NationStates Jolt Archive

(Bear in mind before you read- I had one small meal today, and half a bottle of vodka, and I'm still going as I write this...I can't remember if it was ready to post, or if I wanted to wait until tomorrow..take concerns to the ooc thread!)

Let the paper tigers know; they have awakened a true wildcat in the Choson People’s Republic.
-Comrade Hotan, Secretary of the Communist Party.

OOC (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=140522) thread

The confusing world of Part I (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=138968&start=0)

As it should have been to begin with (for practicality’s sake; I still don’t mean to offend anyone!) this will now be an invite only RP- anyone may visit the OOC thread and post there with thoughts or interest in joining.
________________________

The CPRD finds itself isolated. Beijing may not oppose the forcible reunification, but Dra-pol’s northern neighbour is sure to face international pressure to withhold aid and access granted to the “hermit kingdom” during the last major Drapoel conflict, known as the Crusader War. The naval blockade enforced then was circumvented when the PR China allowed nations such as Beth Gellert and the African Commonwealth to ship aid to DaKhiem over land.

Spyrians have become amongst the first diplomats to be accepted into the Drapoel interior since a Quinntonian mission cumulated in the Three Day War (AKA Kurosian’s Rage) and eventually the massive and brutal Crusader War in which more than three million men and women perished. The Spyr nationals may be the first outsiders in centuries or even millennia to glimpse the Forbidden City of Paegam. They are all but alone since Kilean missile strikes against Kosong brought about the final sealing of that so called Open City. North Yaman has, perhaps because of its proximity, taken some interest in the crisis, acting as another voice of some moderation as hot heads take a reactionary line.

While Kilean, Hudecia, Lunatic Retard Robots and an old enemy, Promise of Joshua deploy forces to South Korea in defence of the reeling ROK, other nations have taken steps to resist DaKhiem’s forcible unification plan. _Taiwan and Quinntonia are essentially undeclared opponents to Drapoel expansion, with the latter fearing the artillery-led reduction of its vast Korean city-state colony of Hamhung and Hungnam, and the former aware of DaKhiem’s menacing missile tests.

This ramshackle coalition works now to secure the ROK’s Southeast against a communist advance sped by years of planning, extensive tunnels, hostage taking on a grand city-wide scale, and massive numerical superiority. The Drapoel People’s Army has crossed the east-west stretch of the Naktong and driven far down South Korea’s west coast. Now the wall of humanity approaches the Naktong’s north-south stretch from the west while thundering south through Kyongsang-Bukto towards Daegu and its ever strengthening defenders.

They’ve seemed unstoppable, but the People’s Army’s five million plus soldiers in the ROK increasingly find themselves wanting for support as fuel shortages and coalition bombing and missile strikes take a toll. In the Choson People’s Republic and the northern ROK the PA became accustomed to massive AAA and SAM coverage, artillery backing, easily defensible terrain, underground railway links, close air support, and clear intelligence. These things are now beginning to fade into the advance’s wake as DaKhiem and the coalition prepares for a new showdown in uncertain territory.

_____________

On the Daejon-Daegu road an allied division beats a fighting retreat in an effort to buy time for the consolidation of the Southeast, but the People’s Army is attempting to bypass and isolate the unit by virtue of its vast numbers. Not far back, at Daegu, lies a ROKA division likely to be involved as the People’s Army attempts to cross the north-south stretch of the Naktong.

Gumi is likely to become part of the front line at any moment as the broad sweeping People’s Army’s advance attempts to breech the river.

To the north some 20,000 Hudecians seem in real danger of encirclement at Andong, as the People’s Army has already passed the river at several points away from the city.

Much surviving ROKA strength is involved in counter-insurgency patrol of the Southeast against further Red Bamboo and Banat infiltration. Other South Koreans, with Kilean and Quinntonian backing, are engaged in vicious partisan actions behind Drapoel lines, seeking out the little trod paths now used by the off-roading People’s Army that prove difficult to pin down and disable by conventional means. Ambushes, sniper duels, bombings, revenge executions, sabotage, and massive hunts occur across occupied soil, but Drapoel influence is reinforced by the hour and local resources sapped.
Busan is central to growing anti-Drapoel efforts with multiple nations deploying troops and aircraft. The People’s Army Air Force meanwhile has begun to re-deploy large numbers of aircraft, SAMs, AAA, anti-shipping missiles to occupied bases in the ROK, many of which were captured intact by Red Bamboo and Banat commandos in the first day of the war.

Off all sides of the Korean peninsula allied forces attempt to enforce a naval blockade, but Drapoel anti-shipping missiles on the coast keep them back more than a hundred kilometres, and with the capture of ROK airbases the PAAF’s operational potential grows to accommodate its ten thousand combat aircraft.

Even as the PA forces are crossing the bridges into the southeastern corner of Korea, Hudecian engineers, knowing that such an action was not only likely but to be attempted, blow up the bridges with C4.

Thousands of PA forces were marching or driving across the Hwang river. In the bushes less than a kilometer away, Hudecian marines laid in wait. Remote detonators triggered the explosions, sending metal and humans flying.

There was nothing that could be done about the pre-fab bridges that the Drapol troops had brought. Air strikes could be called in but not before thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of troops crossed.

-Hudecian HQ- Ulsan-

"So it has finally begun." General O'Neil sat by the interactive battle screen that had been set up. "We still have 40 000 troops in reserve right?"

"Yes sir, but only lightly armed troops." Major Anderson replied.

O'Neil paused, he hated commiting his reserve, but under the circumstances...

"Send them up the road to cut off the Drapol advance. Send the latest intel to the troops in Andong. Tell them to hold on just yet. But keep a way to the sea open... if necessary we'll pull them out... but not yet."

-Ulsan Airport-

Lt. Rangan climbed into his Arrow II and received his orders. -Drapol troops breaching Hwang, destroