to wipe out the communist scourge threatening the freedom of Nimbata, and send it to the ash heap of history along with all the regimes that have fallen before it.



-------------------------------------------------
Joseph Alaric
Secretary of State
Republic of Thirtycaliber

-- End Message --

***** End of secure encrypted transmission *****

FLOCOM-Namhkam - 19:51

The initial reports in on the MiGs were encouraging - somewhere between 20 and 25 planes were, it was estimated, destroyed. However, the remaining 12-17 began strafing runs on the ground forces.

"FLOCOM!!" came a cry over the radio. The radio op. responded.

"Hello? We copy!"

"FLOCOM, the MiGs... they're carrying bombs! They're advancing into the city! We're firing our reloaded Stingers, but a few have gotten through!"

The soldier was yelling over the roar of machine gun fire, jet engines, and Stinger launches.

"Copy, thank you! Say again, they've got bombs?"

"Roger! Oh, cra... there are one or two heading in your area... repeat, you have bombs inbound, over!"

The radio op. dropped the handset. He looked out one of the windows where, a few miles off, there were planes flying directly towards them. He thought he could make out slight bumps under the wings...

"EVERYBODY GET OUT!!! WE'RE GONNA BE BOMBED!!!" he screamed. The aircraft weren't supersonic jets, but they were still approaching quickly. He guessed there was only a couple of minutes before the planes - and their payload - reached the nerve center of the entire Namhkam-based force.

Everyone stared for a split second, and complete silence (aside from the ruckus outside) fell. Then all at once, people grabbed radios and papers and ran out the doors.

"HEAD FOR THE SUPPLY DEPOT!" shouted an officer, but realizing it would be just as much a target as FLOCOM, were it noticed, he corrected himself. "NO, THE HOTEL!"

The four-story brick hotel lay kitty corner to FLOCOM, and many of the men of FLOCOM slept there. It should suit their temporary purposes, should the FLOCOM building actually get hit.

The crowd ran out of the door, carrying papers, maps, radios, even wireless laptops, anything and everything they could carry. A temporary base of operations would be at least enough to keep communications and the command structure intact, but if supplies for a more permanent command center were not recieved soon, it could make the difference between life and death.

The small mob reached the hotel, and dumping most of the stuff on a large table they found in a conference room, a small group was tasked with reestablishing basic functions in an adjacent room. The rest of the group ran back to FLOCOM to get the rest of the equiptment.

The planes were growing nearer, and an alert 2-man Stinger crew rushed to try and do some good for their base. They saw the planes fly overhead, and having heard the radio transmission about them possibly going to FLOCOM, they took aim as quickly as possible and fired. Through some miracle, the two were able to lock the missile on just seconds after it passed overhead, and the missile streaked towards the second plane. The plane went behind a building before they saw what happened, but the sound of a large explosion a few seconds later led them to believe that they had hit.

The men who had returned to FLOCOM came back, carrying yet more communications equipment. They had done their best, but the planes were approaching far too quickly, and even if they made it out in time, they would risk cluing off the pilots as to the impromptu relocation. The majority of the antennae were still on top of the FLOCOM building, but there were a number of spares in the supplies, mostly in case there was bad weather that took them down.

The planes had been firing at armored vehicles a few blocks from FLOCOM when they turned and - sure enough, began firing at FLOCOM. The first plane had little time to change course towards the building, and four large explosions rocked the far side of the FLOCOM building. While one or two of the bombs had hit close enough to do some minor damage to the structure, it was in a less used area of the building. The second plane seemed to be having troubles, trailing some smoke. However, his four bombs hit forward of the building - first a ways away, the second closer, the third much closer and straight on course for the building, and the fourth, final bomb slammed into the first floor wall, sending a jolt through the building. The men of FLOCOM couldn't see the area where the bomb had hit.

A few men, waiting a minute to make sure no additional runs were to be made on the building, ran down the street to the main door of the FLOCOM building to survey damage. The first impression was not looking good, as they pushed open the now-shattered glass doors. The main room of the building, where most of the essential equiptment had been set up, was littered with pieces of drywall, brick, and some metal. There was a gaping hole where the bomb had hit, and the second story floor had fallen in a bit. The back wall of the room, however, which was a good 100 ft. from the outer wall, was still in good condition, and though all the windows along the building had broken open or cracked severely, the overall building was intact, albeit with some new air conditioning. If it was to be used again, a significant amount would still be run out of the hotel. They'd work out what needed to be done.

Back at the hotel, reports began to flood in. It seemed everyone was collecting themselves, reestablishing communications, and checking on damage.

At the forefront of the western edge, commanders suddenly began to hear, over the voices of radio operators and soldiers, the dreadful "ka-TUNK" of mortar fire.

"GET BACK IN THE BUILDING!" yelled one of the commanders who heard some of the first enemy mortars, and ran in himself as he began to hear the scream of shells falling towards them. The radio op, thinking quickly, broadcast over the general channel.

"ENEMY MORTAR, ENEMY MORTAR! GET TO COVER, AND PREPARE FOR ATTACK!!"

At the hotel, the first words came over the radio, and silence fell over the conference rooms and lobby where everything was being set up. The sound of the single radio message echoed through the room as everyone looked in shock at the offending unit.

"Enemy shells hitting, repeat, get to cover! Infantry coming out of the trees!"

Time stood still, and silence reigned for a few of the longest seconds anyone present had ever experienced. And then they got to work. Radios came alive, the FireFinder radar began reporting, and orders went out from the high-ups.

There was work to be done.

*****

The attack, which did not seem to have targeted the infantry defense positions directly, caused few casualties. 37 were injured, and 14 dead. The airfield, however, seemed to have been hit hard, and FLOCOM decided it was time to split up the force which lay between the western edge of the city and the airfield.

It was decided that Kahtani forces would have to do their best with minimal Ferrussian backup, as the Western front was quickly looking like more than a diversion. 500 were sent via APCs to the western front, where they began reinforcing defenses almost immediately, and the other 400 moved in to protect the airfield from the assault.

The MLRS Rocket Artillery began firing on just about every mortar position on the airfield assault that had been identified by the FireFinder radar. The higher precision of the rocket artillery over the Crusaders made them much better at the job, and within the first minutes of the assault, an estimated half of the enemy mortar to the south had been shot at already. The MLRS continued to pound the enemy mortars as quickly as possible, to make the open-ground defense of the airfield much easer, as the mortar posed much less of a threat to the brick-building barricaded troops to the west.

Crusader artillery, while not firing at the mortars, were continually recieving coordinates from field commanders on enemy positions, and began firing away at the tons of requests they recieved.

The 400 strong who arrived at the airfield found it falling back to the runway. Immediately they began to push forward, many in the Humvees (with .50 cal MGs), reaching the front line of the Kahtani defense just as the first enemies hit the fence surrounding the airfield. The runway, thank goodness, was still in relatively good condition, and the open stretch between it and the fence made it very easy for the mounted machine gunners in both the Hummers and those armed with CFAR S5A3 MGs to suppress the enemy. The machine guns slowed the enemy's progression, forcing them to search for cover.

Grenades were used against enemies entrenched in foxholes, and the Hummers tried to keep on the move to make them significantly harder targets to RPGs. With all the suppressive fire the Ferrussians had, added with the mortar fire continually tapering off (thanks to the MLRSs), the first wave of attackers was being dealt with reasonably well in the eyes of the commanders at the airfield. Still, they could be doing a lot better...


OOC: I'll stop there for now, whew! The western front should be holding out better than the airfield, with the advantage of being in buildings, having readily established defenses, and greater numbers. However, it is a much wider front, and as such, it is spread out enough that a strain is being put on quite a bit of the line.

AIR FORCES UPDATE --

In the skies near Namhkam - 19:55

The F-24s, now within a hundred miles of the MiGs, noted that they had turned back to base. At this, they locked on to the roughly 15 remaining MiGs, firing 3 of the AIM-254 Super Phoenix (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=63504&highlight=) missiles at each. This meant each of the 6 planes could engage 4 planes, and the two planes that didn't have to fire any missiles kept watch as the missiles flew to the MiGs. In the practically impossible chance that one of the MiGs made it through the barrage, they would lock on and fire again. It helped the missiles even more that the MiGs' afterburners were on, the IR guidance supplimented the doppler, and the missiles streaked across the sky at over Mach 4.

The helicoptors, carrying 300 infantry to suppliment defenses, arrived near the city around 19:58. FLOCOM directed them to take a roundabout course to the northeastern side of the city to avoid any chances of being shot down by enemy air defenses. The helicoptors thus arrived at the hotel (this was deemed the most appropriate landing spot, as the airfield was occupied and the strong, flat roof of the hotel was ideal for landings) at a few minutes after 20:00, and the men were quickly dispatched, 100 to the western front and 200 to the airfield. No news on what the helicoptors will be doing soon, for the time being they're going to land on a parking lot deep in the city.

Thus (as of 20:10) current defenses at the western front are 1200 men, and the defenses at the airfield entail 600 Ferrussian troops and an unknown amount of Kahtani defenders. Many of the militia have fled, but 1,200 strong remain and are for the most part behind Ferrussian forces by a few blocks, where the Ferrussian commanders figure they can provide a good fallback point. Nimbatan troops have not yet been convinced to deploy elsewhere besides the governmental area, and are currently working on rescuing survivors of the kamikazie NLA pilot.

The A-14s arrive at about 20:08 and drop their modifed CBU-89s a few hundred yards from the airfield. They're flying at about 3750 m, to avoid all known NLA defenses, and having dropped the total of 64 CBU-89s (for a total of 6,016 antipersonell mines) near, but a bit in front of the airfield, they're working on making an approach to the semi-operational airfield from the east (they will go far out to the east, and come in very low to avoid AA missiles. The Mk-82s, it's reported, are still avaliable, and the A-14s should only take about 10 minutes each to refuel and reload. They're expected to take off (reloaded with Mk-82s) at about 20:26, more information when we get closer to that time. (OOC - keep in mind the NLA wouldn't know the A-14s are reloading, and they will be parking in one of the intact hangars.

OOC: Here is a link to another civil war related RP that will run alongside of this one.

http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=74361&highlight=

IC:

Namkham Airfield

The First wave of NLA soldiers that had reached the fence had been pinned down by fire from the Ferrussian vehicles and now it seemed the area between the trees and the fence was mined. The 500 or so troops within the base would probably get killed but it would take at least until dawn and the NA could afford to take more casualties than the enemy.

Already 2,000 troops had crept around through the jungle and were preparing to assault from the East. The area had already been scouted out by a handful of Red Guard elites and it was perfectly suited to the task. According to the scouts hardly any defenses lay on that side of the airfield apart from the perimeter fence and there were less than 40 troops guarding it. Also according to a source in the town the large hangar that was nearest to the Eastern perimeter, was also the ammo storage area. The Red Guard scouts therefore decided using their initiative to have a go at destroying it while it was still dark and the defenders were concentrating almost entirely in the Western front.

The group of around 20 men advanced slowly through the trees, out into the open. Here they split into two groups of ten and while one was advancing the other would be covering. As the first group crept forward in the darkness the second group sighted their rifles. One of them caught a glimpse of a Kahtani soldier through the telescopic sight of his Mosin Nagant. He waited until the soldier approached the shadowy area next to the perimeter and fired a single shot killing the target instantly. Two other troopers hardly had time to bring their weapons to bear before they also were shot dead.

OOC: Sorry if this sounds convenient, but I did RP that the A-14s would be making landings very soon, and from the East. Plus, I think we're going to need all the luck we can get to win this thing. :)

Namhkam Airfield - 20:14

As the first of the A-14s made a landing run, they spotted troops on the ground. A small group was even headed for the airfield. Realizing they were to the east, where enemy troops weren't even supposed to be, let alone be attacking from, the pilot radioed in, first to the chaotic FLOCOM, then directly to forces on the ground at the airfield. Watching as some of the men on the southwesterly line turned to see (with their NVGs) the enemy troops in the distance, and a few vehicles and men were assigned to take care of the immediate threat. A handful of snipers, who were up in the control tower and on top of a couple of the hangars, recieved quiet messages informing them of the enemies, and ordering them to take aim and fire on their mark.

The assaulting group seemed to notice the vehicles turn in the distance, and just as they began to look around for some cover, the 7 near-simultaneous cracks of sniper rifles sounded out through the night. Several of the group fell, and those who appeared to be carrying any type of explosive or missile had been aimed for first.

The A-14 pilot decided he could try to do some good, as well, and pulled up off of his former landing path to make an extended strafing run against the men with the 30mm gatling gun. This got their attention, and gave the snipers time for one or two more shots each before two of the Humvees showed up.

The A-14 circled back around the airfield, radioing the other pilots with instructions to try and strafe the main body of soldiers in the trees as they landed. With that, he came in and landed on the runway, at times passing within a few hundred yards of the defending Ferrussian and Kahtani soldiers.

Thirtycaliber:

We would like your nation to try and stem the nLA insurgents inflitrating along the Chindwin river basin, (see map for details) a task which your PBRs would be most suited to.

All right. We'll have to set up a base of sorts in the basin once our forces arrive (RL tomorrow). We'd like you to know that carrier-based aircraft will also be available to fly support missions as of tomorrow.


------------------------------------------------
Joseph Alaric
Secretary of State
Republic of Thirtycaliber

Roughly 100 miles off the Nimbatan coast, the Coral Sea battle group closes in towards its destination. Supply ships ready to release their cargo of PBR's. Radio rooms buzz across the battle group. The Coral Sea begins hailing coalition shore-based radios and allied fleets. Thirtycaliber's forces are ready for war.

OOC: Sorry didnt post yeserday. :oops:

IC;

Namkham Airfield.

The Red Guard approaching the fence took cover as the 30m shells rained down on them, killing at four soldiers but also turning large chunks of fence into shredded metal. The snipers covering them were stlill providing cover as the next plane came in to attack the trees. The main group however some hundred yards back were ordered to assault rather than be shot to pieces while in the trees.

While the red guard covering team moved to regain their field of fire, heroically and fanatically the main group charged through the forest all 2,000 of them and broke out into the open, bounding towards the gaps in the fence and firing rounds at the incoming planes.

Namkham

Similarly in the town, after a few precursor waves to tire the enemy and test the defences the main assault started. 5,000 from the West, 3,000 from the East. The NLA had realised that if they were to deteat suprior technolgy they 'd have to use massive volumes of men and combined firepower.

Somewhere in the jungle roughly half way between Tamu and Shwebo, Sagaing Division

The three red guard groups (around 200 men .each)rendezvoused just after dusk after taking seperate routes from the North. The other larger groups continued South, manly in order to distract the Ferrussian radar operators now that the NLA had finally learned about the eyes in the sky. The main objective of the western insurgency effor however was here, in the middle of the jungle.

According to the map they were just three miles from an area known only as D314. D314 housed, according to verbal accounts from very senior members of the former regime, a facility built with Soviet assistance in the 1960s after Nimbata feared an American anti-communist invasion similar to Vietnam or Korea. Although it was never needed, the facility was designed to be a command and control bunker in the event of nuclear
attack. Not built to the same standards as American or Russian equivalent it was designed more to be hidden than to be protected and hence everything was underground apart from a few stairwells to the surface and there was only a small clearing big enough for an Mi-8 helicopter. The only other contact to the outside world was apparently a small narrow guage single line, underground railway that travelled about eight miles South to a small collection of inocuious warehouses on a disused road. So secret was the facility that noone in the current government has any idea about its existance and nearly all the military leadership who knew of it were still loyal to the communists and now form the NLA. The most sinister thing about D314 is that it used to and probably still is the storage site of the only biological weapons in Nimbata, some of the nastiest ever created by the USSR. Some even believe that there are nuclear materials at D314.

(Thats enough. Too creepy for me.) :|

OOC: Here's a Self-made map of Namhkam and forces (http://www.boomspeed.com/ferret_guy/Namhkammap1.GIF). Let me know if there are any changes I need to make. The lines are topographical, and the river is the lowest point on the map. (BTW, what do you mean, attacking from the east? It'd take 1/2 hour - hour to get all the way around the city by the south, and I'd have some warning from JSTARS (in the forests, they can't accurately tell how many men there are, but they can estimate, and they can certainly tell where they are...) It's certainly possible, I'd just like some OOC warning, since the JSTARS would spot 'em. Thanks.)

IC:

Namhkam Airfield - 20:25

As the A-14s had done their strafing runs en route to the runway, they had all suffered minor damage, but the well-built Warthogs had landed without any serious incidents. By now, they were preparing to take off, but there appeared to be some difficulty in that area...

Charging out of the trees were upwards of 2,000 men. As the commanders turned to see the oncoming threat, the Hummers which were doing their best to wrap up the rest of the Red Guard patrol turned to face this new threat. They were forward of the runway, thank goodness, so 4 A-14s were able to take off, each carrying 12 Mk-82s. As they took off, they did their best to support the Humvees with the .30mm's, but it was difficult to do so on a take-off trajectory. Again, they took some light damage, but nothing serious. As they got above the field, they looked for the most urgent need for air support. Until a minute ago, this had been the southern front of the airfield. But the new south-eastern front was not looking good, and while Hummers and a few APCs carrying more men broke off from the south, the first A-14 dropped its 12 500lb bombs in twos just in front of the charging offensive. As they fell, the charging soldiers moved right into the bombs, and most hit right behind the front line.

However, a radio call from FLOCOM informed them that the western front, too, was being charged and needed assistance. Even the artillery was having a hard time coping with all the requests from the west, and so two of the A-14s broke off, headed for the west front.

The final A-14 dropped its 12 bombs on the most concentrated areas of the enemy charging the airfield from the east.

The southern side seemed to be more or less under contol, and so the commanders divided the airfield forces between the now two lines as they saw fit. 81mm mortars began to whiz overhead, smashing into the enemy advance.

Though the runway was still held, the enemy troops were close enough to make FLOCOM think twice about dispatching the remaining 10 A-14s. It was decided they would wait until things calmed down a bit.

*****

Western Front - 20:34

"WHAT!?!" shouted Sergei. A mortar exploded on the roof.

"I SAID, COMMANDER SAYS TO GET READY TO MOVE FORWARD!" Bullets whizzed by outside, and a Merkava fired it's main gun.

"ALRIGHT, WHEN!?" replied Sergei. He distracted a pair of NLA regulars with his S5A3 while a couple of M16A2s in the opposite building shot them.

"WE'RE GETTING SOME AIR SUPPORT! RIGHT AFTER THEN! I'LL LET YOU KN-" He was cut short by a deafening explosion somewhere outside the (former)window Sergei was firing from, and chunks of brick flew past both of them. A scream of pain came from across the street. It was one of the M16ers who had shot the regulars - he had shrapnel in his shoulder.

"ALRIGHT!" called Sergei, and his companion ran back down the stairs. He looked up through the gaping hole in the roof and saw another batch of rockets - headed, no doubt, for another one of those mortars.

Good riddance he thought. Another mortar landed farther down the street, and the soldier he'd seen hit by the mortar was testing to see if he could still fire his gun.

He fired down the street at a few more regulars.

*****

The two A-14s who had been sent to help with the western front ran parallel to the city border, and when they got to where most of the action was, with fresh waves of NLA regulars coming out of the trees, they dropped their payload on the densest areas. Then, reaching the end of the front, they circled around and fired their 30mms, and though from a significant altitude, they should do some good. They saved a bit of ammo for the landing (they'd need suppressive fire to get over the NLA rushing the runway) and headed back to the airfield.

After the Mk-82s hit, the Ferrussian forces took advantage of the slight lull to move forward a block or two. Just as they began to move forward, the 30mm guns of the A-14s begain hailing down on the enemy, giving them the cover they needed. They regained about 1-2 blocks along the whole front. Since the enemy was advancing, not defending or preparing, there were few (if any) in the buildings ahead of the new line, and the men set to work on the latest wave of regulars.

OOC: Map is darn good, well done!

Namkham Airfield

Eastern Front:

The wave of Red Guard and regulars was still swarming across when they saw the A-14s prepare to takeoff again, bomb laden. They hurried more as a few fell to machinegun fire from the defenders. By the time the planes had come around to attack the majority had reached the ‘safety’ of the fence, but still at least 150 were still in the open and were killed mercilessly. The rest hurried through the gaping holes in the perimeter and swarmed onto the base itself. A Ferrussian HMMWV came into sight. Two soldiers drew their RPG-7 launchers and aimed with one hitting home. On the right flank the small group of Red Guard were using the cover of the larger group to advance on the ammunition storage hangar, with packs of C4 on their backs, with their expert marksmanship a few stalwart Kahtani soldiers were shot dead in their tracks.

Western Front:

On the Western front of the airfield the assault was less successful as troops were trying to move around to the South because the minefield prevented them from charging where they were. Luckily a few trucks worth of mortar rounds had arrived along the dirt track that went west from the airport. Also the trucks had been towing 120mm howitzers that had been quickly unlimbered and loaded. Within minutes of them arriving they were ready to fire. The artillerymen carefully plotted a trajectory and started to fire off high explosive rounds. An explosion indicated they might have hit a plane or a vehicle and certainly at least ten shells had it the runway finally rendering it useless. Their ammunition stock depleted and the sure knowledge that the guns would make quick targets for the MLRS the artillerymen abandoned them and assumed the role of infantry.

Namkham

OOC: Okay lets just say the troops are starting to move around to the West.

IC:

In the town itself the battle was raging and as yet no side seemed to be gaining the upper hand as city blocks changed hands as the NLA assaulted only to be pushed back by the defenders again and again. To break the stalemate troops were repositioning to the East where they might achieve some tactical surprise. Even if they didn’t it would still make the task of defending that much more difficult. Of course the NL A commanders had not considered that troops who are surrounded are likely to fight harder.

OOC: These are the forces currently committed by Thirtycaliber:

Naval Forces:

TSS Wake Island carrier battle group:

1x Nimitz-class carrier
5x Ticonderoga-class AEGIS cruiser
5x Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
5x Oliver Hazard Perry-class Frigate
15x Fleet oilers with supply capability
5x Seawolf-class SSN

Aerial Forces:

Carrierborne aircraft of the Wake Island:

24x F-14D Tomcat carrier defense fighters
36x F/A-18 SuperHornet multirole attack fighters
4x S-3B Viking ASW aircraft
3x E-2C Hawkeye
4x EA-6B jammers
4x HH-60H ASW/CSAR choppers

Marine Corps contingent:


Mobile Riverine Force:
300x PBR-2's
36 converted LCM's providing C&C





IC:

The mobile riverine force begins to make its way through the Irrawaddy Delta, towards it intended target of Myingyan, where the logistics craft are to set up a temporary base. The PBR-2's are arranged outside the logistics boats, providing protection against any early attacks. The Marines are at their weapons stations, wary of possible NLA attack. Thankfully, they have learned the lessons of their comrades in arms, and all have MOPP gear and night vision gear in their personal packs on the decks beside them. It's a hot, humid environment, and the first thing on the minds of the Marines is hacking a helicopter LZ out of the jungle to bring in some more water purifiers. A great deal of small boats belonging to Nimbatans are seen. Most smile and wave at the Marines, some even going so far as blow kisses. The Marines throw some candy bars back at the boats carrying children, but continue their mission. This is friendly territory. Further north, things might heat up soon.


On the bridge of the Wake Island:

"Sir, we have a message from an undetermined source claiming to be a Ferrusian fleet commander."

" Is the Hawkeye flight up yet?"

"Launching, sir."

"Good. Patch the transmission through to me."


On the flight deck:

Crew members in various colored uniforms make last minute adjustments to waiting planes as the first Tomcat roars off the catapult, following an E2-D Hawkeye. The navy of Thirtycaliber learned its lessons from the joint exercises with Kahtan, and now sends up 3 Tomcats to escort every Hawkeye in the air, and also carries one more. Also, the radar craft has been upgraded with a solid airborne anti-artillery radar system, similar to FireFinder, and a much more sophisticated anti-missile countermeasure system. The crew breathes with relief as the third Tomcat launches safely off the catapult, ready for action.

OOC: Feel free to call in support from my F/A-18's, as they're loaded up with CAS goodies as I await more specific CAS aircraft. Also, if your forces are in need of help in the jungle, maneuvering near a small waterway, even a stream, will allow you to call in a PBR or seven for support.

OOC: Thanks! :) And we'll say your 3,000 are en route around the south side of the town, and should arrive in ~1 hour? Just understand OOCly that once they show that they're not turning north to attack the airfield (or even if they did do that), FLOCOM and commanders are going to be pulling out all the stops to prevent having to fight a 3-front war.

IC:

Namhkam Airfield - 20:39

With the runway unusable and the east side of the airfield caving in to enemy forces, the artillery finally started. Now not worried about damage to the airfield itself, the 155mm Crusaders dropped all the hot shells they could on enemy positions. The MLRS, despite reports that the enemy artillery seemed to have died down, took these out first, and then continued pounding the remaining mortars. From all appearances, the Ferrussians now had more active mortars than the NLA at the airfield, but it was thought that NLA ammunition shortages were more a cause of this than the actual numbers.

The 4 A-14s in the air were rerouted to Mandalay, and a large contingent of Mandalay-based A-14s were called in. The NLA had taken out local air coverage, but Ferrussia would not give up such an important tactical advantage. With the 10 A-14s on the airfield runway unusable, that left 62 operational A-14s, 58 of which were currently in Mandalay. Of these, 6 were undergoing repairs from the last airstrike, so with 52 immediately avaliable craft, they were split into 4 groups of 12, leaving 4 planes avaliable to fill in for damaged planes. The 4 groups would continually assault the enemy, with one group taking off every 15 minutes. This gave them thhe ~20-25 minutes they needed to get to Namhkam, a few minutes to conduct strikes, the same time to get home, and 10-15 minutes to refuel and reload. This would give Namhkam forces reliable airstrikes every quarter hour.

In addition, it was decided that more ground reinforcements were needed now, so an additional 10 EA-24 sound-dampened helicoptors set out for Namhkam, carrying 200 men. They were expected to arrive in about one hour.

About 175 Ferrussian men and a considerable portion of the Kahtanis were left to take care of the roughly 400 NLA still trapped between the mines and the airfield forces, and the other 475 were tasked to take care of the only slightly diminished force invading from the east - now estimated at roughly 1,800. They set up as best as they could, behind hangars, and in every avaliable window. Some men set up on the roofs of the hangars, and all in all their impromptu defense seemed to be moderately well. However, the sheer volume of the NLA constantly drove them back, and like it or not, the Ferrussian forces were going to lose the hangars within an hour.

A quick-thinking field commander ordered the A-14s to evacuate to the west side of the base, behind the terminal and personell buildings, but to drive backwards - emptying all 1,000 rounds of their 30mm guns at the enemy troops. The first two A-14s did as instructed, and the heavy fire forced enough of the enemies to the ground (dead or otherwise) to prevent all but 3 RPGs from hitting the taxiing planes. One of the Warthogs took only one hit, but the other took a catastrophic RPG straight to the engine, and another to the cockpit. The pilot was dead.

They continued to do this in pairs - the last group covering for the next as they got in a position where they could use their 30mms - until all 10 had left the hangars. Of the ten, only 6 made it in functioning order. 1 was badly damaged, and 3 were immobilized on the tarmac. 8 of the pilots made it.

The defenses were now made up of a more tight-knit defense surrounding the terminal/personell building (on the map, the building farthest to the left), the last few hangars, and then extending out across the runway to the 175 who continued to hammer the ~400 NLA over there.

Snipers on the roofs saw the last few of the Red Guard detachment in time to get off 12 more shots, but in the chaos of the enemy soldiers, it could not be told exactly how well their efforts had gone.

By 20:54, only 1/3 of the hangars were under Ferrusian control, and while heavy support and equiptment was on their side, numbers were decidedly on the side of the NLA. Darkness had fallen, and with any luck, night would yet again offer the Ferrussians another advantage.

*****

Western Front, Namhkam - 21:00

The battle continued to rage across the entire front, but with the now utter darkness of the night, the NVGs of the Ferrussians enabled them to shoot at or ambush the enemy before they could know where they were. Streetlights (OOC: if there are any?) were shot out in important areas, to effectively blind the enemy, and a significant amount of friendly mortar/artillery was to be had.

Still, sheer numbers gave the NLA strenght that the Ferrussians had, and while the Ferrussians were taking far less casualties than the NLA, they were still taking them. FLOCOM was now quite relieved that FCCH had called in the reinforcements when they had - they would definately need the reinforcments when they arrived in 4 hours.

The back and forth action of the western front was arduous, and had it not been for their extensive training, they would start having trouble coping in a few hours. But for the time being they were fine, and the commanders knew they could last through the night. They would, however, need sleep eventually, and that would probably come in the morning.

*****

FLOCOM-Namhkam - 21:12

Distress had overtaken the complex as the JSTARS reported of additional troop movements to the south - an estimated 2-3,000 men. But when they showed no sign of turning north to meet the airfield, the situation became that much worse. They were hitting the Ferrussians from behind. It was estimated they would loop around and be ready to hit the city at 21:40, a half-hour from now. The 200 reinforcements would be arriving around then, and it was decided that 300 men would be taken from both fronts in 20 minutes, and the 200 that landed would be divided between all three fronts.

The situation was desperate. Enemies on 2 sides, coming from a third, and a river on the fourth. They had to last another 4 hours.

However, the first sign that things could be looking up arrived at 21:12. The first round of airstrikes came in, and the 12 A-14s dropped full payloads (12) of Mk 82, 500 lb. bombs on the newly identified forest movements. The night, for a minute or so, was alight with the flashes of explosions, and the deafening rumble of 144 bombs. Guided by instantly relayed JSTARS reports, they hoped to take a chunk off the offensive. They'd have one more airstrike to get in on them - right before they began an assault on the city.

FLOCOM waited for the JSTARS to report in.


[OOC: Edited, to change the A-14 sorties to 15 minutes, like I meant. (4 groups + 1 hour round trip, including refuel and rearm = strikes every 15 minutes) Gimme a break, I wrote this late at night.]

OOC: Thirtycaliber, I was planning on contacting you anyways, so is it alright with you if I assume that it actually is me trying to contact your fleet?

IC:

Admiral Zarikovsky finally got through to the Thirtycaliber fleets' command.

"Hello, this is Admiral Zarikovsky of the Ferrussian Naval Carrier Group Putin. I've got information that could help you in your deployments.

"Our fleet is anchored just outside of Rangoon's harbor, so if you need any assistance, we'll be avaliable. We've also got an airfield set up in Mandalay that we'd be willing to let you use. This could extend the range of your carrier-based craft significantly.

"Currently, we're fighting a heavy land battle in Namhkam. NLA forces are attempting to take control of the city, and friendly forces are spread thin. Any assistance you could offer here - be it dropping off reinforcments via the river (see the map, it's just north of the city), or air support of some kind - would be very greatly appreciated. We're in quite the pinch, and we'll take anything we can get for the time being.

"I'd suggest getting in contact with both General Kalishnov in Mandalay, our combat headquarters in Nimbata, or Field General Zaibowski in Namhkam. We'd be interested in establishing a military liason as soon as possible, but there's considerable stress with the ground forces. I'm the most avaliable for diplomacy, which is why I'm talking to you now. FCCH and FLOCOM-Namhkam are swamped at the moment, but they'll be interested in any help you have to offer."

OOC: That's just what I was hoping.

IC: On the bridge of the Wake Island:

"Alright. Our current naval forces are deployed rather close to yours, about 20 knots south of the Irawaddy delta. The second part of our force has been steaming from Thirtycaliber for a while and should be arriving today. That force consists of another carrier battle group, plus an amphibious group. Once it arrives, it will be known as Task Force Dagger, and this group will be known as Task Force Longbow. Dagger will be arriving in the Bay of Kyaukpyu shortly (RL 2 hours).

Task Force Dagger:

TSS Marianas Carrier Battle group:

1x Nimitz-class carrier
5x Ticonderoga-class AEGIS cruiser
5x Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
5x Oliver Hazard Perry-class Frigate
15x Fleet oilers with supply capability
5x Seawolf-class SSN

1st Marine Amphibious Group:

5x Wasp-class amphibious assault ships
2x Battleships
5x Ticonderoga-class AEGIS cruisers
5x Arleigh Burke-class Destroyers
5x assualt-modified frigates
5x Seawolf-class subs
10x fleet oliers/suppliers
20x Replenishment at Sea ships
5x minesweepers
10x RO/RO's

Forces of this group include:

80x AAAV amphibious assualt craft/APC's
92x MH-92 Blackgull transport choppers
36x CH-53E SuperStallion heavy choppers
9x LCAC
10x Commanche choppers
8x F-35B VSTOL CAS aircraft
22x Seahawk ASW/CSAR Choppers (basically a naval Balckhawk)
6 Marine Rifle Companies (3,840 Marines)
30x MT-280 Fire Support vehicles
6x M1A2 MBT's
30x 155mm howitzers
6x MLRS

OOC: there are now about 450 Kahatni troops in fighting condition, 200 wounded and about 100 killed.

Namkham Airfieldl

In the command buidling the CO was trying depserately to understand the situation, quickly collating information in his head and scribling notes on a map. The sounds of artillery and mortar shells from both sides and incessant gunfire further confused the situation, he kept hearing reports of more casualties and then he heard that the ammo hangar would soon be under NLA control. There was only one responsible decision he could make based on his information.

"Okay guys, im pulling the plug, tell everyone to fall back here, we're gonna get as many casualties and people on trucks as possible but the rest will have to walk. We shall then make a tactical withdrawl back to the town under air cover. Tell the Ferrussians that they're welcome to stick around but we're bugging out."

40 miles South West of Sittwe, Bay of Bengal

"TSS Wake Island this is the Prince Rashid, nice to hear from you guys again. Our task force (will post exact numbers later) is currently maintaining station of Sittwe, approximately 40 miles of the coast.

Also we have 280 Royal Marine troops providing port security in Rangoon following a suicde attack that partially sunk th destroyer Audacity
Currenlty off the coast of Rangoon we have three EM-90 Sealift ships, two EM-80 Combat Support Vessels and two Austin class landing ships escorted by a Type 42 destroyer and four Type 23 Frigates. They are alll anchored and the amphibs and sealift ships have off loaded their marines so it is likely they will soon depart the AO.

The Royal Kahtani Navy welcomes the oppurtunity for our nations to work together again."

Myingyan:

Just hours before, the first converted LCM's had beached at an eddy in the Chindwin river. There was a natural clearing at the large eddy, and a small dock was already being constructed. Command tents were up, and PBR-2's were ready to begin their first patrols. The upgraded version of the versatile river craft was faster, with a top speed of over 50 knots, and better armed, with a dual .50 cal MG turret in the front, a TM260A1 mount and 2 TM334's (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/ocsw.htm) in the rear. Overall, it was not the type of craft an enemy ground patrol or watercraft would want to tick off.

In the western half of the clearing, an area was deemed suitable for a helicopter LZ already. This would be the main resupply route for the base. Once Task Force Dagger arrived, a full rifle company would be here to support operations. Engineers would convert some of the logistics craft back to their original mission as troop carriers, albeit operable in rivers. Another base, primarily for land troops, was to be built someplace to the east, until negotiations could be made for basing at Mandalay with coalition forces. This, of course, would only be after Thirtycaliber's Marines assisted the besieged forces at Namhkan. The new F/A18S CAS craft would have to be based at Mandalayto be effective, so some more negotiations were necessary. Overall, logistics were going to be an obvious sticking point.

On the deck of the Marianas:

Colored uniforms dash across the flight deck as launches begin. 6 flights, each of 3 F/A18S's, are taking off for their new home at Mandalay. They are to make radio contact with the base en route and refuel as quickly as possible, so that they may begin supporting coalition forces at Namhkan ASAP.

On the bridge of the Marianas:

Admiral James Willvolke paced about. This was the calm before the storm, before his men would start dieing. However, he remained steadfast; he lived for it, and he knew his cause was just.
"Radio, get me General Kalishnov. I need to tell him he has some friendlies coming to refuel before helping out those boys in Namhkan."

Above Task Force Dagger:

Choppers can be seen taking off from Wasp-class amphibious assault ships nonstop, while AAAV's and LCAC's storm out of the well decks. A full rifle company is to be delivered via SuperStallions to Myingyan,which will be made a major base in the area. Two rifle companies and a platoon of 10 MT-280's are proceeding by AAAV and MH-92 to Mandalay.

On the bridge of the Wake Island:

"Prince Rashid, this is Wake Island. Great to see you on our side. You did a bang up job during the wargames; we had to make some 'adjustments' to our strategies because of them. We are maintaining Task Force Longbow 20NM south of the Irawaddy Delta and Task Force Dagger 20NM Northwest of Kyaukpyu. You should have received strength numbers for each of these in previous transmissions; if not, we can retransmit. Marines disembarking from Dagger should be able to assist your boys at Namhkan soon. We'll lick that NLA, that's for sure."

In the skies above Meiktila:

6 close formations of F/A18S's could be seen flying North-Northeast towards Mandalay.
"Mandalay, this is Speartip leader, requesting permission to land and refuel, do you copy?"

On the bridge of the Marianas:

Admiral Wilk continued pacing impaciently.
"Radio! Have you reached General Kalishnov yet?"

"Still trying, sir!"

"Well hurry up! We don't want any friendly fire going on!"

"Aye, sir!"

FCCH, near Mandalay - 21:15

The Ferrussian Central Combat Headquaters were in chaos. The Kahtani liason had just reported that they were withdrawing, and General Kalishnov was frantically working with Field General Zaibowski to form a defense within the city that would be able to support the combined strength of both fronts.

It wasn't promising.

Kalishnov's aide, Private Piotr Manaski, came into the tent where the General was discussing the options with Zaibowski via radio.

"Sir, there's a radio transmission from Thirtycaliber's fleet, they say they'd like to coordinate force movements."

"Who's fleet? And why do they need to coordinate?"

"Thirtycaliber, sir. They're moving troops in to assist with Namhkam, but need more information."

"Someone's assisting with Namhkam? Take me to that radio, Piotr."

"Yessir."

*****

After a few minutes, Kalishnov was on the radio with Admiral Willvolke.

"Yes, I'm very glad you could help, too, Admiral. Now, we're falling back to the city, so the airfield in Namhkam isn't under our control. However, your F/A-18s are welcome to land here in Mandalay, and we could use any airstrikes possible. I'd reccomend sending a few men over here to FCCH to establish a liason, so we can share information more easily. I'll be sure to have Admiral Zarikovski send over a few of his own men, and they'll be in constant contact with us here at FCCH.

"If you bring in support, it'll need to be from the north. If you're coming by river, that'll work well, because the river is to the north. However, the NLA are armed with man-portable SAMs, so be careful about your altitude when coming in.

"I'm going to turn you over to my aide, who should be able to give you a lot more information on the area. Thank you, Admiral."

With that, he handed the radio to Piotr, who began to explain the situation in more detail. Kalishnov walked out of the tent.

Maybe they had hope after all.

(OOC: I woulndn't suggest bringing in your full force of marines. That would make the battle pretty unbalanced. Just bring in some of them. Thanks!)

OOC: Don't worry, I wasn't going to risk all of my Marines for one city. After all, I'm sure there will be more battles to fight later ;)

Btw, what happened to all those nations supporting the commies? We scare 'em away?

IC:


Mandalay:

F/A-18S's circled above the airfield, waiting to land and refuel. Roughly half were already on the ground. The pilots were hungry for action, and couldn't wait to tear into the NLA fighters.

Myingyan:

It seemed that as soon as they arrived, they were already on their way somewhere else. 20 officers loaded into the CH-53E and were off on their way to Mandalay, to establish a military liason with Ferrusia. The extra space in the chopper was filled with radio gear, computers, and equipment to build a command tent.

Elsewhere, 12 PBR-2's were readying, along with 32 LCM's converted for troop transport. They were to bring a force to the Namhkam battle zone to alleviate pressure on allied forces. They would be on their way in minutes.

(OOC: They just kinda dropped out of the RP. The only active RPers have been myself and Nimbata (the NLA), and Kahtan every now and then.

Anyways, we should probably let Nimbata respond before going any further. In the RP, he's got 45 minutes worth of catching up to do.)

Namkham Assault Field HQ

"Sir, the capitalists soldiers are retreating from the airfield, theyre retreating!"

"Calm down people theyre only withdrawing to the town, but its still good news. Get as many troops from the trees onto the base, try and disprupt their retreat, they wont ne able to cover their rear without leaving a few men behind. keep the pressure on in the town and all we need to do is split them open, attack along the main road from the South and head straight for Red Square.

Now,someone contact Myitkina and tell them we're securing the airbase. We've got an oppurtunity to use heavy armour here, something they wont have, but it has to get down here damn quickly."

OOC: RL caught up to me for a bit there. I've got no time now, but I can get on a post in about 2.5 - 3 hrs. Sorry I couldn't post yesterday.

FLOCOM-Namhkam - 21:15

Zaibowski exploded.

"I know that they're taking casualties!" he bellowed into the radio. "Do they think we aren't either!? I know that the airfield isn't operational, but you don't seem to realize - we aren't going to defend this city by GIVING THE ENEMY A FOOTHOLD!" He slammed the reciever down for a second, and the picked it up again.

"Yes. I'm sure you do. I'm sorry, just please try to let these Kahtanis know, too! You do that." He hung up the reciever. The work with the liasons to Kahtan was stressful, and it did not look like the Kahtanis were going to go back on their decision.

Time to bite the bullet.

He grabbed a nearby radio operator. "I need you to tell the airfield and tell them to initate 'Scorched Winter,' and pass it on to FCCH. Also, tell FCCH that the airfield would be a good mine deployment area - it's big, flat, and about to become the supplimentary NLA offensive on the city. Oh, and let the support crews know about 'Scorched Winter,' too."

The radio op nodded, and got to work.

*****

Namhkam Airfield - 21:18

The final preparations on Scorched Winter were being made, and it wasn't taking too long. Scorched Winter was a relatively simple operation, after all - set charges, and get the heck out.

C4 (or any other avaliable explosive) was set inside the engines of the A-14s, the airfield control room, and the ammunitions hangar. All were set for remote detonation. Anti-tank missiles were fired at the ones still on the tarmac - they couldn't let the enemy get Ferrussian technology, and the planes would have been stripped for sure as soon as the NLA got a hold of them.

Finally, about half of the forces began their retreat, with the other half still defending, although loosing ground faster now. The Ferrussians had stayed long enough to cover the Kahtani retreat, so they had better be waiting for them in the city, or the commanders would not be happy.

Some of the pilots got an idea - they got the last stores of 30mm ammunition from the ammunition hangars, ran (well, jogged with carts) back to the A-14s and reloaded them. In a minute or two, they were ready, and they rolled out (after taking the explosives out of the planes) from behind the terminal building and let the NLA have it. Another two of the brave pilots gave their lives, but the cover was sufficient for most of the remaining half to retreat. The surviving pilots jumped out, set the explosives back in the engines, and as a final measure, they leaked the fuel tanks - when the explosives went off, the fuel would ignite, burn slowly, and after a few minutes cook off the Mk82s that they were loaded with.

With this, they ran with the few remaining soldiers for the cover of the city, helped out by the Ferrussians (and possibly Kahtanis) who had fallen back already.

As the NLA swarmed past the ammunition hangar, the commander of Ferrussian forces at the airfield gave the word. In a brilliant flash, the ammunitions hangar exploded as the ordinance inside became wrapped in an unstoppable chain reaction. The more reactive bombs went first, then the added heat and pressure set off the less reactive ones, and so forth - all in the matter of a few seconds. The hangar superstructure was on fire, and the occasional bomb or shell went off.

The terminal building and patch of A-14s were blown, as well. A jet fuel fire raged where the A-14s had been just seconds before, and after a minute or so, the Mk82s began to explode.

As all this took place, the artillery had been getting to work, as well. MLRSs took a few minutes off anti-mortar duty to launch a barrage at the airfield, and the Crusaders worked together to land as many shells as possible on the airfield. For three minutes, the airfield was utterly decimated by firey explosions, rocket impacts, and devastating artillery fire.

And then it was silent.

*****

When all was said and done, the Ferrussians had taken more casualties than they would have liked in the retreat. In the entire defense of the airfield, 87 Ferrussian lives had been lost to the rampaging NLA assault. More than 124 more were wounded.

On the western front, the back and forth action continues, with some backup from the Merkava Vs - supporting the action with their mounted machine guns, and occasionally their main guns when needed.

The time is now 12:24, and (OOC: after I realized I'm an idiot and the flights should be taking off every 15 minutes) the next air strike is expected to arrive in a matter of minutes. Their target will be the group to the south, with their total payload of 144 Mk 82 bombs.

(OOC: What kind of losses did you sustain from the first strike? Did your men stop, or press on?)

OOC: I just realized a bit of pilot error on my part. Replace all previous uses of 'company' in my posts with 'battallion', but keep numbers the same. D'oh!

Ferrusia, about what's the scale on the Namhkam-area map you made?

IC:

Just north of Namhkam, on the river:

The Marines in the PBR-2's and LCM's could hear explosions to the south, but it didn't faze them. There was a job to do...

All in all, there were about 320 of them coming for the ground, plus the PBR-2 crews. Broken down into 7 regular platoons of 39 men each, and one oversized 'weapons' platoons with M-334's and 81mm mortars. As the LCM's beached, Marines poured out and began southward, with half the weapons platoon (the mortars and 2 of the M-334's) heading for high ground on a hill to the Northeast to support operations. 3 platoons, and 4 M-334 crews, headed southwest to fight off the NLA assault that had to fight uphill. The remaining 4 platoons headed due south toward the city to link up with allied troops in defending the city.

Mandalay:

The F/A18S's readied for takeoff after refueling. They were going to be supporting operations in Namhkam in a matter of minutes. The pilots were ready to wreak some havoc with the enemy.

(OOC: Just a note, the Marines are armed with the E1A2 rifle. This is an FN/FAL, chambered in .270 Winchester (7x63mm),that fires a 174-grain blended metal bullet at 2900 fps. This is quite a bit more powerful round than most rifles are chambered with; it's only kept under control by the ZeroClimb muzzle brake, which eliminates muzzle rise and reduces recoil by 40%(RL item, works as advertised). The sight system is a 4x day/night red-dot sight. The night imaging is 3rd Gen, which combines thermal and image intensification. The aforementioned blended metal bullets are RL innovations that remain solid when passing through cold steel or kevlar, but violently expands when hitting warm flesh or another hot substance. This would put a rather large hole in a human torso. As a final note, these are highly trained long-range riflemen. That's why I committed so few of them. They're going to be inflicting pretty nasty damage out past 800 yards.)

Our ships will be watching this war closely. We have the Kirov Battle Group in the region, flagship is the Kirov Andropov. Do not come within 160 kilometers of the Andropov. If you do, we will consider this to be hostile and attack. We have two MiG-29s on patrol for protection. So, do not come within 160 kilometers of the Andropov.

The Kirov Battle Group is located 60 kilometers east of Narcondam Island of India.

OOC: Manchester, what's the makeup of your battle group?

IC: For which side are you intervening, Manchester-Dalton? If you are coming in to support the communist insurrection, I would reccomend you leave the operations area, or risk the destruction of your fleet.

OOC: I really ought to wait for the NLA to respond before going forward with any attacks in the RP, so I figured I could effectively bump the thread and get a statpost out of the way, thus killing 2 birds with one stone. Yay for me!

Anyhoo,the stats on the F/A-18S:

Same length, width, speed, endurance, etc. as the F-18E/F SuperHornet (specs here, look on right side: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-18-specs.htm)

Payload:

3x External Fuel Tanks (2 on inboard wings, 1 centerline)
1x Vulcan 20mm (nose)
2x .270 cal(7x63mm) chainguns (outboard wings)
4x M261 19-tube HYDRA rocket launchers (outboard wings)


Looking back, since these aren't exactly low-drag weapon systems, top speed would likely be reduced somewhat. However, I doubt I'll run into that problem running ground support missions.

We are not intervening, we are in a state of neutrality. Do not come within 160 kilometers of the Andropov.

Our fleet consists of surface ships from the Mediterranean Red Fleet. One Standard Carrier, the Kiev; two Destroyers, one is a Udaloy-class, the Pavlovsk; other is a Sovremenny-class, the Taiga. Two battle Cruisers, Kirov-class, the Andropov (our flagship) and the Nikolai. Two Patrol Boats, the Grozny and the Yakutsk. All of these will eventually be replaced by ships from the Pacific Red Fleet.

At

OOC: Ferrussia, I would still like to know the scale and contour grade on your map. It would help a lot.

Rotovia, did you mean to post something and run into an error?

IC:

Mandalay:

Roaring sounds filled the air as F/A-18S's took off one by one. 3 groups of 3 planes each were taking off for Namhkam. Their weapons, fuel and countermeasures loads were full. Wary of possible handheld AA fire, the first runs were to be made at high speed and altitude before enemy air defense numbers and positions could be ascertained, before full-on support runs were to be attempted.

In a different part of the Mandalay base complex, different sounds could be heard. The familiar call of helicopter blades slicing through the air. The CH-53E that carried the liason was landing. As it touched down, The Marines inside ran out, a few trying to form a 'perimeter' around the chopper before being reminded this was a friendly base. The Marines could see what looked like a Ferrusian delegacy walking towartds them, while they pulled parts of a collapsible command post tent out of the bird.

Namhkam:

The mortar group was set up on the hill now, ready to strike. The radioman for that group began hailing friendlies in the area, eager for coordinates.

Southwest of the city, the bulked-up defensive group was also ready to rock, and they began scanning the area for nearby enemies.

Elsewhere, four platoons, lead by a Firts Lieutenant, were moving southward, and had just entered the city, when a voice could be heard calling out to them. A grizzly old Sergeant spoke first to the Lieutenant.
"Sir, that was a Ferrussian accent."

The NLA had bbeen hit hard, the airfield was under their control and some 2,000 troops had advanced as the Ferrussian and Kahtani troops had withdrawn. However nearly 500 had been killed when the hangars had been blown up.

On the Northern Front the situation could have been worse but the forces trying to encircle and move around to the East had been split off from the main group by the ThirtyCaliber landings in the North leeaving them vulnerable to a counter-attack.

Only to the West was progress being made although a huge cost. Several more blocks had been taken but each metre had been paid for with blood. The aircraft kept harrasing them and there was little tehy could do about it, save their shoulder fired missiles

Army Command then decided to change tactic and 7,700 reinforcements with armour and artillery coming from near Bhamo was redirected to push through jungle between Namkham and Kahta. They were to spread out to minimse casualties from air strikes and leave plenty of thermal decoys to confuse the enemy radars. This war would not be won by taking Namkham or Kahta, victory would only be tangible if Mandalay and Rangon fell. So now the troops would bypass the towns which the allies could easily defend and push through where the enemy was weakest. In the jungle.

OOC: I'll have to look back and check where I put my forces that aren't in Mandalay, Namhkam or Myingyan. I really ought to bring them to a place where they'll be more useful.

IC:

Namhkam:


F/A-18S's soared through the air at around 15 thousand feet, searching for enemies. They saw the large group to the west, and relayed the coordinates to the mortars via radio. The idea was that the mortars would fire about 100 yards or so behind the enemy and walk the fire closer gradually, so that they could start to do damage without risking friendly troops.

As the jets circled, they saw that the NLA troops were just out of range of Thirtycaliber's Marine contingent to the southeast of the city, behind some cover. Apparently, they had given up some ground and were regrouping. There was always the threat that they might be preparing to wheel westward to support the main assault. The jets descended on the NLA, firing their chainguns and rockets for a few passes. They were circling the body of guerillas at high speed between making runs at very low altitude straight up the middle. The tactic was a classic taught at CAS school, to minimize risks from shoulder-fired's and other ground weapons.

About half a mile north, the Marine contingent sent to deal with the eastern assault saw the jets dancing in the air. Deciding that the time was right, they advanced about 100 yards to a low, wide ridge, from where they could clearly see the action. This was a prime opportunity: an enemy at long range, downhill, being distracted by aerial bombardment. The riflemen lay prone and tightened their slings, beginning to acquire targets and fire their deadly-powerful rifles with trained precision. The M334 and TM260 crews deployed their bipods, as the former lazed the enemy troops with their rangefinders, before beginning to deliver a steady stream of 25mm airbursting rain, and the latter simply began pouring hot blended-metal slugs into the mix. Overall, the picture was painting itself perfectly, at least in this front of the battle.

OOC: I'm going to TG Ferrussia and Kahtan to see if we can get some action going in the city again, and possibly

OOC: Guys, my comp is acting up again. Its fun viewing the forum in 16 colors; you should try it some time. Even better at 640x480 resolution. Looks like Windows is begging for a reinstall. Yippee! Doncha just love reliable modern technology? Please keep the RP active without me!

OOC: It's fine, Thirtycaliber. We've kept up the RP for quite a while, it's not going to die now. :) Sorry, by the way... I was gone on vacation for a few days. I'll work on getting a post up soon, but I'm a bit busy right now. Thanks in advance for understanding, everyone!

Our fleet is moving NW towards the Coco Islands. Our final anchoring location will be 50 kilometers east of the Coco Islands. We will treat any disturbance as a threat. We will however, perform RESCAP if we are notified of downed pilots that drift in to our protected 160 kilometer radius. They will be returned two days after they are found. All found dead will be returned as soon as possible. All mines in the area we are traveling to will be destroyed.

OOC: Sorry I sorta was on burnout so I didn't get to see much updates, can someone sorta give me a rundown to back when I was last here, please? :?

I can give you an update, Tradewinds. What was the last thing that happenned before you left?

ooc: Havnt been here for a while... sorry for not posting

ic:

As the war continued, the 60 B 52s stood down for a while. C 17 cargo planes flew in every day, bringing in bombs, taking out the wounded, taking home the ones with ended tours, bringing in the one's whose tours have just begun. A few mortar rounds periodically hit the airbase, killing a total of 27 Bonstocknians, but they were dealt with by Bonstocknian helicopters. The 6th Airborne Division is being brought back to the airbase to help guard the Superfortresses. Their operations are now security oriented, securing the base where 20,000 Bonstocknians are working. The division is scheduled to be returned home soon. Their has been talk of scrapping the whole base in the area, moving it to Taiwan. There the B 52s can strike without the threat of guerrilla attacks. The bombs are built up in the area, stockpiled for the final missions in bunkers. If these BUFFs leave to Taiwan, they will first go out with a bang.

OOC: Sorry about the huge delay, I've been really busy.

IC:

FCCH, Mandalay - 21:32


The Ferrussian team assigned to the Thirtycaliber liason ran over to the helo. The marines were pulling a large bag -- most likely a tent -- out when they arrived.

"Hello, and welcome to FCCH, Nimbata," offered the team's leader. "I'm Anton, and I'll be in charge of making sure you have a good stay."

He looked at the group of marines escorting the liason. They looked nervous and eager at the same time.

"Alright, we'll need you to set up by the COMM/CMCC tent, over there by the AS/TC-I tents. The general's TACCOM officers will want to talk-" He paused. The blank faces reminded him they probably weren't well versed in Ferrussian designations.

"On second thought, I'll explain it as I go. Let's move!"

The helicoptor took off behind them, as Anton led them to the Communications/Co-operative Missions Command Center tent.

*****

Namhkam - 21:39

"Sirs! Sirs! I need the commanding officer of this group!" cried the messenger again as he sprinted around the corner. In front of the Thirtycaliber platoons stood several men in officer's uniforms.

"Sirs! Sirs..." he stopped and caught his breath in front of the officers. One of them had a Lieutenant's uniform, so he addressed him.

"Sir... you... in charge here...?" he squeaked between breaths. "If... you could be... so obliging... the Field General... needs you to... get to the... western front. It's not looking... good... and we may have to pull... some of our men out."

*****

Western Front - 21:41

The steady loss of ground was disheartening, and only during the air strikes were they given a bit of a break. In two hours, the weather was going to turn ugly, and they had to find a stopping point to hold the NLA. A scout party had been sent earlier, and was coming back to the commander in charge of the western front.

"Sir," reported the team's leader. "We've found what looks like a great line a few blocks back from our current position. It's a wider road than usual, running north-south, with larger, concrete buildings. It'll be easier to hold, and half the east-west roads end there, so they'll have limited means to try to bypass any defenses there."

The colonel nodded. "How many blocks?"

"Four, sir."

"Alright, I'm going to assign you and about 100 men to fall back and prepare it for use. Form the best barrier you think possible. Turn over desks, smash out windows, heck, rip doors of and stick them in the roads for all I care, just set it up so we can fall back when need be. We need an impenetrable wall, sergeant. You understand?

"Perfectly, sir. When should we get started?"

"Now." The colonel handed him the paper had been writing. "Get these squads to go with you. They'll be near the front line, so you may want to get ready."

"Yessir."

"Dismissed."

bump to read later.

Namkham Front, Field Headquarters

Field General Chang Lu watched as a long line of men and trucks slowly drift past the command tents towards the front visible only by the smoke and identifiable by the constant sound of mortar shells and gunfire.
In this lot of reinforcements he could see nothing but fear, few of them were older than 24 and not one had been in combat before. However he was pleased to hear that finally some SA-3 and SA-2 SAMs were being brought in and perhaps this would finally give some degree of protectin against the planes that had been terrorising them.

In the West and theNorth they were advancng a few buildings every day at huge cost. The outskirts of the city were now only devastated ruins and the fight had no end in sight. He had lost so many men needlessly and the possibility of victory was diminshing, although hefailed to see how the enemy could hold for much longer.

10 miles North Westof Kahta

The Fourth Revolutionary Army was a grand name for a unit that had a bit below 11,000 men and hardly any heavy armour or artillery. Ever since the siege of kahta had been abandoned the troops had been trying escape the Ferrusian defenders but now their orders from Army Group HQ in Myitkina was to advance South and attack the city of Shwebo North ofMandalay, apparently the commanders believed that if they bypassed Kahta and went through the jungle along the Western Irrawady they could achieve suprise and attack where it was not expected.

OOC: Nimbata, can I assume that since you didn't post anything about the Eastern front in Namhkam that there was a rout and my troops are freed up to move west? :lol:
BTW, I'm going to post some PBR-2 action in some jungle soon. I'll just have to look back and see what my original strategy was. Ferrusia, once I find that overall theater strategy, I'll RP it in via the liason, ok?

IC:

Mandalay:

The liason and guard walked quickly behind their Ferrussian guide, as they traveled towards the Communications/Co-operative Missions Command Center tent. Their collapsible CP tent, in all its unassembled glory, was making its weight known. A few men grumbled that they could have put a HMMWV in the SuperStallion to carry the $%#@&! thing without any problems. AS they walked, the Ferrussian explained his military's lingo and acronyms to them. It was just more of their beloved armed forces alphabet soup to the Marines. The entire liason looked up for a moment as they saw the flight of F/A-18S's circling in a landing pattern. There were too many clouds at the present time to ascertain if they had all returned. Landing clearance chatter would soon clear that up, however.

Namhkam:

Lieutenant Benjamin R. Hackenfleisch was both eager and queasy as he heard the news. His men were finally going to meet the enemy. His men, though highly trained and motivated, had not seen heavy combat before. A few light antiterrorism ops back home, but never before this kind of potential slaughter. Now seemed the time to put up or shut up. He answered the calls of the Ferrussian messenger.
"Bring us to the Field General post haste. I can bring in moreld arty and CAS if I can get to a radio strong enough to reach Mandalay. In the meantime, he'll have to show us where we can set up defensive positions for best effect to stop the advance."

The Pavlovsk detonated a suspended mine on the route to our waypoint. The outer keel took light damage. The Pavlovsk will be replaced by an Udaloy from the Pacific Red Fleet.

OOC: Was this a publicized waypoint, or a covert movement?
BTW, I'm going to try to contact Kahtan again for possible joint naval action. As for now...

IC: Between the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, aprox. 300 knots southwest of Bassein:

Slowly, the Coral Sea hunter/killer group crept to her way station. The subs were submerged at a depth just 25 feet above the sea floor. [OOC: Can we agree on an arbitrary depth for these waters? It would make sub maneuvers much easier.] Every sub in the group came to a full stop, and shifted to ultraquiet mode; all un-necessary mechanical processes were stopped, most crewmen retreated to their bunks and lowered the heavy cloth drapes. Hopefully, they wouldn't be detected at all due to their slow, deep, stealthy entrance.

OOC: We need to kick it into high gear, or we'll never finish. :oops: Mostly my fault, I know. I've been keeping it slow to give you a chance to throw things in, Nimbata, but if it's ok with you I'm going to make the posts start covering a greater period of time... BTW, how is the eastern front coming? Thirtycaliber attacked it from behind, and I've bombed it one or two times.

And for SA-2s and -3s, do you mean these (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/v-75.htm) and these (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/russia/v-75.htm)? :shock: They're not man-portable, but man...

Anyways, sorry, I have no time right now. I'll try to post tomorrow. :(

yes I mena thise big, old, fat, scary SAMs.

I have to go but I can post more tommorrow.

,bump. for Nimbata to see

IC:
Aprox. 50 miles North of Shwebo:

The patrol was sure of only one thing: they were lost. Their GPS unit had been damaged a week before and was not yet repaired when they had first set out. Now, about 4 hours into their patrol, night had set in on the 6 PBR-2's. The commander of the patrol squadron, Lieutenant Frank Jaeger, was almost certain from his maps that he had accidentally turned east from the Chindwin into one of its tributaries, and had thus arrived at his current position, in a river or stream (he couldn't discern which) about 15 feet across and perhaps 4 feet deep at its deepest. In each boat, 2 of the crew had raised their NVG's and turned them on, and were scanning around the boats on watch. All of the PBR-2's were moving at about 5 knots, the maximum speed at which they could remain perfectly silent. Everything was still under the new moon (OOC: so it's quite dark), until one of the men on the boat at the point saw something. Something wonderful. He whispered excitedly his findings.
"Sir! More PBR's!"

The Lieutenant was not surprised. Another patrol may have been just as lost as his. He put on his own NVGs and watched 6 more PBR-2's float into his own stream from an even smaller 'tributary' about 20 yards ahead. Soon, the units had linked up and resumed their patrol down the stream, hoping to find a landmark or friendly village to redirect them towards their base. They were to have no such luck.

Roughly one half hour after the link-up, the man on watch in the point boat once again made a startling discovery. At a bend in the stream, the jungle broke up into a small clearing, perhaps extending 50 yards from the stream for 70 yards. At the woodline of the clearing and the jungle, he saw the leading edge of a large group of troops moving through the jungle. He could tell they were not friendly. All 12 PBR-2's in the patrol group came up by the clearing. They were lost, and the night would give way to morning in just 3 hours. The enemy troops had stopped moving. If they tried to wait it out, they would be discovered for sure. If they turned back, they would likely become more deeply lost, discovered, and annihilated. Lieutenant Jaeger had to make a decision. And so he did.

Slowly, a single PBR-2 moved up the stream ahead of the clearing. What it saw gave hope to the patrol. Just 100 yards or so past the clearing's end, there was a meander in the stream that caused it to hook around completely in a "U" shaped bend. The enemy, it seemed, also sufferred from poor maps. Lieutenant Jaeger hatched a plan. 5 PBR-2's positioned themselves roughly 150 yards beyond the bend, 2 were just at the bend, and the remaining 5 were at the beginning of the clearing. The patrol's radio man contacted Myingyan using a manual hand crank to boost signal strength. The base received the encrypted message, and used the long transmission period to use radio source plotters to determine the location of the lost patrols. Reinforcements in the form of 4 more patrols(24 PBR's) were sent, and would (hopefully) arrive in 2 hours. The trap was set.

30 minutes later...
Lieutenant Jaeger gave a hand signal. All the Marines had donned their night vision gear and thus saw the signal. The two boats at the bend lazed the enemy positions with their M334's rangefinders. The two boats opened fire with their M334's, .50 cal machine guns, and M260 machine guns. If all went as planned, the enemy would retreat, and fall directly into the fire of the ambushing PBR-2's on either side of the bend. Since the land formed a point, there was nowhere else they could go. Lt. Jaeger's only fear was of the strength of the enemy forces. There was no way he could estimate there numbers even to within a factor of ten. He hoped there weren't too many to deal with.

OOC: The PBR-2, as I believe I've already described in a previous section on this thread (loooong time ago though), is an update of the Vietnam-era PBR. Its relevant statistics are listed below.

Speed: 50+ knots
Minimum operating depth: <12 inches
Armor: Hull shielded against small arms and light RPG's.
Weapons stations partially shielded against small arms fire.
Armament: 2x 25mm M334 on swivel mounts <link found here (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ground/ocsw.htm)
2x M2 .50 cal heavy MG in dual mount configuration
1x M260 .270 cal medium MG <note that this uses the same BM ammo as the E1A2 rifle described here

--edited...double post--

Edited by TC 22:17 27 October 2K3

C 17 cargo planes decend to pick up the 6th Airborne Division, now going home for operations against rebels in who took over Bonstock. Meanwhile, 60 B 52s wait at the base, which is slowly being deserted. They have one last mission to perform. They will go, but continue the fight from Taiwan, where they have bases. The shift will prevent destruction of B 52s on the ground, and still allow Bonstock to fight. But other matters are taking importance. Two wars at once are to be fought. Three if the war with Japann takes importance. The little, defiant Bonstocknian colony of Maropian Coast will be strained to the breaking point.

A nuclear-powered icebreaker has arrived to tow the Pavlovsk. The Pavlovsk is to be replaced this morning by the Ivanov, an Udaloy-class destroyer.

OOC: I've now made a map of the area of the lost PBR-2's. It's located at http://thirtycaliber.tripod.com/PBR.html

I can give you an update, Tradewinds. What was the last thing that happenned before you left?
OOC: Back again.

Anyways, last I remember, one of my own A-10 pilots were executed. Sorry quite a while since I last RPed here. :oops:

OOC:
OK, Tradewinds, here's your update.

Since the pilots (yours and Kahtan's both at once) were executed, a lot has changed. Namhkam, which you will see on the map in Shan State about 150 miles northeast of Mandalay, is under major attack by NLA forces. At first, Kahtan and Ferrussia were defending the surrounding countryside, but the airfield has fallen, and about half the city with it. About half way into the battle, I came into the war. I set up a combination infantry/helicopter/VSTOL/PBR-2(a heavily armed highly mobile riverboat) base in Myingyan( ~ 75 miles southwest of Mandalay on the Chindwin river), and was able to deliber a little more than 300 troops to Namhkam via rivers. My forces have relieved side pressure from the East by blowing the @R$^%#! out of the force attacking there,and are now in the process of linking up with Ferrussians in the city, moving to the west of the city where the heavy combat is taking place. However, while the NLA is still attacking the city, they are now concentrating their main thrust towards Mandalay by pushing forces through the jungle to the north heading southward, which are now near Shwebo (though we know this only OOC). I have a group of PBR-2's that has hit an enemy force IC near Shwebo, though the NLA has not responded since and thus I don't know if that's his main thrust or a minor unit that got lost. Anyhoo, we're all kind of grasping for an overall strategy to take the fight to the enemy and take the north and win the war once and for all.

IC:
Off the Maropian Coast:
A calmness resumed off the coast of Taiwan as the Lake Erie carrier battle group arrived to defend Maropia from possible communist invasion. Originally, the plan had been to bring part of the naval forces in the Nimbata area over, but that had been scrapped once it became clear that sufficient naval power could remain at home while projecting 3 carriers abroad.

Approximately 50 miles southeast of Haka:
The air was filled with the sounds of chopper blades and jet engines. A major force of Thirtycaliber's troops that had remained in port towns in hastily rented space since landfall was eventually to be based just 10 miles southwest of the city itself. For now, one rifle company with an attached engineering platoon was going to secure the area and build the base. Radar jammer aircraft guarded the flight from radar-based SAMs, and heligunships and F-35's patrolled to nail any ground resistance, though little was expected as this was friendly territory.

OOC: I have a plan for the coalition forces to take the north. It involves winning the battle for Namhkam and quickly capturing Bhamo. I'll expand on this via TG to coalition forces.

IC: After months of combat, the current units of the AFT operating in Nimbata will be relieved by the following:

2nd Scout Ranger Division
10th Scout Ranger Division
16th Infantry Division
33rd Infantry Division
34th Infantry Division
9th Medical Division
5th Armored Division
9th Aviation Division
10th Aviation Division
10th Fighter Wing
2nd Attack Wing
9th Attack Wing
23rd Transport Wing
Delta Fleet

As noted, the government is increasing presence in the war to combat the guerrilas after months of underutilization of the AFT.

OOC: Really need a secure city to be used as HQ, really lost what the hell is going on out here. :?

Aprox. 50 miles North of Shwebo:

OOC: Nice map.

IC;

The group of some 30 Red Guard guerillas although part of the much larger southern jungle thrust was a scouting unit and they were now just about to cross one of the wider streams, hopefully shallow enough that they could walk across. Another larger and heavier unit of some 340 men was a mere mile and a half behind follwoing their paths.

Suddenly the point squad caught a glimpse of something moving innear the stream. On of them shouted but it was too late as the jungle erupted in gunfire and tracer rounds streaked through the streets, snapping branches and ripping the undergrowth to shreads.

Their Sergeant barked inaudible orders as the men tried to find some cover and fired back not knowing exactly where to aim. The sergeant grabbed the radio of his dead radioman and shouted a message to the other unit, "Under Fire from unknown number of enemies, request immediate mortar support!"

The sound on the other end was concerning, "Sir, you know we cant be very accurate?"

"I Know, just do it!"

Twenty five seconds later, the first mortar barrage came inbound, the sergeant clung to the ground and watched as another two of his men were cut to pieces by gunfire, the shells overshot and on the far side of the river the loud pops of the explosions could be heard and aready the second barrage was on top of them. Just fifty metres ahead of him the ground rocked as exlopsive and smoke rounds caused huge trees to fall and sent metal shrapnel flying. More shellslandedn, neare the river the hopefully. From a wide clearing to teh right he could see larger calibre rounds incoming and saw there was no retreat.

He clicked the old non secure radio on again, "Request mortar support, chlorine round!"

"Sir you dont have the authority do that"

"Corporal, we're dead anyway just damn well do it!"

In a small clearing over a mile away the twenty or so hastily set up mortars kept firing and the Corporal relayed the order knowing it might result in his execution. "Load the chemical rounds."
The privates quickly obeyed and they broke open a wooden crate, took out their small stock of yellow painted shells, yancked the pins out and dropped them into the mortar tubes.

Near the river the sergeant lookd skywards, hearing the crack as the shells exploded while airborne, knowing if it was daylight he could see the greenish cloud of the chlorine gas starting to disperse over the area. He knew his men didnt have gas masks and he was pretty the sure the enemy wouldnt either.

Lieutenant Jaeger smiled for the first time in weeks. The battle seemed to be going supremely well. The enemy was trapped, and was being ground to powder. Their marksmanship was poor, and had caused only a few casualties of the 'walking wounded' variety (this was also due to the confusion in their ranks and the armored firing positions his men were in). The mortar support they had called in so far had been largely inaccurate and thus ineffective, causing minor damage to one PBR-2, and three wounded on that boat. This wouldn't last for long...

The third salvo of mortar rounds began exploding in midair, and an elevation of about 90 feet. Jaeger quickly analyzed the situation. The enemy could not possess an M334 or other similar direct-fire full-auto airbursting weapon required to produce this effect from their position. Even if they did, their aim could not possibly be so bad as to miss by 90 feet, espescially with a bipod-stabilized weapon. The explosions had to be coming from their mortar support. If they were firing high explosive airbursting rounds, there would be a general showering of the ground with shrapnel - as this was the operating principle of this type of artillery round. This left only one option -

"GAS! GAS!! GAS!!"

Even as he screamed his warning, he could feel a burning sensation from inside his chest. He and his men groped for the chemical gear and gas masks they had foolishly stowed in compartments, even though they knew friendly troops had come under chemical attack earlier in the war. The lieutenant was able to get his mask on, but he was in need of medical care and unable to lead or fight. A radioman took charge. He switched his transceiver to Guard (OOC: guard frequency is a real frequency that, on military radios, overrides all other frequencies such that any military radio tuned to any military frequency will hear a transmission broadcast in Guard frequency. Also note that broadcasts in guard frequency maintain any native scrambling/encoding, and thusly will not be heard by enemies who haven't either broken the code or captured a radio.) and screamed, "GAS! GAS! GAS! CASUALTIES! CASUALTIES! CASUALTIES!" He was pleasantly surprised to hear a response.

"Affirmative. Will rig for chem weps MOPP/4. ETA 15 minutes."

The radioman quickly devised a strategy. Having already called in medevac choppers, he would load up 4 of the boats with the dead and wounded, and bring them to the water's edge by the clearing, where the choppers could get down low enough to lift men directly from the boats. The remaining 8 boats would be almost completely crewed with all but the .270 MG's manned (so a dual .50 MG and 2 25mmHE MG turrets still firing per boat, if my math is correct), and would provide cover fire to keep any enemy that had survived the gas well away from the boats of casualties. The medevac choppers had been warned of gas in the initial radio calls, so their crews were safe. It all depended on being able to hold off the enemy for 15 minutes before the PBR-2 reinforcements and choppers would arrive to save the endangered Marines. The radioman, Gunnery Sargeant Howie Sussigschloss, was confident the men newly under his command could cope. He was mildly pissed that both LTs were wounded, but he could save such complaints until his fat was out of the fire.

At the mortar firing position the corporal who was also in authortiy way above his rank saw that most of the chem rounds had been expended. "Change to smoke and phosporous rounds!"

The group of conscripts obeyed him and continued firing at the same trajectory due to the fact that the radio corrections from the front had ceased.

Behind him he heard and saw a lieuntenant 2nd class running towards him, makarov in hand. "You fired chlorine rounds."

"Sir it was requested."

"Im not even allowed to order that!"

"Sir it was necessary."

"Corporal, I have no choice." As the mortars continued firing a private was sent back and returned several minutes later with an officer attached from the Special Department. The two officers exchanged words and then the commisar spoke:

"Corporal, it is my duty to enforce the rules of engagement which you have breached, and I fear that the consequences from your decision will mean further casualties to the Nimbata Liberation Army and be detrimental to our cause in the strategic context. As we are in a combat situation I therefore have no choice but to sentance you to a field execution. Do yourself honor in at least dying without futile resistance."

The corporal then kneeled down on the muddy ground placing his hands behind his head and felt the cold steel of the business end of an AK-47.

The commisar's adjutant then looked for a final nod of approval before firing a single, fatal round.

Seconds after a sergeant roughly a hundered yards forward of the mortars yelled. "Helicopters inbound, air defence positions."

There was huge activity as soldiers ran into cover, the men taking a chow break picked up theri weapons and the twenty air defence troops armed with Strela-7s prepared to fire.

The flight of helicopters moved swiftly towards their target. The 3 CH-53E's were in a triangular formation, flanked by a Commanche on each side. The pilots of the choppers were confident they would be able to complete their mission. Their total flight time was less than 45 minutes, and there were no known enemy air defense positions nearby. However, the threat of MANPADS still loomed, so precautions had to be taken. During the runs to and from the evac site, the CH-53E's would be flying at 17,000 feet - near their maximum altitude - to stay about 3,000 feet above the maximum altitude of Soviet systems known to be in enemy hands. Only during the pick-up of the wounded and dead would the medevac choppers descend to a low altitude (about 30 feet). The Commanche's on the other hand, would fly at a treetop-skimming altitude and use their night vision systems to search for enemies trying to attack the flotilla in distress. They weren't worried about ground threats, as the Commanche was thouroughly stealthy and generally not succeptible to shoulder-fired threats. Beyond this, none of the pilots were particularly worried, and most thought the precautions were unnescessary. It was still an hour and a half before sunrise, and it was doubtful any operator of a shoulder-fired missile would be able to get a bead on a chopper, much less a missile lock. Besides that, the CH-53E's had good survivability of a hit, what with three engines and the capability to stay in the air with only one. Unfortunately, the rumored 'secret weapon' against ground threats was not due to arrive for another two weeks, along with a few other new weapons.

ETA -7 Minutes

Swiftly sweeping over the jungle, a Commanche pilot was quick to spot a bright area in the distance with his NVG's. It could mean several things, all of them bad. He decided to make a pass to positively identify the sighting, and if need be destroy it.

The hastily formed plan was now ready, instead of trying to stay undetected by the enemy who clearly had sensory advantage to the extreme they were going to do everything they possibly could to knock down one of the choppers.

A detacthcment of fifty men, roughly half equipped with either Strela launchers or RPG-7s was advancing quickly towards the river so hopefully they be close enough to attack the choppers while not being vulnerable to fire from the enemy troops.

Back at the mortar area men were preparping to load smoke and phosporous shels so that when the choppers arrived it would be difficult for them to manouvre. Also one fo the few vehicles with the detachment happended to be a ZSU-23 Shilka, and while the aged tank had a radar they would only dare illuminate it once the choppers had been seen or heard or the probabiliy of the tank being elimnated before he guns were even in range was very high.

Also each infnatrymen was ordered to use their small arms if the helicopters even came in sight as they knew that capitalists had a crucial weakness: they cared about each and every life as they failed to realise that the individual is nothing and solidarity is everything.

Capt. Jeff Radiergummi, a skilled and experienced Commanche pilot, knew when the fit was about to hit the shan. Now was one of those times.

Just minutes ago he had first spotted a bright spot on the infrared spectrum through his helmet's night vision display. He flew towards the hot spot at high speed until his radar could identify it. Now, he knew he was precisely 6,286 yards from a ZSU-23. Baaaaaaaaaaaaad news.

The pilot checked his passive radar detection. Nothing that a ZSU-23 could be using was currently active in this area. The anti-aircraft vehicle couldn't have spotted him yet. He had a few options now. His 20mm cannon could tear through the relatively light skin of the ZSU-23, but to use it he'd have to get well within the range of its 4 23mm miniguns. Not a good option. He could fire one of his two Hellfires in his internal bays. However, smoke from phosphorous rounds had rendered his laser designator and thus his Hellfires completely useless for the time being. That left his 4 Air-to-Air Stingers in internal bays. Not even a consideration under normal circumstances. However, right now was not a 'normal' moment. The Stingers used passive IR homing. The ZSU-23 had shown up on his IR display literally miles away. This looked like a golden opportunity. Capt. Radiergummi switched to his Stingers, and quickly acquired a lock on the ZSU-23's hot engine. The vehicle was well within range. He pushed the button atop his joystick twice, about 2 seconds apart. The bays on either side of his chopper opened up for a moment, and a single Stinger fired from each of the two bays before they closed again. He waited, hoping to see the missiles hit and the ZSU-23 blown to bits, as tended to happen to light armored vehicles nailed with such weaponry. He was prepared to scoot out of the area quickly and begin harassing ground troops if necessary.

A few miles away:

The group of 3 CH-53E's continued at their previous course and altitude, still in their triangle formation. Both of their Commanches had now broken off, one hunting a vehicle and the other scouting ahead for enemy troops. The three birds changed to a rear echelon formation ( a 'v' shape, with two birds in the front and one in the rear). The two forward choppers began a complicated maneuver where 14 men who were in safety harnesses climbed out the side doors and set up on the stub pylons. 2 men on each side carried with them M334 25mm MG's, two more were assistant gunners carrying extra ammo and tripods to set the guns up on, with the other three men on each side carrying Javelins, which had been set to unguided direct-fire mode. Totaled up, there was a rather high amount of firepower pointing outward from the center CH-53E, which carried only 10 Marine para-rescuers, trained both in retrieval and medical care of wounded men. The cabin of the center chopper had all the seats and other obstructions removed to make room for more wounded men and medical equipment. The side sections of the fuselage above the stub pylons had been hastily cut out via blowtorch such that the para-rescuers could haul in wounded right through the side.

At the clearing:

The few medics on hand had their hands completely full. Urgent treatment was given as best they could to the patients most in need, but it just wasn't enough they needed something more.

The 8 boats still manned were formed up on either side of the menagerie of 4 boats loaded with casualties. GSgt. Sussigschloss was manning one of the dual .50's, and spotted movement in the jungle about 500 yards off. Almost immediately, several boats were pouring .50 cal slugs and 25mm high explosive airbursters at the bright spots on their night vision sights. The smoke that had descended around the area was thick; even if it hadn't been before sunrise and therefore quite dark, they would have been forced to use their infrared sights due to the pea-soup visibility rendered by the phosphorous mortar rounds that were still falling near the crook in the river.

1 mile downriver:

24 PBR-2's sped through the water towards their beleaguered comrades. They were almost there, and they desperately wanted to stave off the wolves circling in on the bloodied body of the original force of 12 PBR-2's. Their chem gear had been put on a few miles back, and they were quite glad of it. They could see dead animals on the riverbanks as they ripped by. Some of them were still twitching a bit. It only solidified their desire for revenge.

OOC: I think everything here was within the realm of possibility. If anything needs clarification or alteration, just tell me.

BTW, what happened to Ferrussia and Kahtan? Tell me they're still active!

OOC: My sincerest apologies for my extended absence... I've been pretty busy, and getting the flu didn't help. It looks like the RP's been going pretty well so far, and I'll do my best to keep up with the action. Note that I'll probably only be able to post once a day, though.

IC:

High over the Bhamo-Namhkam area - 22:06

The U3 spyplane finished it's high-altitude survaliance of the near-steady stream of reinforcements coming from Bhamo along several roads. Flying back to Mandalay, there was no question in the minds of the pilot that the information gathered on the NLA's reinforcements were critical - they had seemed quite numerous, and Namhkam's strained defenses could not take much more.

The spyplane landed in Mandalay, and the film strips were rushed to development. In under an hour, analysts were pouring over the photographs of reinforcements, trying to estimate the force these fresh troops would project.

In the crowded "Recon Command Tent 2," a young analyst suddenly spoke up.

"I think I've found something," he said, looking to one of the senior analysts near him.

He pointed to a speck on the road, impossible to identify without the magnifying eyepieces they were all looking through. The senior analyst peered through the eyepiece the young man had left on the photo.

"Looks like a vehicle," he said. "Probably a large truck. Not uncommon, son - armies need supplies, after all."

"Most trucks I've seen don't have two long poles on them," retorted the young man. "You have a better eyepiece?"

The senior analyst took the remark grudgingly and pulled out a higher-power eyepiece. Looking through it himself, he took only a moment to recognize the features he saw.

"I'll be..." he breathed. "Those look like SA-3's! We'd better let FLOCO-"

He was cut off by another senior analyst. "Uh, you might want to take a look at this first." he said. The man tapped his photo grimly. "We've got bigger problems than SA-3s."

*****

Between Mandalay and Namhkam - 23:12

"A-14 Task Force Charlie, we have orders for you: an immediate change of course, all planes stay in formation and assume Approach Route Delta."

"Delta, sir?" asked a pilot over the radio headset. "That's an approach towards Mand-"

"Repeat, Approach Route Delta. Bring it home, guys."

"But we haven't even gotten halfway to Namhkam," complained another.

"You're being ordered back home. Now."

The pilots looked at each other through their cockpit windows. Somebody shrugged.

"This is A-14 Task Force Charlie, turning around and heading home."

*****

In all of Ferrussia's history, little had prepared it for war. Situated in secure regions, surrounded by stable neighbors, the armed forces had hardly been such for half the country's lifetime. This was not its first war, but it was the first war that demanded that it try.

Namhkam, realized General Kalishnov, was currently a battle of attrition. One that would soon be lost. There were few tactics for assaults in the Ferrussian "playbook".

The book would have to be rewritten.

Kalishnov's aide, Piotr, entered the general's personal tent. "Can I get you anything, sir?" asked the young private.

"Get me some coffee, please," responded Kalishnov. "It's going to be a long night."

*****

Kiev, Ferrussia - 23:30 (6:30 PM local time)

Televisions across the nations slowly tuned in as the word spread. Nearly every television channel stopped their programming to run the report.

Secretary of Defense Markov Lumchenski stood in the Press Room. Facing the dozens of cameras and countless reporters, he glanced once more at his notes before he began.

"The People's Republic of Ferrussia," he mustered, "as you already know, has been involved in the defense of the democratic government in power in Nimbata. The NLA, as they call themselves, pose a potent threat to the free peoples of their beautiful and free country.

"Tonight they have shown themselves to be more potent than first thought. 5 hours ago, in the defense of a city called Namhkam, Ferrussian, Kahtani, and Nimbatan forces were attacked by NLA artillery rounds containing chlorine gas."

A hush fell over the Press Room, and only the occasional flash of a camera disrupted the sudden solemnity. The country fell silent upon his words.

"The total deaths sustained by Ferrussian men and women were limited thanks to the brave efforts of soldiers and officers willing to put their lives on the line to save their fellow men. We do not have accurate numbers at this time, nor will any names be announced before families are notified.

"Ferrussia will not let such atrocity go unnoticed. This has been the first use of chemical weapons by the NLA, however we do not believe it will be their last. We cannot rest while these enemies prowl.

"As such, a major reinforcement of Ferrussian forces is being undertaken. The deployments to Nimbata will double, if not triple, over the course of the next few weeks. Ferrussia has not been seasoned by major wars until this day. Today we have learned the true price of the freedom we enjoy, and the liberties we cherish. This will not be the last lesson we learn. But I assure you, it will neither be our first defeat.

"Continued updates will be provided as this war progresses. May God bless our brave soldiers and the people of Nimbata."

Immediately sensing the end of this speech, pictures flashed and reporters shouted questions. Ferrussia was at war.

OOC: Alots happened since th chlorine attack so it should at least be three or four days ago.

IC:

In the clearing the crew of the Zsu-23 took the brave decision to illuminate their radar but outside the two stinger rounds were running hot.

(I know this is rather convenient but I thinks its a nice touch)

However outside a group of soldier had just fired off a pair of flares with their very pistols signaling the men who had been deployed forward that the choppers were incoming. This immediately diverted the FIM-92s and saved the AAA tank at least temporarily. The turret swung around a second after aquiring the Super Stallions and let loose its radar directed tracer fire.

Fifty yards or so back, half of the mortars were ordered to switch to high explosive and the rest continued satitaing the river area in smoke.

***

Some fifteen miles back the sixth army's largest formation was winding itself through the jungle with some 17,000 troops spread out over a six mile front. Also they had a few vehciles,some SA-8 launchers mounted on 6x6 APCs and some trucks owing light artillery pieces. However the vehciles were slowing their progress through the dense foliage.

Nimbatan Broadcasting Service-Rangoon

"Today in Victory Square (formerely Red Square) over 6,000 communist supporters have rallied in support of the NLA voicing their support publicly for the first time. The crowds have been chanting the Hymn of the Soviet Union, waving red flags and incrediby two of the members of the People's Parliamnet have been seen making speeches in support of the communist cause and quoting from Mao Zedong in calling for a 'permanent revolution'. The President currently visiting military efforts in the city of Mandalay recently signed a law banning all support for the NLA even in a purely vocal fom. However no Rangoon police forces have yet attempted to either arrest people or resist the protest indicating that the President may not be in complet econtrol."

OOC: Damn, I may really need to light a fire under Kahtan and Ferrussia, maybe even beg some of the folks helping in the Brunei thread to put some forces on the mainland.

IC: Rangoon

A man in a long, lightweight overcoat stood by watching a demonstration. He'd seen this pattern before. There was no doubt in his mind that the majority of the demonstrators - no doubt all of the ringleaders - were not born anywhere near Rangoon, and had recently come down from the North, the red Kachin state. If their out-of-spec ideals didn't blow their cover, their Myitkyinan accents sure did. A few even sounded like Nimbatan wasn't their native tongue.

Slowly, he drifted from the crowd, and walked into a restaurant. He knew the owner fairly well; he'd eaten lunch here every day since he'd arrived, shortly after this whole revolution mess began. The owner was a diehard anti-Communist, and while he didn't know for sure, the man in the overcoat had reason to believe the man had a damn good reason - that being, a 20 year old picture of a younger version of the man with his one arm around a pretty young woman who was holding a baby, in what appeared to be a family group shot. Written on the picture, in the upper-left corner, were a few powerful words.
"I will never forgive or forget."

The man in the overcoat approached the restaurant owner, and asked him to make a sandwich for him while he cleaned up in the bathroom quickly. The chef/entrepeneur was happy to oblige his frequent customer. The overecoated man walked into the bathroom, where he locked himself in a stall, pulled his specially designed sound muffling coat around him, and spoke into a concealed radio.
"Longbow, this is Salt. Do you read?"

"Salt, Longbow. Coming through loud & clear. Encryption at 100%."

"Longbow, Salt. Proceeding with course of action 'B'. Will report results at a later time. Over & out."

Salt (the man in the overcoat) put his radio away, opened his coat, unlocked the stall, and left the bathroom. He walked up to the counter, paid the restaurant owner, grabbed his sandwich and walked out. He began making his way back towards the demonstration, while finishing his tasty sandwich.

When he was about 50 feet from the demonstrating group, he smiled. Before, while he had briefly passed, he had noticed a quirk about the apparent leader of the demonstration, but had chose not to act on the hunch he got from seeing this odd feature. Now, there was a second crowd, of about equal size, gathering near the first. This crowd seemed ambivalent to the red chants, with a few among them shaking their heads. He had his chance.

He circled behind the red demonstrators, and ran towards the podium. He tore the shirt off the leader at the podium, who was in all-out rant mode. He caught the short-but-burly man unaware, and he threw him tumbling from the podium. The man lay on the ground for a moment before trying to cover up his left bicep. But he was too slow. A man in the second crowd had seen all he needed.

"His arm! A tatoo! The Red Guard insignia!"

The demonstration leader stood and pulkled a knife, but his fate was already sealed. The man who had first seen him pulled a concealed concealed Colt Python .357 Mag from his belt, firing into the man's gut. Soon 3 others were upon him. He was able to stab one and keep fighting for a few desperate moments, but it was in vain. A dogpile was forming on him. He was being beaten mercilessly by at least 10 strong Nimbatan men.

Meanwhile, the second crowd in its entirety had descended upon the rest of the demonstrators, starting a street brawl. The man in the overcoat laughed as he ran.

OOC: I agree, Nimbata. I just thought about it, and I think it should be at least a day or two. I've been throwing in the times, but I've realized now that far too much has been happening in the little time I describe for those to be realistic. Just disregard any mention of the time in the Namhkam battle.

IC:

FLOCOM-Namhkam

"We can't hold them off much longer!" came the commander over the radio. "We're going to have to fall back! There's too many of them!"

"Again, sir?" asked the radio operator. "Is it really that bad out there?"

"With all due respect, it's worse than you could imagine. When we lost air support just because the precious Air Force didn't want to lose a few of their shiny planes, we lost all advantage. Even the Merkava Vs are having a tough time with all the regulars they're throwing at us. Just pass it on, will ya? We're falling back to 7th and Main."

"Roger, sir," replied the radio op. He scribbled out a notification of the unit's retreat and handed it to one of the messengers busily running about the half-demolished building.

In the last two hours, they had lost over three blocks. Even with the reinforcements that arrived on the first night of fighting, the scant hundreds of Ferrussian soldiers could do little to stop the slow plod of thousands of NLA men, not to mention without air support.

Another message crackled over the radio. "This is the 5th Infantry platoon, 2nd batallion. We are under attack from the front, flank and rear, repeat, we are pinned down on three sides!"

"How so, commander?" asked the radio operator.

"The western front has caved in back to our position. We're located on the southern front, and we just got hit from the west and north by advancing NLA forces! We need to pull out of the entire southern front! We can't hold on to the few blocks we have, and if we don't get out now, it'll be a massacre." There was a large blast in the background - the radio op couldn't tell if it was a friendly Crusader or enemy mortar.

He yelled for Field General Zarikovski. A messenger ran back to his office, and Zarikovski emerged.

"Sir," explained the radio operator, "I've got the 5th Infantry platoon on the southern front getting hit from 3 sides. The entire southern front is surrounded by the airfield forces on their front and the western front on their rear and flank. They're requesting permission to pull out now."

Zarikovski stared into the air for a few seconds, appearing to contemplate the situation. His troubled eyes scanned the radio op and then the busy communications room, as though looking for answers in them. He found none.

"Get them out of there," he said grimly. "Tell them to withdraw, and to let the other units know. Evacuate the entire southern front, and withdraw to help out with the western front. How far back have we fallen?"

"7th and Main, and it's not looking good."

The general absorbed this information with a grunt. "Keep me informed," he said.

The radio op saluted, and the general retired to his office.

How will we ever survivie this? he asked himself, leaning back in his impromtu battlefield office. Relaxing in the momentary silence of the small room, his thoughts were shattered as an explosion sounded overhead. Dust fell from the roof.

Zarikovski burst from the office. "What in the heck was that!?"

Someone pointed out the glass doors. A few blocks down, Ferrussian soldiers could just barely be made out. Another explosion sounded, this one accompanied by a flurry of brick and concrete fragments ouside the doors.

Mortar.

Zarikovski grimaced. He had to do something, and now. "Contact FCCH. We have to pull out."

"Of Namhkam, sir?" asked a radio operator. Everyone looked at eachother.

"You heard me! Now get FCCH and tell them we need to pull out! The helicoptors here can get about a third of our forces out, and the other two thirds can cover the retreat of the armor and artillery. Let our TC friends know that they had better run for it." He got an idea. "In fact, ask if we can use some of their PBRs to get some more of our men out of here."

Several radio operators got to work on these requests, and within a few minutes, word was back from FCCH. They were to retreat to Lashio.

As another mortar exploded outside, Zarikovski issued final orders. Blow up as much as possible with the Crusaders and MLRSs (running low on ammunition like everyone else), give the ground forces all we had for about an hour, slow down the NLA assault, and then run like heck.

Victory Square

The Security Personnel on the steps of the Nimbatan Parliament Buidling had seen enough and they drew their 9mm handguns and called for immediate back up. From insiode the building a few more guards arrived some carrying uzis and Tec-9s.

On the Roof of the failry low rise but elaborate parliament buidling, snipers were appearing and setting up their bipoded Dragunov rifles, they lined up the communist supportesd in their sights redy to take out the ringleaders in a second.

"All Personnel, hold fire, repeat hold fire, lest wait for the Police"

Several minutes later six militaristic trucks were merely a block from the sqaure and the Rangoon Police officers inside were injecting fresh magazines inteo their AKs and tear gas grenades were being distributed.

As the trucks neared the enourmous squares they stopped and the men jumped out and ran forward down the wide street into the main area. The protest was gaining strength and had to be stopped.

Just as the men had finished piling out of their trucks tehy could see that a fight had suddenly broken out, seconds later a shot rang out piercing the sound of chanting and shouting and causing a riot to develop nearly simltaneously.

"Go, go, lets move."

As the fifty or so men rushed forward tey could hear polic sirens from behind as amore trucks and squad cars pulled up. At teh very far end of the square and enourmous truck laden with megaphines drove forward, words of warning streaming from it and being ignored by all.

The secene was turning more anarchous by the second and tear gas rounds werefired from greanade launches over the rioters on both sides.
The police offciers not knowing quite what to do simply stayed around the periphary waiting for orders and the tesar gastook affect.

OOC: Ferrussia! You're back! Yay!

IC:
Namhkam:

All of Thirtycaliber's Marine forces in the area had converged into a single front in Namhkam. Thankfully, they had been able to gain access to a radio, and air support was on the way, in the form of 9 heavily armed F/A-18S's. ETA was about 10 minutes. In the meantime, the available M334 25mm airburster MG's had been set up behind piles uf rubble, with their gunners having already pre-lased likely attack routes. TM260 medium MG's were also set up, and riflemen had their E1A2's ready. Captain John C.G. Hinterland was talking to the commander of the Ferrussian unit he had linked with when his radioman came running.

"Captain! It's for you! Commander of Ferrusian forces in the city!"

The captain grabbed the radio phone and put it to his ear. He didn't like what he was told.

"You're doing WHAT! We have CAS coming in 10 minutes! Planes with chainguns, rockets, the works! We've got a great defensive position, 20 degree field of fire overlap on heavy MGs... listen to me, we still have some PBR-2's at the river, same ones that escorted us here, and some LCMR transport craft that can seat 400 in a pinch. We'll set up a perimeter there. I'll tell the jets to nail anything in the city, if you can make it to the river before they get here. Can you make it there?

At the PBR battle site:

The Commanche pilot was stunned at seeing his missiles fooled by such a meager countermeasure. He'd have to complain to the quartermaster about somebody dropping the ball. Perhaps a software glitch had been the culprit, preventing the software that kept the missile from being fooled by countermeasures from properly functioning? However, this didn't matter. A second Commanche had arrived on the scene, and he was carrying TOW2s in place of Hellfires. The wire-guided missiles would work just as well through smoke and no countermeasure could be taken against them. The second Commanche opened his starboard weapons bay just long enough to launch a single TOW2, which immediately began flying towards its target, guided by the pilot. The TOW2 was a primarily antitank missile, capable of defeating the armor on T-72s, T-80s, Leopard-2s, and other MBTs, and thus would be massive overkill on this ZSU-23. The flight time until the TOW2 hit would be less than 20 seconds.

While the second Commanche took care of the ZSU, the first swung around behind, searching for the mortars that had been harassing the PBR-2s.

By the clearing, or, more accurately, above it, the three CH-53E's had arrived at their destination. The main transport chopper began a rapid descent towards the boats loaded with casualties, while the other two moved forward to search the jungle for encroaching enemies. From the air, they could see the damage wrought by the PBR-2s in the form of felled trees, pock marks, and bodies torn apart by .50's, detonated by 25mms, or with gnarly holes from .270's and their BM ammo. Some had no obvious wounds at all - chlorine casualties. The battlefield around here was growing obscure. The last salvo of mortar rounds had fallen short, giving the area a definite thick fog. The choppers had travelled prehaps a quarter mile, and descended to 12,000 feet in altitude, when they spotted movement in the jungle a few miles off. Lots of movement. They began to move back towards the clearing, and radioed their findings to the rest of the friendly forces in the area. Whoever was moving towards them was moving slow, but they would still be there soon. This had to be a quick operation.

Meanwhile, back at the clearing, the rescue CH-53E was running into some problems. It was being fired at by an unknown enemy. The sounds of the weapon doing the firing were pretty far off, but they could still see tracers in the air, with the occasional round hitting. Probably the only reason they hadn't yet lost an engine was their extremely rapid rate of descent towards the wounded men. They had a good 8000 feet to go, still, before they would be below the trees and relatively safe from anti-aircraft missiles. A round that hit the main rotor, and while it was in reality immaterial, the distinctive sound was plenty to remind the crew of just how dangerous their mission was.

Down below, the additional force of 24 PBR-2s had also arrived, and they were spreading out around the clearing, as this seemed to be the safest place with the least incoming mortar fire. There hadn't yet been any telltale radio transmissions that seemed to be from a forward observer, and most of the incoming mortar rounds were still hitting near the river's bend. However, a stray round or two kept hitting nearby the clearing with every salvo- perhaps too many to be a coincidence? One had splashed into the stream next to a PBR-2, killing a crewman and severely wounding two others. More casualties to be piled on the casualty boats. This also marked an apparent change in the artillery tactics of the enemy - from just obscuring the battlefield to trying once more to wipe out the PBR-2s. It seemed a desperation move, and acknowledgement that it had been relayed to the enemy mortarmen that their prey was about to slip free of their trap.

Mandalay

Thirtycaliber's liason, having finally gained access to the base's long range radio gear, made a gamble. They had received word that Namhkam was being abandoned by allied forces. The empty city was of no use to them. So, they decided that the enemy wouldn't use it, either.

The liason's commanding officer contacted the Maropian Coast, hoping to get some of the heavy bombers their ally had to destroy any NLA forces inside the city. Their strategy was to trap the NLA forces between withering fire from the hard deck perimeter by the PBR-2s at Namhkam and the aerial and artillery bombardment of Thirtycaliber, Ferrussia, and the Maropian Coast inside the city itself.

OOC:

Nimbata: Sorry for some rather poor RP form on my part in last night's post. It was kinda late and I was tired [/excuse]. You didn't complain about it, though, so can I assume it's OK?

OOC: no prob my posts are always at around 1:00AM so I understand

IC:

Namkham


1st Liutenant Tai Kim watched as concsripts ran down a street toward enemy machineguns, most getting cut to pieces. Smoke filled the air and it finally seemed tehy had been making progress. After all the Western defences had all but collapsed.

He saw the Ferrussian infantrymen ahead complimented by confused Nimabatan Army troops. He then scrambled up into a semi demolished buidling and took a position at window on what had ben the second storey. Looking down the scope of his Mosin Nagant rifle he saw muzzle flashes of teh enemy gnners. He squeezed the trigger killing a Nimabatn soldier about a hundred yards away, injected a fresh round and then fired killing another. His third shot hit and no doubt killed a Ferrusian trooper but then he noticed that the enemy was starting to retreat.

Running outside again he could see the next wave of poorly armed NLA soldiers preparing for another assault.

"Charge!"

The troops stared runnign down te street the ones in front firing madly with theri AKS and PKs as morart shells landed only a bloc infront of them. Each time they met less and less resistance and the battle seemed to be in its final stages although the war was never further from being won.

FLOCOM-Namhkam

As communications equiptment was hastily being packed away and loaded into Humvees, a final message was sent to FCCH, Mandalay.

"FCCH, this is FLOCOM-Namhkam. We're all packed up and ready to go."

A brief pause, and then the radio crackled to life.

"FLOCOM-Namhkam, negative, we have the Thirtycaliber liason with a proposal for a new strategy. FCCH has already approved. We need to speak with Field General Zarikovski."

The radio operator, for a moment startled, sent a messenger to fetch the general. He dissapeared outside, and in a minute Zarikovski came in.

"What is it?" he asked.

The radio operator looked as confused as Zarikovski. "I'm not sure sir... they want to speak with you."

He handed Zarikovski the speaker.

*****

Western Front - 1/2 mile west of FLOCOM

The Ferrussian infantry was having a hard time getting the Nimbatans to retreat slowly enough to provide cover. What had begun as an organized fall back was quickly becoming a full fledged "run for the hills" retreat - and that would get them slaughtered.

Sergeant Grigoriy Mishkin watched the Nimbatan regulars sprint down the roadway. He grabbed one as he went by.

"You've got to turn around and provide cover fire! You want to get shot in the back? We have to fall back with at least some measure of order!"

The Nimbatan regular made some quick, incomprehensible hand gestures and turned, breathing like mad, to run again. Mishkin fired down the street at the now quickly advancing NLA regulars, then ducked behind a building. His back to the wall, he saw the Nimbatan run down the street for a few yards. Yet another rat-a-tat-tat-tat from the west end of the street, and the Nimbatan fell to the ground clutching his lower back.

Mishkin shook his head, pulled out a grenade, peeked around the corner, and lobbed it down towards the greatest concentration of near-running NLA soldiers. With that, he fired a few rounds down the street and watched with satisfaction as his grenade brought a small group of soldiers down, most clutching legs or their chests. He ran out, still firing down the street, and scooped up the fallen Nimbatan. Holding the man over his shoulder with one arm and firing sporadically with the other, he ran over to a small alley, where 2 Ferrussians were reloading.

"Where's the medic?" he asked them.

"Dead," replied the man gravely.

"What about 2nd platoon's medic?" Mishkin asked.

"Dead too," he said. "The 3rd is doing alright, but they're already a block down." He nodded east.

Mishkin swore. "Keep it up, then. Lets go out on three."

"One, two..."

The man next to the corner leaned over and began to spray the NLA.

"THREE!"

The three of them ran out into the street, picking targets and firing bursts as quickly as possible. They ran backwards down to another narrow alley, and then cut through it to the next major street. They came out just a bit behind some more Ferrussians, and together they fell back to a major crosstreet.

*****

FLOCOM Humvee convoy - 3 miles east of the former FLOCOM complex

Zarikovski was barking out orders as the convoy of Humvees raced northeast. Radio operators were giving out orders to everyone they could, but much of the front line could not be contacted. This was alright, they would fall back to where they needed to be anyways.

The 150 M113 APCs and much of the remaining Humvees were sent to start picking up men on the front lines and help out the retreat. Artillery was recieving constant instructions, and soon began showering any NLA further than a block from the Ferrussian line.

The Humvee convoy, full of shovels and supplies, made for tight fits with the radio operators as well. Zarikovski was personally on the radio with FCCH, orchestrating the finer details of the plan with General Kalishnov and the Thirtycaliber liason in Mandalay. If they could pull it off, it should work.


OOC: Thirtycaliber has come up with a strategic alternative to abandoning and fleeing the city. The retreat is attemptedly organized, but chaos is still prevalent. NLA will find that the Ferrussian troops start to dissapear as APCs and Humvees come, pick up men, and drive away, laying down fire on the NLA the whole time.

Thirtycaliber, in response to your T-gram, I am (obviously) going with it. Ferrussian reinforcements will be arriving, and plan to do so by cutting of NLA entrance to the city by landing men by helicopter in the "Daisy Cutter" cleared LZs.

NIMBATA- could you give me a quick assesment of what forces will be on/traveling on the hill to the west of the city? Thanks.

---As Maropian Coast---

The B 52s are now being prepared for the final mission, which will take them to their targets, and then to Maropian Coast for use against rebel Bonstocknians

---As Bonstock proper---

---Transmission---

To: NLA
From: Bonstocknian Revolutionary Council

Comrades,

We seek an alliance with you. Our old government has harrassed you to their greatest extents. Let us join hands to forever rid the world of the capitalist evil. We seek your help, especially in training our Revolutionary Army to defeat the government, in exile in the colony of Maropian Coast, on the island of Taiwan. In return, we will send forces to assist in your liberation of Nimbata. We are now sending delegates to you to seal a deall between us. Long live the Proletariat Revolution!

---End---

OOC: Bonstock, has anything big happened in your rev. thread since I posted?

IC:

Namhkam

Captain Hinterland was perplexed. His forces were at the city's edge, in sight of their planed perimeter - they were just over a mile from the river, but they had a clear line of sight to where the PBR-2s were. What puzzled him was exactly what the @#%$&!! the Ferrussians were doing that was taking them so long getting out of the city. However, his radioman was quick to fill him in. The Ferrussians, it seemed, had very little support in their movement to their new position. Something had to be done before it was too late. The flight of F/A-18S's was almost here. That would take some pressure off temporarily, but something more substantive had to be done. He made his decision quickly.

The main body of Thirtycaliber's troops continued on to the river, and would be in position soon. One platoon, however, would tear back into the city, catch up with Ferrussian forces there,and cover their retreat. The platoon was to be beefed up a bit, with 4 TM334 crews added, for a total strength of 47 men. That group would be commanded personally by the Captain.

10 Miles from Namhkam

The attack group of 9 F/A-18S's neared its destination. Their guns and rockets would soon be trained on the advancing enemy as part of a newly devised strategy. The group's leader ran through the final checks. All of his planes were loaded for bear. They wouldn't waste time circling around friendly areas and possibly alert they enemy to their presence too early. With the wind blowing against them, the sound of their arrival would be delayed for a precious few seconds as they came in from the west. Hopefully, they would come in behind the main thrust into the city and dispose of whatever NLA were there, before maneuvering south of the city to wreak some havoc with any rear echelon or reserve units and generally bring mayhem to the enemy.

Rangoon

Salt slipped back into the restaurant where he had been before, and ordered a drink. It was a particular 'delicacy' he had picked up from a friend of his who was a Colonel in the Marines; namely, a 'Jack & Coke'. The restaurant owner was happy to oblige, and soon had the drink mixed and served his consistent customer. Salt took a decent swig, taking in the bite the drink had to its fullest extent. He acted on a hunch and decided to open up a conversation.

"Nice lookin' folks in the picture over there. Any of 'em yours?" The bartender was taken aback, and thought for a moment before opening up a bit to the strange man that he had somewhat befriended in the past month.

"Years ago, I knew them very well... very well." Salt's ears perked up at this. It was just the reaction he'd hoped for. The air of sadness in the man's voice was indicative of some long-gone tragedy. Salt knocked back the rest of his drink and gestured for another. When the man returned with a second drink, Salt resumed their conversation.

"So what happened to 'em? Why doncha know 'em now?"

"They... they aren't around anymore. You see the woman there, holding the baby? She and her child... they weren't allowed to live. They had to be punished, you see! Because, don't you know the man was foolish!... foolish enough to believe that that woman and that baby shouldn't have to starve!" At this point the man was quite red in the face, and nearly hyperventilating. Salt worked to cool him down as best he could.

"I can see this is a getting to you. Maybe this is a bit too informal a setting for you to talk about this?"

"Yes... you're right. Come with me now... I know a place. I've held this in for too long. I've got to let it out somehow."

The man led Salt to an area in the back of the restaurant, for what purposes Salt didn't know.

OOC:

NLA - A little news on what's happenin' at the PBR battle sight, please? I need to know about that incoming column! :wink:

Maropian Coast - thanks for sendin' the bombers over. I betcha they'll make their visit to Namhkam one to remember :D

Everyone - The ground platoon is really cruisin', and they should reach the Ferrussian soldiers at roughly the same time the F/A-18S's begin their attack. Makeup of the (beefed up) platoon is like this:

3x rifle squads
4x TM334 crews

Rifle squad-
1x squad leader (E1A2 rifle)
2x fireteams
Fireteam A -
4x rilfemen (E1A2 rifles)
2x automatic riflemen (TM260 medium MG's)
Fireteam B -
5x riflemen
1x automatic rifleman

TM334 crew -
1x Gunner (TM334 + spare ammo)
1x Assistant gunner (E1A2 rifle, spare TM334 ammo)

Plus the platoon leader (Cpt. Hinterland) with his E1A2 makes a total count of...

35x E1A2 rifles
9x TM260 medium machine guns
4x TM334 heavy machine guns

If anything doesn't look familiar, just ask and I'll describe it.

FLOCOM Humvee Convoy - Northeast section of Namhkam

Zarikovski watched from the passenger position of the Humvee, waiting to get to the light buildings near the river. The radio operators were recieving directions from the Thirtycaliber forces to the north of the city, and the Humvee Convoy was headed straight for them. It would only be a matter of minutes.

The field general had his reservations about setting up a command center so near the city, though. He got on one of the radioes.

"Could a Humvee fit on a PBR-2?" he asked on a hunch. "We might be able to set up on the opposite side of the river. We should get some of the mortars over there, too."

He suddenly wondered whether the Thirtycaliberians knew about their plan. "Could I speak to your commanding officer, actually?"

*****

Western Front

The entire Ferrussian line was falling back at a significant pace. M113s began to show up, loading up the scattered men as quickly as possible and heading immediately to the PBR site. Artillery continued to shower enemy forces as close as possible to the Ferrussian line, but time delay and friendly fire worries kept the majority of indirect fire a couple hundred yards back of the primary NLA advance.

IC:

Namhkam (inside the city):

Hinterland's platoon came to a street corner. They were following the sounds of battle, with some limited guidance based on radio contact with the Ferrussian forces. According to what they'd heard, the fight was left at this corner then straight down a large straight street about 250 yar-

*ZOOM!*

Cpt. Hinterland was now sure he was near the action, after that stray round passed about 3 feet over his head.

Looking left down the street, he could see what appeared to be a large group of infantry in Ferrussian uniforms, with a few Khatani uniforms mixed in, whose numbers he could not tell within a factor of ten. Through his binoculars, he could see what appeared to be the scouts of a pursuing force perhaps 100 yards behind them. He wasn't able to see the main pursuing force, however, because his view was blocked by the units closer to him. He checked in front of him for suitable spots to set up his MG's. He needed a spot that was far enough from buildings that any near-misses from enemy RPG's wouldn't cause casualties via 'splash damage'. The intersection he was currently at was the only available spot. The TM334s were set up in front, with the TM260s close behind, in slightly angled lines that essentially turned the 4-way intersection into a straight street. The MGs were on their bipods, with their crews prone to minimize their own profile and detectability. The riflemen were set up prone in two lines perpendicular to the MG lines, effectively blocking the street. When the Ferrussian column passed through, Thirtycaliber's Marine riflemen blocking the street would yield for Nimbatan units and possibly Ferrussians to pass through. Hinterland and his radioman were behind the shorter MG line, kneeling, when a transmission came through. The Captain picked up the receiver, and answered the radio.

"Yes, I'm the commanding officer of Thirtycaliber's forces in the city. Uh huh... hmm..."

Mulling over his ally's query, he decided on a suitable course of action.

" A PBR-2 really doesn't have a lot of room onboard... you could fit a couple of men onboard, but not any kind of vehicle. The LCMRs that brought us to Namhkam are still by the PBR-2s, though, and they can ferry a Humvee or APC across the river without too much trouble. We'll call in some engies from Myingyan and use the boats to ferry until they get there. We shouldn't have to wait very long on this side of the river; the engineers there are air-mobile."

Having answered Zarikovski's question, he moved on to some concerns of his own.

"Currently, the plan to get everyone into position for the river crossing is something like this: we cover your movement out of the city and hold off the NLA until you've gotten a safe distance away. Then we fall back and scram out of the city behind you. The only problem I see is that we'll get pounded by NLA regulars if we just run out on foot. If you could loan us a few vehicles to stay with us while you get some distance from the NLA, we could get out of here safely, too. Humvees, APC's, anything really would work, so long as it's faster than going by foo-"

*WHOOSH!*

Hinterland was interrupted once again by his surroundings, this time friendly jets. The attack run was imminent. The Ferrussians were now about 150 yards ahead of him. He'd likely be able to discuss matters face to face with a Ferrussian infantry officer, most likely one with radio contact to the FLOCOM convoy, in a matter of minutes. Which was a good thing, as his radio had picked a lousy time to run out of battery power.

Over Namhkam:

The F/A-18S's were ready to rock 'n roll. The group of 9 split into 3 groups of 3 just before entering the city limits. The first group came at low level towards the area of the friendlies. Spotting a Thirtycaliber urban fighting formation they recognized, the came down and opened fire on a mass of troops who appeared to be firing on friendly forces, with their nose- and wing-mounted 20mm and 7mm chainguns. The rapid fire weapons tended to be rather nasty when it came to infantry.

The second group spotted a secondary mass of troops about 500 yards back, who appeared to be consolidating gains and settign up MG positions and fields of fire. They made their first pass and opened up with chainguns and HYDRA rockets. They pulled up quickly after the first run, and prepared to make a second.

The third group passed higher over the city, and spotted some troops to the south who had not apparently entered the city yet. They were unsure whether this was a rear area with commanders, a group of reserves and reinforcements, or what, but they appeared to be enemies. They prepared to make an attack run with chainguns and rockets.

Namhkam (by the river):

Lieutenant David Ente mulled over recent radio chatter. He and his men were about a quarter-mile from the PBR-2s and LCMRs in the river, and they could make out the profiles of Marines from the boats who had dismounted and were doing something in the water. One Marine that was with the PBR-2s thought to signal the friendly infantry that was approaching, and explained their dismount; using a glossed personal photo as a signal mirror, he signaled in morse code the sentence, "FILTERING H2O FOR CANTEENS".

Also, Ente could make out the front of a column of vehicles a few hundred yards behind him. He knew from radio chatter that it was the Ferrussian FLOCOM convoy, whose comm equipment would be quite useful once they linked up by the river. Maybe they could even give his weary men a lift!? :wink:

What concerned him most was that it appeared that the men now under his command would have to make a river crossing. They didn't have a bridge and ferrying via transport would be a hair-raising operation if the enemy advanced quickly enough to bring firepower to bear on them during the process. It had been suggested that engineers be called in. He took it upon himself to do so, and had his radioman open communication with Myingyan and call in the necessary units. His radioman responded that he already had them on the radio, and within minutes the plan was in action. It was a slight deviation from the original plan, but well within the overall strategy. He called out for his men to pick up the pace, and they double-timed it towards the river, mortar section and all.

Myingyan:

The engineer section of 1/7 had, so far, been relatively lucky. They hadn't been called into battle yet, as they had been more useful building up bases at Myingyan and Haka. Now, however, it seemed that theirspecial abilities were needed in the field. The platoon-sized unit loaded with their engineering supplies, and a good deal of other supplies for the infantry, into 3 CH-53Es, which quickly took off for Namhkam. ETA: 80 minutes.

OOC:

Ferrussia - Good idea getting across that river. I'll TG the plan for the river crossing in a minute.

Nimbata - I know that Myitkyina is an NLA city, but what's the status of Tamu, Katha and Bhamo?

OOC: Im back! Sorry about my absence
This all looks rather confusing, a summary would be great.

As far as my forces are concerned:
-assume 100-150 troopsin Namkham
-30-40 planes mainly performing CAPs over friendly territoriy
-Marines providing security: Port of Rangoon
-Light Infantry squads on wild goose chases in the jungle
-Several firebases on various startegic points between Mandalay and Kahta.
-Naval task group around 80 miles of Rangoon
-600 or so troops defedning Kahta

OOC: Yay! Kahtan's back!
Is it Ok if I assume your troops are traveling with the Ferrussian lines?

OOC: Yay! Kahtan's back!
Is it Ok if I assume your troops are traveling with the Ferrussian lines?

that would be a correct assumption

OOC: Yay! Kahtan's back!
Is it Ok if I assume your troops are traveling with the Ferrussian lines?

that would be a correct assumption

OOC:
Kahta-recently attacked but Ferrussian troops held off the siege
Bhamo- NLA city
Tamu-as yet not involved in the conflict but poorly defended mostly by Nimbatan militia and a few regular units.

The incoming column at the PBR battle site is large but a fair distance away and assuming you don’t take two hours to load the troops shouldn’t be a problem. However ifone of the NLA grunts was able to get a ‘golden BB’ on one of te birds I could make it interesting…

IC:

Victory Square

One of the snipers on the roof of the parliament building stared down his scope watching as the tear gas dispersed and the police ran in using their rifle butts to smack people down on the floor. More and more police vans were arriving every minute although more red flag waving protesters also appeared out of alleys and side streets. Many of them were merely teenagers and some were visibly carrying knives and handguns.

He heard a dull explosion and shifted his gun sight so he could see he result and to his horror a police van was ablaze in the middle of the square quite near to where the majority of the communists were. The terrified young police troopers threw themselves out of the vehicle some of them on fire themselves. Then all hell broke loose as the police started shooting in panic randomly killing people in the crowd, several more fire bombs were thrown from the side of the square where rebels had been waiting in the buildings.

The sniper then flicked the safety on his rifle and aimed at the head of a man who was picking up a gun from a dead comrade. He squeezed off the round and killed his target before scanning for another one.

***

At 500ft above the capital an extremely ancient and dilapidated Mi-8 had been vectored towards Victory Square and as it flew over the city’s government district, the crew could see that similar riots were breaking outside the Justice Ministry and Infrastructure Department.

Just as they flew over Victory Square a handful of bullets slammed into the rear fuselage, although the pilot turned for base, it was clear that the situation had escalated and now required the Army and if possible the Kahtani Marines who were no doubt better trained.

Over Rangoon

The EC-130E Command Solo Broadcast plane circled over the denser part of Rangoon, high over the range of the small arms fire erupting on the ground. 3 F-24s were tagging along as escorts.

"Nimbatan Government, this is a Ferrussian EC-130E. We are equipped to broadcast any precautionary or warning messages to the people of Rangoon. We are circling over your position now. If you wish to make a broadcast, upload it to this frequency and we can put your face on every TV screen in the city."

(OOC: This is my one EC-130E deployed in Nimbata. It essentially holds the ability to commandeer every television set over a wide area with just about any broadcast you want. I'm doing this to give you a chance to warn civilians about the protests, request that the protesters stop, or whatever it is you have in mind.)

They had a good hour's worth of fuel before they would need to start heading back. Hopefully, they would be able to give the Nimbatan government a chance at avoiding complete loss of control.

*****

FLOCOM Humvee Convoy - 1/2 mile from rendezvous

"Understood, Captain," said Zarikovsky over the radio to Hinterland. "I'm ordering several of the APCs to wait for you a bit behind your position. One or two Humvees might also be avaliable. Let me know if you need anything else. Good luck out there."

As Zarikovsky put down the radio, he saw Lt. Ente's marine group. "Pull over," he said to the driver, and the Humvee slowed to a stop next to what looked like the commanding officer.

Rolling down the window, he asked if they could use a ride.

"We don't have much room," explained Zarikovsky, "but we can make do. As long as you don't mind holding radio equiptment in your laps, we should be alright."

The convoy stopped, and radio operators scrunched together to make room for the tired men.

*****

FCCH, Mandalay

As battle plans were worked out with the Thirtycaliber liason, hundreds of men prepared for the insertion. The sun was falling, and with their NVG advantage, conditions would be perfect.

The plan called for most of the just deployed Black Hawk helicoptors and many of the fresh troops, and so the new arrivals were busy both unpacking and gearing up at the same time. They would head out as soon as the word came in from the J-STARS.

IC:

Haka:

The air was filled with the sound of rotary wing aircraft taking off. CH-53Es carried men and materiel into the air, towards Mandalay. The workhorse chopper was the hero of the Nimbatan war for Thirtycaliber's Marines, that much was certain. 4 of the craft lumbered into the air, the combined sound of twelve engines causing small animals to seek cover underground or underwater. there was a general feeling around the base that something big was going down, and soon. (OOC: These choppers should arrive in Mandalay about 10 minutes before the engineers arrive at Namhkam).

OOC:

It would be most helpful if the NLA were to post actions/losses/movements in Namhkam and the battle site near Schwebo. Thanks, BTW, for the update on the status of the cities. I'm going to update my tac map momentarily.

Jungle near Shwebo

The fast reducing amounts of infantry on the ground could now do nothing but fire their rifles skyward hoping to hit the choppers that spilled out fire and wreacked death and destruction on the world below. Their Shilka had been destroyed and now thay dispersed from the clearing and abandoned the mortar positions.

Marginally Further to the South near the river the platoon of air defence soldiers had been pinned down by enemy fire from the boats along the river.

Then they actually saw one of the Stallions and simultaneously they fired everything they had from a crouched position below in a stream bed where there was a gap in the trees. 7.62mm rounds, RPG-7s and Strelas soared upward hoping to bringdowmn one fo the birds.

Hills to the West of Namkham

In the command tent just to the West of the city a grop of officers watched as pins were moved on the huge map pf the area. It appeared the western defence had collpased and the South was starting to retreat.
Over 4,000 troops had recently aarrived in the West to supplement the 11,000 already in the combat zone. Now they were planning to push up from the airfield from the South and South East. This would hopefully push the defenders across the river in teh North and from their they would have no direction to escape.

(OOC: Nimbata, the South is already retreating to the northeast, just so you know.)

IC:

Western line, Namhkam

The Ferrussian soldiers continued to fall back, some being picked up by occasional APCs or Humvees that made it to the front. The line began to fall all the way back to the Thirtycaliber position which was to hold the NLA long enough for the remaining ground forces to scram.

One of the first of the Ferrussian privates to reach the Thirtycaliber position was elated. Ducking behind a corner, he shouted to the nearest TM334 team, grinning.

"Hey, it's great to see you guys! We've been pinned down by enemy fire for most of the retreat - it's great to have some support! You guys are awesome!"

With that, he poked out from behind the corner and fired down the street at the nearest NLA regulars before ducking back to reload.

"Keep up the good work! We've got APCs inbound to pick you up after we're out of here! If we get a break tonight, I'll have to write my wife and kids - I'll be glad to be out of this chaos!"

He turned and began firing bursts down the street.

"They'll be so happy to hear I-"

An automatic round from down the street smacked into his neck, and as he began to fall out into the street, he was hit once more in the head.

Official Transmission
To: Military and Political Authorites: Kahtan, Ferrussia, Thirtycaliber, United Elias, Agnosticum
From: Office of the President, Democratic Republic of Nimbata


To all nations that support the cause of free market democracy in mainland Nimbata and Nimbatan Borneo, it has become apparent to my staff and I that total victory over the NLA is unattainable and if victory was achieved, the cost would be too great. Also communism will never be free from Nimbata and this constant preoccupation of idealistic struggles within our nation will make it impossible for the DRN to progress into what i should and could be. Therefore I have put forward a plan using back channels to the NLA that in return for peace certain territories yet to be negotiated would be given independance from the Republic and form a socialist state most likely in the Norhern half of Nimbata and Western half of Sarawak.

However the NLA will not even reply to such an offer in the current climate of what they perceive to be an obvious victorious outcome for theselves. Our objectives must therefore change and we hope that we will have your nations continued support in attempting to chanme the course fo the war, not with the intention of total victory but simply to force them into negotiation. No doubt after any agreement with the NLA, your nations support will still be absoutlutely neccessary in defedning the DMZ between North and South, in my opinion the only way Nimbata can exist peacefully is to be in the unfortunate state of having an aggressor staring us over a border possibly for many years, however prosperity for the majority is better than poverty for all.

Sincerely,
Aung Shwe,
President of the Democratic Republic of Nimabat

(bascually im slowly going to turn this into a N & S Korean standoff where democracy stares across a DMZ at communism andrelying on foreign troops to prevent invasion)

Message to the Democratic Republic of Nimbata

The People's Republic of Ferrussia stands behind your decision, and wishes you the best of luck in negotations with the NLA. Our forces will continue the defense of Namhkam and other northern cities until word of a peace aggreement is heard, assuming there is one.

On another note, however, Ferrussia would be highly interested in establishing permanent diplomatic relations with your great nation. We welcome you to send an ambassador to Ferrussia to negotiate the details of such an agreement, but it would likely include a Ferrussian embassy in Nimbata, and offer Ferrussia's services as a third party in any peace negotiations. We could help with the establishment of defenses, if needed, to prevent future attacks by the NLA, and would even consider the construction of permanent military bases/strategic forces in Nimbata.

We offer our deepest condolences to the citizens and soldiers who have perished in this fight for their homeland. Our continued military support is guaranteed for the time being.

Good luck to you.


Secretary of Foreign Affairs,
Aleksey Sergeyevich Kasyanov

:(

ooc: But I was gonna bomb them back to the stone age... :cry:

ic:

Free Bonstock located in Maropian Coast, though preocuppied with a war against the communist held Bonstock proper, will send military forces to enforce a DMZ when we can. We appologize that we could not do more for Nimbata. If war erupts again, we will deploy a considerable force, with orders to completly destroy the communists.

ooc: Darn! I was gonna get back into this after my civil war and get stuck in a quagmire that would devestate Bonstock as America was devestated by Vietnam. There would be protestors, backlash, decisions by Presidents not to run again for office, and a corrupt sucessor who would prolong the war AND get involved in a scandal that would force his resignation. It was gonna be so fun...

But oh well. I'll find a Vietnam someday. Russian Forces said so, after I assasinated the leader of a communist coup in his nation.

:(

ooc: But I was gonna bomb them back to the stone age... :cry:

ic:

Free Bonstock located in Maropian Coast, though preocuppied with a war against the communist held Bonstock proper, will send military forces to enforce a DMZ when we can. We appologize that we could not do more for Nimbata. If war erupts again, we will deploy a considerable force, with orders to completly destroy the communists.

ooc: Darn! I was gonna get back into this after my civil war and get stuck in a quagmire that would devestate Bonstock as America was devestated by Vietnam. There would be protestors, backlash, decisions by Presidents not to run again for office, and a corrupt sucessor who would prolong the war AND get involved in a scandal that would force his resignation. It was gonna be so fun...

But oh well. I'll find a Vietnam someday. Russian Forces said so, after I assasinated the leader of a communist coup in his nation.

You still can, the war wil last a good while longer and the whole idea is to force them into submission, in other words as we dont think we'll ever unite Nimbata we dont really care about destroying the Northern areas and no longer consider it a civil war. This is only an intention that we want a peace agreemeant,but won't actually mean anything for a long time.

IC:

Aleksey Sergeyevich Kasyanov
Secretary of Foreign Affairs,

A permannet diplomatic mission from Ferrussia in Rangoon is welcomed and we give you permission to send an ambassador to our nation forthwith. When selecting the site for the embasssy we would reccomend a slightly out of town location for the time being as otherwise security may be a problem.

Once again we thank your nation for its support and for the sacrafice many Ferrusians have made for a free Nimbata.

Minister for Foreign Affairs.

IC:

While the Free Republic of Thirtycaliber applauds your decision to shorten this terrible war, we also ask if we would still be allowed to move forward with several long-standing plans that might have severely negative effects on the breakaway northern areas if successful.


------------------------------------------------------------
John C.G. Schnee
Secretary of State
The Free Republic of Thirtycaliber




OOC:

Basically, I want to know if I can still move along with the plotline I'd been planning involving Salt & the restaurant owner, a militia training initiative, and a Kit Carson Scout program.

John C.G. Schnee
Secretary of State
The Free Republic of Thirtycaliber,

Any ingenutive ideas that may be detrimental to the Nimbata Liberation Army's capacity to make war on the DRN is from now on permitted, obviously with the exception of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

IC:

Namhkam (over the city):

The three groups of F/A-18s's, having no real way of immediately assessing the damage they had done on the ground, re-formed into a single group. They formed up over the south tip of the city, and decided to expend all of their ordnance before returning to base. The nine jets still had roughly half of their ammunition left, giving them ample ordnance for a powerful strafe run with guns blazing. The group descended from their relatively high altitude downwards below 1,000 feet on the men they saw west of the city gates, unleashing their full fury of 20mm Vulcan cannons, dual 7mm chainguns, and HYDRA unguided rockets. They still weern't sure whether they were attacking a command unit, reserves or what, but it was clear they were enemies due to their position and knocking them around would clearly help the boys on the ground.

Namhkam (By the river):

PBR-2 crews cheered as the FLOCOM convoy reached the banks of the river. TC Marines piled out, careful to put back the communications equipment that had been on their laps, and some of them careful not to get anything caught on the rails as they climbed down from roofracks. The Ferrussians also seemed to be glad to be near such a heavy concentration of friendly firepower as the PBR-2s. Immediately, LCMRs began beaching on the near shores, ready to looad up and begin ferrying vehicles across the river. However, it quickly became clear that this might not be necessary, as the familiar sounds of choppers filled the air. Three CH-53Es landed across the river, engineers piling out with bridge building and demolitions equipment. They were quickly divided into 2 groups, who began work on 2 separate bridges. The river was a relatively short span, so the bridges would likely be done quickly. There was an additional bonus to building quickly - it meant that they would be able to get men across to use the equipment that filled one entire CH-53E and half of enother (OOC: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: ).

OOC: I'll post an IC update on my forces by Schwebo later tonight.

Namhkam

Most of the Ferrussian line had passed the Thirtycaliber platoon by now, and were making their way as quickly as possible towards the river. This was in Thirtycaliber's hands now.

*****

Rangoon, Nimbata

An executive Gulfstream V circled the port city of Rangoon, Nimbata's capital. The Ferrussian ambassador had important business, and looked over the large city with anticipation.

The pilot contacted ground control.

"This is Ferrussian Diplomatic Flight Zero-Three-One, requesting to land in Rangoon. Protected transportation to the President's residence would be greatly appreciated."

IC:

Namhkam (in the city):

The platoon of Marines was holding fast at the intersection. The massive firepower of all the MGs and the precision of the riflemen, combined with a brief letoff from the first airstrike, had temporarily stemmed the tide of NLA charging at them, and the opposition now was light and inconsistent. A few Marines had been hit, and their numbers had not yet been tallied, but the time they had taken to set up in prone and reduce their profiles had appeared to pay off and overall casualties were rather light. Most of the Ferrussians, Nimbatans and Kahtanis were well past, and if the NLA didn't make another big push to catch up to the forces moving to the river position, he would move his forces out as well.

Mandalay:

Above the airfield, chaos was rampant.

"Mandalay, this is Kentucky leader. Request permission to land my birds"

"Mandalay, this is Linebacker leader. Request permission toland my birds."

"Mandalay, Kentucky 3 reports he's running on fumes. Requesting landing priority."

The TC liason was sure the brass were kicking themselves for scheduling a flight of 4 CH-53Es loaded with Marines (OOC: the force from Haka mentioned in a previous post) and a flight of 9 F-18S's (additional carrier aircraft brought forward for the upcoming op) to arrive at one airbase at the same time. One Marine openly mused that the CH-53Es would have to hover down onto some rooftops to make room for everyone.

Near Schwebo:

The rescue Ch-53E had finally hovered low enough to begin loading casualties off the boats. It was decided by the crew, however, that they were taking too much fire to attempt to raise wounded and dead up, to they conducted a 'near landing' procedure. This entailed the chopper hovering down to the point the its skids got wet from the river, so that casualties could simply be passed into the chopper.

Meanwhile, another chopper didn't have it so well. The easternmost support chopper, still with men on the pylons firing at those below, passed over a smaller clearing in the jungle at less than half speed. This would prove to be a fatal mistake. Gunnery Sargeant C.S. Mueller, the pilot, hollered the happenings to the other crewmen.

"We're taking ground fire! Can't you suppress it!"

The men on the pilons, for their part, were busy firing their Javelins and machine guns downward at the enemy who was so intent on capitalizing on this opportunity.

"We lost engine # 3! Damnit!"

An RPG-7 soared up towards the chopper, and Mueller was barely able to jerk the craft to the left fast enough to dodge the rocket. In the process, the men on the left side were thrown in their harnesses, and a Javelin fell to the ground. Upon striking the ground, the Javelin fired. The rocket soared into the air, forcing the pilot to again jerk his chopper to the side. the Marines on the pylons intensified their fire towards the muzzle flashes on the ground and the barely-visible enemies, concealeds in the bush. They could see blood on the ground and the occasional body part fly up after a Javelin launch, but it seemed to have no effect on the intensity of fire on their chopper.

"Strela!"

The guided missile streaked towards the chopper. A Javelin operator wisely fired his weapon at a horizontal trajectory, luring the Strela off course a bit, but it was too late. The Strela detonated just an armlength from the chopper, killing 4 men on the stub pylon on the left side and wounding the rest in the vicinity badly. Mueller turned the CH-53E so that the stioll-manned right pilon was facing the enemy, and the Marines on that side opened fire anew. A flurry of Strelas and RPG-7s soared towards the chopper. Luckily, several of the Strelas actually targeted the heat from the RPGs, and thus did little damage aside from a frightening fireworks show in midair, but another hit the left side of the Chopper yet again, killing all the remaining Marines on that side, as well as more significant damage.

"Lost engine #1! Son of a bitch!"

It appeared that the ground fighters were low on rockets, as their most intense fire was now from Kalashnikovs, which did little to the massive chopper. Mueller, sensing a calm during the storm, gave full power to his remaining engine in an attempt to get out. He was nearly out of the line of fire from the ground when he saw a rocket's con trail rising towards his craft. An RPG-7. It struck the underside of his chopper, and the shaped charge bore through, ruining the only remaining engine. The pilot immediately began contra-rotation, hoping to slow the lumbering craft's descent enough tomake it survivable. And he grabbed his E1A2 rifle, ready for a fight to the finish.

OOC: How's that for storytelling! I'll post again tomorrow with updates on the bridge progress and other things.

To: Relevant Nimbatan Authorities
Copy To: Ferrussia, Kahtan, Thirtycaliber, Bonstock
From: Department of Naval Operations, Ministry of Defence

Message:

Upon hearing of the new policyy adopted by your government our nation has decided that while our defensive forces shall remain in Brunei, the President Victor Carrier Battle Group currently in the Bay of Bengal will not transit to the South China Sea as planned because we belive that the only way to shorten this war is to attack the NLA directly. Therefore the carrier battle group and its significant Air Wing will be made available to perform strike missions on the NLA. Obviously no action shall be conducted without the express aproval of the Nimabatn government.

OOC:

Here's some stats on the CBG

President Victor Battle Group

CARRIERS/AMPHIBIOUS

1x Victor class Aircraft Carrier (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77139&highlight=)

-4 EA-60B ASW/ASuW Aircraft (www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=84701&highlight=)
-3 EA-60C AEW Aircraft (www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=84701&highlight=)
-5 EA-60D EW/ELINTAircraft (www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=84701&highlight=)
-8 EA-220B Joint Tactical Bombers (www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88103&highlight=)
-18 F/A-18ME ‘Ultra Hornet’ Two seat Multirole fighters
-18 Su-37MKE Single Seat Counter Air Fighters
-3 EA-24H Naval helicopters (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40824)

1x Dolphin Amphibious Assault Ships (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=52737)

-8 EA-24H Naval helicopters (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40824)
-6 EA-28G Special Forces Helicopters (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=66401)
-6 EA-24G Marine Assault helicopters (www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88396&highlight=)
-Approximately 200 Marines, equipment and vehicles



2x Sturgeon Combat Support Vessel. (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=59383)

-4 EA-24H Naval helicopters (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=40824)
-Approximately 80 Marines, equipment and vehicles
-Various other supplies including air ordnance

ESCORTS

2x Abdullah class Cruisers (modified Slava class)

3x Sovremenny class Destroyers

5x Tigris class destroyers (modified Arleigh Burke Flight IIA)

8x Beluga class Guided Missile Frigate (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39617&highlight=)

8xBarracuda Corvettes (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35757&highlight=)

3xTigershark Diesel Electric Submarine (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2132825#2132825)

1xLeviathan Nuclear Attack submarine (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88103&highlight=)

SUPPORT

2xEM-50 Minesweeper (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=73949&highlight=)

2xEM-75 Fleet Oiler (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=60162&highlight=)

Artitsa council members had brought up the fact, that after promising assistance to the Nimbata government, none was given. In a recently vote in parliment, It has beend decieded that 2 Helicopter Assault Carriers escorted by 4 Oladsky Cruisers and 8 Lutjen's destroyers, will make their way to Nimbatan waters.

K1 Airfield. Near Mandalay

A claxon sounds all around the based followed by the short announcement, “Immediate Flight Ops CSAR, Repeat, Immediate Flight Ops CSAR, all priorities.”
For the flight crews of the alert Combat Search a Rescue helicopter this means only one thing, a plane or helicopter had gone down. They run from their barracks, their flight suits already on, to their MH-53 Pave Lows. They are from the 17th Air Force Helicopter Squadron (AFHS), the famed ‘Thunder Hunters’ have a reputation for daredevil piloting and always being in the thick of the fighting in order to rescue downed pilots.

The Pilots climb into the cockpits, while the co-pilots conducts a brief external inspection of the chopper.

The co-pilots of both helicoppters rhen climb into the right seats while a total of thirtyArmy combat troops start to board from the rear ramp after running across the tarmac . The Crew speaks into the intercom a minute later, as the rear ramp is closing “Sir Cabin is secure. Good to go.”

“TACOMM (Tactical Air Command Mandalay), this is Groundhog Eight One, manned and ready to copy mission information.”

"TACOMM, Groundhog Eight Two, ready to copy."

[i]Roger Groundhog Flight, Standby."

Inside the air control center the Thirtycaliber liason was called on the intercom, "This is Kahtani Watch Officer Commander Turner, we have two CSAR Pave Lows ready to go, after hearing the distress call from a Stallion over Schwebo. Just give the order."

IC:

Mandalay:

At the Thirtycaliber liason office, radios were abuzz with traffic. The operation near Schwebo was barely improved from when they had last heard. However, a CH-53E was down. This changed everything. The last known position of that chopper was over a half mile into the jungle. The liason comander, Colonel Walter Schinken, was in the middle of a nasty headache, doubtless from the recent news of the loss. He was alerted to his post by a scream from a radio operator.

"Colonel! The Kahtanis! They want to speak with you, Sir!"

Col. Schinken rushed to the operator and grabbed the receiver handset. Almost immediately, a grin spread from ear to ear.

"Yes, you can launch a rescue mission. Our airmen carry orange smoke canisters; ignore any other smoke you see. THey also carry thermal beacons; that should be your primary vector now that the sun has set. Be aware of MANPADS threats; we have reason to believe the threat from shoulder-launched SAMs is minimal now that they've expended so many, but stay on your toes. Godspeed."

Near Schwebo:

GSgt. Mueller and the remaining 11 men had quickly gathered together after the crash to form a perimeter around the downed chopper. The NLA did not appear to have come in to finish the job just yet. A few men had dragged the bodies of their fallen comrades towards the chopper, and the remains were now piled inside, with the dog tags removed. Mueller was hesitant to put any smoke out, lest the enemy see the bright orange amongst muzzle flashes and see their position. However, he pulled the pin on two thermal flares, throwing one atop the chopper and another about 10 yards away under a break in the jungle canopy that had been created by the gargantuan bird on its way down. Hopefully, friendlies that had heard calls for help before the radio equipment went dead would come by and see the beacon with their night vision gear. His small band of men had already donned their, ready for nasty close-range nightfighting. He had his rifle, and the men who had been on the undamaged pylon had those they had been carrying, along with spare ammo from within the chopper. Time was of the essence.

Namhkam (by bthe river):

The engineers had finished the first bridge, and had rigged demolitions charges on its underside that were remotely controlled. They were nearly finished with the second bridge. Already, vehicles and men could begin crossing the first bridge and setting up positions and unloading the equipment from the choppers. The Marines were already rushing across, beginning to set up mortar and machine gun positions, and digging foxholes. It was assumed that the Ferrussians would do likewise.

PBR-2 crews could see the main body of Ferrussian, Nimbatan and Kahtani troops that had moved out of the city. They appeared to be about a half hours' marching time from the river, less if vehicles could be freed up to go back and give them rides as well. The mouse trap was nearly ready to be sprung on the NLA forces in the city.

OOC:

Ferrussia - I'm assuming that most of your forces will also set up positions across the river. If I sent you a TG outlining what was in the choppers, I would be most grateful if you could copy/paste that TG and re-TG it to me, as I lost my copy of the data :cry:

Kahtan - Thanks for the pilot rescue. You still have forces in Namhkam, right? I think you posted strength before, but what are they armed ith for the most part?

NLA - This RP is finally back in high gear! Yipee! Anyhoo, I need airstrike damage and whether or not you're making another push at the intersection or not. PS, is that large troop body moving forward still, or have they been sufficiently deterred?

IC:

Mandalay:

At the Thirtycaliber liason office, radios were abuzz with traffic. The operation near Schwebo was barely improved from when they had last heard. However, a CH-53E was down. This changed everything. The last known position of that chopper was over a half mile into the jungle. The liason comander, Colonel Walter Schinken, was in the middle of a nasty headache, doubtless from the recent news of the loss. He was alerted to his post by a scream from a radio operator.

"Colonel! The Kahtanis! They want to speak with you, Sir!"

Col. Schinken rushed to the operator and grabbed the receiver handset. Almost immediately, a grin spread from ear to ear.

"Yes, you can launch a rescue mission. Our airmen carry orange smoke canisters; ignore any other smoke you see. THey also carry thermal beacons; that should be your primary vector now that the sun has set. Be aware of MANPADS threats; we have reason to believe the threat from shoulder-launched SAMs is minimal now that they've expended so many, but stay on your toes. Godspeed."

Near Schwebo:

GSgt. Mueller and the remaining 11 men had quickly gathered together after the crash to form a perimeter around the downed chopper. The NLA did not appear to have come in to finish the job just yet. A few men had dragged the bodies of their fallen comrades towards the chopper, and the remains were now piled inside, with the dog tags removed. Mueller was hesitant to put any smoke out, lest the enemy see the bright orange amongst muzzle flashes and see their position. However, he pulled the pin on two thermal flares, throwing one atop the chopper and another about 10 yards away under a break in the jungle canopy that had been created by the gargantuan bird on its way down. Hopefully, friendlies that had heard calls for help before the radio equipment went dead would come by and see the beacon with their night vision gear. His small band of men had already donned their, ready for nasty close-range nightfighting. He had his rifle, and the men who had been on the undamaged pylon had those they had been carrying, along with spare ammo from within the chopper. Time was of the essence.

Namhkam (by bthe river):

The engineers had finished the first bridge, and had rigged demolitions charges on its underside that were remotely controlled. They were nearly finished with the second bridge. Already, vehicles and men could begin crossing the first bridge and setting up positions and unloading the equipment from the choppers. The Marines were already rushing across, beginning to set up mortar and machine gun positions, and digging foxholes. It was assumed that the Ferrussians would do likewise.

PBR-2 crews could see the main body of Ferrussian, Nimbatan and Kahtani troops that had moved out of the city. They appeared to be about a half hours' marching time from the river, less if vehicles could be freed up to go back and give them rides as well. The mouse trap was nearly ready to be sprung on the NLA forces in the city.

OOC:

Ferrussia - I'm assuming that most of your forces will also set up positions across the river. If I sent you a TG outlining what was in the choppers, I would be most grateful if you could copy/paste that TG and re-TG it to me, as I lost my copy of the data :cry:

Kahtan - Thanks for the pilot rescue. You still have forces in Namhkam, right? I think you posted strength before, but what are they armed ith for the most part?

NLA - This RP is finally back in high gear! Yipee! Anyhoo, I need airstrike damage and whether or not you're making another push at the intersection or not. PS, is that large troop body moving forward still, or have they been sufficiently deterred?

K1 Airfield near Mandaly

While the communication had been tkaing place with the TC liason the pilots had been briefed on the situation.

“Affirmative Groundhog Flight, you have permission to start up and depart straight out, good luck.”

“Roger TACOMM, we’ll need it.”

In the cockpit of Groundhog one, the two pilots flick switches and watch dials as the two huge turbo shaft engines start to whine to life, a minute later the rotors start to swing slowly gathering speed. When the RPM reaches a certain amount, the co-pilot gives the thumbs up. Lt Colonel Warren then gradually pulls up the collective and lifts the great beast into the air.

As the first bird rises, the second Pave Low then lumbers into the air and they manouver into formation before departing to the North West.

K1 Airfield near Mandaly

While the communication had been tkaing place with the TC liason the pilots had been briefed on the situation.

“Affirmative Groundhog Flight, you have permission to start up and depart straight out, good luck.”

“Roger TACOMM, we’ll need it.”

In the cockpit of Groundhog one, the two pilots flick switches and watch dials as the two huge turbo shaft engines start to whine to life, a minute later the rotors start to swing slowly gathering speed. When the RPM reaches a certain amount, the co-pilot gives the thumbs up. Lt Colonel Warren then gradually pulls up the collective and lifts the great beast into the air.

As the first bird rises, the second Pave Low then lumbers into the air and they manouver into formation before departing to the North West.

(OOC - TC, I'll get on that TG right away. I haven't deleted them yet.)

North area of Namhkam

The M113 APCs were getting a bit impatient. Ferrussian and allied forces were drawing closer to the river every minute, but the Thirtycaliber platoon would soon feel the full brunt of the NLA forces. A recent JSTARS report showed the main concentration of NLA troops approaching their position.

At the river, the FLOCOM convoy finally offloaded on the other side of the river. As their precious few tents were set up (they hadn't expected a rural engagement, and thus were planning on using buildings for FLOCOM), the radio equiptment was hooked up to a few generators to relieve their dying batteries.

Upon hearing of the increasing danger of the TC platoon, Zarikovsky got an idea. 15 of the Merkava Vs in the city doubled back. As the platoon withdrew, the NLA would come around the corner to a nice suprise.

The Humvees from the convoy doubled back into the city to assist with the extraction, and the first wave of Hummers/APCs coming out of the city finally arrived at the river. Dropping the infantry off to cross the bridge on their own, they sped back into the city to pick up what they could.

*****

FCCH, Mandalay

Preparations were still being made, and General Kalishnov decided it would be best to wait for even darker skies. The quickly fading sunlight was encouraging, but given the odds against them, the pitch black of night would be their best ally.

Confidentially, the missions had been given two symbolic names: The withdrawl from Nimbata was "Operation: Cheese" and the helo insert was "Operation: Mousetrap."

The TC liason was contacted with a simple, slightly mystic sentence.

"We'll spring the mousetrap when they've got their head all the way in."

Main Road Between Falam and Shwebo, Chingdwin River

The 220 or so Red Guard guerillas had made their way nearly 60 miles along thh Chindwin river since they'd last had contact with the enemy and now they were going to show that they could strike near the heart of Nimbata.

This bridge over the Chindwin river at this point was the main road that linked Shwebo to the West and one of the only main roads to reach Falam in the mountains of the Chin hills on the Western frontiers. Therefore its importance could hardly be overstated.

Now, in the middle of the night there were few guards on duty on either side of the quarter of a mile long span and only one or two trucks passed every hour.
Choosing this as the optimum time to strike the group split into small platoons.

First of all twenty men led by an experienced Lieutenant who was known as 'Blade'for obvious reasons started to approach the bridge from the North East across some swampy marshlands. They slowly sneaked up on the small checkpoint and checiing to make sure that the lights in the small wooden baracks building were off they moved in. Six of them and the Lt headed for the road where seven regulars were supposedly guarding with the aid of a cpuple teenage militiamen armed with what looked like shotguns.

The men were so fatugue struck and bored that the fialed to notice 'Blade' and his men rudhing up behind them before it was too late and tehy lay on the ground, blood spilling out of their throats. Inside teh guard house ten or so men all in various sttates of sleep had been dealthw ith similarly.

Meanwhile small wooden boats were being paddled across the river silently, seven boats each with eight men and some carrying explosives.
As tehy neared teh other side they they opned fire on the West side guards still unaware of the fate of their comraes on the East.

With the loss o onyl four men the bridge had been secured with mininal resistance and now engineers went about setting teh explosives a task that would take less than an hour.

Near Shwebo

The air defence forward group that had bagged their prey were now running headlong through the jungle towards the crash site, some thirty of them determined to kill or better yet capture the TC soldiers still left alive; Knowing that at range their night vision capbailittes would give the enemy a huge adbvantage their only hope was at close quarters where they knew Western troops often became paniced and diorientated.

Namkham, south of the river

The two artillery spotters lay hidden under some rubble put still with a clear view of the river, could see everything, the PBRs, the MI113s and the choppers, the only thing they coudlnt see were any of their comrades, once again it seemed the beaurocratic chain of command had some how led to a delay in the attack from the East on the river.

At least however the communists wer maikng good progress in the town itself, nearly all the defenders retreating across the river and some of their arty requests were finally being delivered. He heard the rumble in the distance as a pair of truck mounted GRAD rocket systems fired a huge barrage of 122m rockets on hid specified coordinates.

In the town centre

For the remnants of the 16th Regiment of the 7th Rifle Division the fight in teh town centre was becoimg easier and they had learned from theri fame dpredessceors at Stalingrad the advanatges of burnt out buidlings, but one lesson did not apply. At Stalingrad the armour in teh city centre was next to uselsss here the Ferrusian Merkavas seemed ipenetrable. As they rolled down the streets, churning out machinegun rounds and the occasioanl 120mm shell, there was little they could do other than hide.

On Main street one of the lumbering beasts had been the only things preventing the advance to the North but in a great breakthrough a luckly rifleman had found a fairly modern AT-14 Kornet anf fired it into the rear of the tank. While it smouldered. nearly 300 troops rushed out from cover in a great morale boost, a tide of NLA conscripts now heading towards the river.

OOC: if any of the Namkham stuff is inconsistent with whats going on please enlighten me as im not totally understanging of whatg oing on.

To: Relevant Nimbatan Authorities
Copy To: Ferrussia, Kahtan, Thirtycaliber, Bonstock
From: Department of Naval Operations, Ministry of Defence

Message:

Upon hearing of the new policyy adopted by your government our nation has decided that while our defensive forces shall remain in Brunei, the President Victor Carrier Battle Group currently in the Bay of Bengal will not transit to the South China Sea as planned because we belive that the only way to shorten this war is to attack the NLA directly. Therefore the carrier battle group and its significant Air Wing will be made available to perform strike missions on the NLA. Obviously no action shall be conducted without the express aproval of the Nimabatn government.



To: Department of Naval Operations
From: Minister of National Defence, Democratic Republic of Nimbata
Copy To: Ferrussia, Kahtan, Thirtycaliber, Bonstock
Subject: RE: Offer of military assistance

Our nation thanks you for your offer and after reviewing the informaton provided as to you capabilities, we have decided that your EA-220 Joint Tactical Bombers would be perfect for striking strategically important sites in Myitkina which is one of the most heavily defended areas in Nimbata as far as air defence is concerned and accroding our our sources on the ground this is where they have located their precious few modern S-300 'Grumble' systems. Therefore aircraft that are stealthy such as yours would minise risk and allow surgical strikes on a small amount of targets that we have identified. These targets include several command and control bunkers, communicaion facilities and what is suspected to be the command HQ of the NLA's second Army. More targets will come avaialable in due course as our intelligence improves but from now on you have permission to conduct these attacks using our airspace and if neccsary our aifields. Once again we offer our gratitude and if these targets could be destroyed then this would aid the war effort significantly while allowing other allied air power to be concentrated in the close air support role where it is so badly needed to stop our lines being overrun.

OOC: guess im involvesd now, anyway I know whats going on since Ive been reading it pretty much since it started.

96nm South of Rangoon, Bay of Bengal, 18:47 Local Time

On the flight deck of the President Victor (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=77139&highlight) two EA-220B Joint Tactical Bombers (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=88103&highlight=) were being checked by the ground crew in various coloured fluorescent jackets. Of course they were exceedingly proud to be part of the baptism of fire both for the President Victor Air Group and perhaps more importantly for the plane that in its so far very short operational career had already gained the love of its crews and the nickname ‘Ghost’ both in reference to its stealth and its metallic silver paint finish.

Then from the base of the island structure the crew arrived, having had their mission briefing. For Squadron Leader, Commander Ezzra Zilkha this was why he had switched from being an F-111 pilot in the Air Force, who in an effort to retain him had offered a much better paid position as a desk jockey in the MoD. As he climbed into the cockpit, he remembered his promise to himself when he had first seen the design of this aircraft, that he would be the one to take it into combat first and tonight he would get his wish.

As the canopy slowly closed, his WSO called out and broke his thought, “Okay ready for pre-flight?”

“Okay, lets do this.” He picked up his checklist even though he knew it off by heart, also he was reassured when he saw that the crew chief who had signed off on the plane’s log book was someone he knew and trusted. “Fuel Check”

“Check, All tanks reporting Green, range to target 613 nautical miles.”

“IBs 1 through 7.”

The WSO checked the internal bays on his stores computer and saw the weapons matched the mission requirements, 2 AIM-9s, 2 AIM-120s, 6 EAW-38A (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=96789&highlight=) standoff weapons and 2 ALARM missiles just in case.

“Check.”
“Nose Wheel.”
“Check.”
“Arrestor Hook.”
“Secure.”
“AAR Probe.”
“Check.”
“Ejector Seats.” The pilot flicks a switch.
“Armed and Ready.”
“Flight Controls.” He moves the stick around a but and sees a thumbs up from the ground crew.
“Check.”
“IFF”
“Check.”
“Comms.”
“Check.”
“Left Intake.”
“Check.”
“Right Intake.”
“Check.”
“FCS, ECS, AWP, MPCB.”
“All green, go for flight.”
He gives a signal to the deck officer and in return gets back the start up signal.
“Okay Light ‘em, up.”
“Copy, okay for start.”
Outside the group the deck crew step back as the engines spool up.
“1 is up…2 is up.”
“Throttle 15%.”
“Turbines online, good to go.”
Commander Zilkha switches to the frequency for the combat direction centre, “Silver Six One, ready to go.”

“Roger, Silver Six, taxi over to Cat 2, and have a pleasant flight.”

“Will, do, thanks.”

The throttles idling, the plane gently started to roll towards the catapult when the park brake was released and then he could see that Sliver Six Two was just starting engines.
Three minutes later and the plane was affixed to the cat and only now could the wings be unfolded, such was the wingspan of the ‘Ghost’. Commander Zilkha realised that his fate was now in the hands of the catapult officer, since in heavy seas like this it would take just seconds of mistiming to fire when the bow was pitching down, giving the pilots barely enough time to contemplate the ejection handle and nevertheless it seemed probable that the ship would hit the bomb laden plane before it sank anyway.

This thought in mind, he pushed to the throttles to military power and snapped a salute to the deck officer. Seconds later the plane was blasting down the deck and then soared into the air somewhat gracefully and mishap free. As the Commander took control back from the computer he banked after retracting the gear, and saw the second JTB already on the other catapault.

Rangoon, Nimbata

An executive Gulfstream V circled the port city of Rangoon, Nimbata's capital. The Ferrussian ambassador had important business, and looked over the large city with anticipation.

The pilot contacted ground control.

"This is Ferrussian Diplomatic Flight Zero-Three-One, requesting to land in Rangoon. Protected transportation to the President's residence would be greatly appreciated."

OOC: Still awaiting a reply to this...

As for your question in your post, you would have to RP breaking through TC's platoon before the Merkavas, as the Merkavas are there to cover the TC platoon's retreat. They'll slowly make their way across the river

Right now, the TC platoon is holding up most of your force as best as they can at the end of a very long and crucial street. They have a significant range advantage and darkness is falling, so it won't be easy. But they may be pulling out soon, as arty threats and the fact that the troops they're covering for (most Ferrussian, Nimbatan, and Kahtani forces in the city) are nearly out.

IC:

Namhakm

With FLOCOM-Namhkam now for the most part established far behind the river, engineers and soldiers worked on throwing together a defense of the area. Primary priority was digging trenches and setting up good positioins for MGs and snipers, but some attention was paid to setting up a usable helicopter LZ in a meadow ~1 mile back from the river. Most Ferrussian soldiers dug their own, independent little holes to fire from, taking at least some pressure off the engineers digging the trenches for everyone else.

The Crusader artillery and MLRS systems were nearly done getting across the TC made bridges - and just in time, for the next round of APCs and Humvees were coming back from the city. They would be setting up as far from the river as possible, but it was hard to get too far without hitting a solid wall of trees.

It seemed, however, that there were at least one or two paths back into the forest that could theoretically be wide enough for the artillery and other support fire, so long as enough engineers could be spared to cut or (the military way) detonate 1 tree on either side of the entire length of the path. It led to another small meadow that could serve as a good artillery position. TC engineers were contacted right away.

Near Shwebo

The two MH-53 Pave Lows were now only a couple of miles from the crash site and the gunners closely watched the jungle as it went past, only a hundred feet below them. In the cockpit of ‘groundhog one’ the lead aircraft, the pilot rethought the plan,

“Two, we’re going straight in, don’t follow, repeat don’t follow us in, go high and provide fire support.”

“Roger One, we’ll cover y’all, good luck.”

They then broke formation as the second helicopter climbed and banked slightly. Suddenly orange smoke was visible from a clearing in the trees. Suddenly tracer rounds streamed from the ground and the fuselage clattered eerily as the bullets hit, the left gunner then spotted a group of men with the infrared sight and sent back as devastating volley from his minigun.

Groundhog one then flared, before descending to a hovering position above the crashed Super Stallion, the crew chief then slung a hand held short range radio down to the troops below. All while the two forward mounted miniguns and the .50 on the ramp kept heavy fire on the trees. When he was sure one of the TC soldiers had found it, the crew chief spoke into the radio, “We cant kept this bird down here, not enough bloody space, and if we hover here, we’ll end up down there with you.”

Meanwhile Groundhog Two circled above firing its guns and searching for another clearing towards the South.

To the government of the Nimbata Liberation Army,

We have been watching the growth of socialsim in your fine land and understand that much of your euquipment is obsolete and that in your current guise it is diificult for you to purchase such systems in the regular way. Therefore our nation is willing to supply ammounts of weapons and systems through clandestine means to your army in order to better the cause of asian communism.

Committee of Pan Arabism and Social expansion.

OOC: Sorry guys. Was offline while visiting family during Thanksgiving. Now I'm baaaaack :D

IC:

Namhkam (inside the city):

Captain Hinterland was in good spirits. He had received word from his radioman, via a working radio he'd borowed off a retreating unit, that friendly armor was on the way and getting close. He was about to give the message for the vehicles to move up and his men to pile in and leav when he saw a wave of black at the end of the street, perhaps 400 yards away. as the enemy about to charge his position? He thought even the reds had more respect for their own mens' lives than to attempt a straight-up frontal assault on heavy machine guns using infantry! However, their blunder was no concern to him. He watched in awe as the TM334 and TM260 gunners opened fire on the pre-lased street end, and saw the near-simultaneous explosions down at the street ends as the 25mm rounds airbursted. He could hear his riflemen beginning to open up, too. Amidst it all, he thought to himself for a moment.

Like a well fucking oiled machine. I almost feel sorry for the poor bastards on the other end.

He was sure that the charge would be called back almost immediately; after all, the NLA commanders were nothing if not clever. They'd fall back and find another way to attack him, he was sure of it. Perhaps he could take advantage of the interval between attacks after the NLA charge ended to bring the tanks in and his men out?

Namhkam (north of the river):

Lt. Ente watched as the newest wave of Ferrussian troops crossed the bridges to the north bank of the river. These were either the last or the second-to-last Ferrussians that had to come across yet. He still hadn't heard from his own commander, though. He'd heard that the Marine platoon in the city only had a radio capable of very short range transmissions; hopefully, though, they had received word that Ferrussian armor was coming in to relieve them.

Closer to his own position, both bridges were now carrying full loads of traffic, and both had chrages in place. His engineers were now busy rigging a lines of C4 down eitheer side of a path down the forest, hopefully widening the path enough for large vahicles to utilize it.

By the choppers, men were busy unloading valuable military supplies. 120mm mortars were being unloaded in their disassembeled form, ready to join the 60mm mortars that had already been set up about 100 yards back from the riverbank. 4 TM334s had already been carried out, along with 25mm ammo crates. Since the Marines already had all the grenade MGs they could man, a few Marines were busy carrying these to the Ferrussian lines, where they would quickly show some of their allies how to use their deadly new toys.

Suddenly, Ente was torn from his mental checks by the sound of explosions a few hundred yards off. Either artillery or rocket bombardment, and it was hitting less than 250 yards south of the river. He couldn't tell whether these were shots in the dark, or if the enemy had spotters to 'walk' the fire towards them. He quickly called FLOCOM, and asked them to get their FireFinder system up and working ASAP. If this artillery was indeed going to be 'walked' in to his position, counter battery fire would be needed ASAP to shut down the enemy gun positions.

Schwebo battle site:

Mueller could see them. 250 yards away and closing. They were bright lights through his NVGs, running towards his men. He could hear gunfire, and the sounds of a chopper nearby. He hoped that it was a rescue mission that had spotted his smoke and thermal beacons. However, he had no time to think of that now. Taking a position behind the tail of the downed bird for cover, he began taking shots at the approaching enemy. Apparently his men saw just what he did, as the Javelins and TM334s opened up on the assaulting forces as well. Hopefully, the concentration of fire would be enough to mow down the wave of humanity tearing through the jungle towards him. If not... well, he and the gun crews had their personal E1A2 rifles handy, and had bayonets fixed...

However, that might not be necessary. The sounds of chopper blades and aerial gunnery grew louder, and a radio descended on a rope. He could hear a Kahtani voice speaking to him. It seemed that the chopper above him couldn't stay, but another Kahtani bird was searching for a clearing. Mueller wasn't sure which direction was which, or where any clearings were in relation to his own position, but he hoped he could hold out until the cavalry arrived, or at least gave him some directions.



OOC:

If I forgot to respond to anything, please tell me. Still waiting for a response on the following, both of which take place in Namhkam:


This is from the time period right after my platoon went back into the city to cover the retreat:
The F/A-18S's were ready to rock 'n roll. The group of 9 split into 3 groups of 3 just before entering the city limits. The first group came at low level towards the area of the friendlies. Spotting a Thirtycaliber urban fighting formation they recognized, the came down and opened fire on a mass of troops who appeared to be firing on friendly forces, with their nose- and wing-mounted 20mm and 7mm chainguns. The rapid fire weapons tended to be rather nasty when it came to infantry.

The second group spotted a secondary mass of troops about 500 yards back, who appeared to be consolidating gains and settign up MG positions and fields of fire. They made their first pass and opened up with chainguns and HYDRA rockets. They pulled up quickly after the first run, and prepared to make a second.

The third group passed higher over the city, and spotted some troops to the south who had not apparently entered the city yet. They were unsure whether this was a rear area with commanders, a group of reserves and reinforcements, or what, but they appeared to be enemies. They prepared to make an attack run with chainguns and rockets.



This is from right before my chopper got shot down by Schwebo.
The three groups of F/A-18s's, having no real way of immediately assessing the damage they had done on the ground, re-formed into a single group. They formed up over the south tip of the city, and decided to expend all of their ordnance before returning to base. The nine jets still had roughly half of their ammunition left, giving them ample ordnance for a powerful strafe run with guns blazing. The group descended from their relatively high altitude downwards below 1,000 feet on the men they saw west of the city gates, unleashing their full fury of 20mm Vulcan cannons, dual 7mm chainguns, and HYDRA unguided rockets. They still weern't sure whether they were attacking a command unit, reserves or what, but it was clear they were enemies due to their position and knocking them around would clearly help the boys on the ground.

TC i need a response to this:

Near Shwebo



Groundhog one then flared, before descending to a hovering position above the crashed Super Stallion, the crew chief then slung a hand held short range radio down to the troops below. All while the two forward mounted miniguns and the .50 on the ramp kept heavy fire on the trees. When he was sure one of the TC soldiers had found it, the crew chief spoke into the radio, “We cant kept this bird down here, not enough bloody space, and if we hover here, we’ll end up down there with you.”

Meanwhile Groundhog Two circled above firing its guns and searching for another clearing towards the South.

OOC: Thanks, Kahtan. I must've missed somehow. Hoiwever, I'll wait for the NLA to reply to the last post to add anything new. To respond to the Kahtani chopper, I'll edit my last post in a minute. TYVMS! :D

Near Shwebo

Five minutes later, Groundhog Two had found a small but adequate clearing just to the West where there seemed to be no enemy troops.
The pilot then made the call and the chopper swung low over the canopy and with careful manouvering with the aid of NVGs the chopper was hovering just thirty feet from the ground.

Inside the passnger cabin, Kahtani soldiers were preapring to fast rope downswards, they flicked off the safeties on their G36 rifles and on the orders of the crew chief, all sixteen of them jumped out one by one before spreading out on the ground and got behind cover, preparing to defend the clearing.

"Thirtycaliber soldiers, we have located an new LZ about a click West, can you get there, over?"

Meanwhiel GroundHog one was crcling higher above the trees providing fire support but at teh same time avoiding small arms fire themselves.

anyone still around? sorry I had to go away but im back now!

OOC: Yep! I'll be gone for about a week stating the day after tomorrow, but we've mostly been waiting for you.

Artitsa council members had brought up the fact, that after promising assistance to the Nimbata government, none was given. In a recently vote in parliment, It has beend decieded that 2 Helicopter Assault Carriers escorted by 4 Oladsky Cruisers and 8 Lutjen's destroyers, will make their way to Nimbatan waters.

hehe... yep, still around :D

Nimbata, while Ferr's away, I'd recomend you read up on his little spat with Fyreheart. It's good stuff :P

Me back.

Let's give this thing a kick in the pants.

(Sorry, can't post ICly now, and may not be able to tomorrow morning. I'll do it ASAP, though)

Im Back!, Internet Connection Restored, sorry guys but im here, now so lets get this show on the road!

Woot!

Now to see if the others are still around... *hopes Thirtycaliber finds the thread again*

This is an interesting schism. Unofficially I support the armies of the
proletariat. Officially, however, we are neutral. Humanitarian aid will be given to both sides.

Bump

After several weeks voyage the small Artitsan group arrived in Nimbatan waters, awaiting directions from the Government as to where they could help. 12,000 soldiers had been brought along in the Assault Carriers and two Ivan Roganov transports. The four Oladsky cruisers set up a perimeter around the transports and carriers, whilst Lutjens destroyers patrolled between ships.

Our government s always interested in fighting communism and would be willing to give support.

After several weeks voyage the small Artitsan group arrived in Nimbatan waters, awaiting directions from the Government as to where they could help. 12,000 soldiers had been brought along in the Assault Carriers and two Ivan Roganov transports. The four Oladsky cruisers set up a perimeter around the transports and carriers, whilst Lutjens destroyers patrolled between ships.

Thank yuo for your assistance, Ferussia is goign to do a summary and then we'll start again.

My sincerest apologies about not getting that summary done yet... it's going to be hard for me for the next week - three major school projects, a quiz every day in math followed by a test at the end of the week, 45 senior ads to make for the yearbook in the next 5 days, a book to read for english, an editorial to write for newspaper... The list goes on and on.

So sorry, but don't expect the summary to be done any time in the next week. A week from tomorrow is a more likely time, but to make up for it, the summary will be very detailed and impressive. :P

Again, sorry. :? *hates school*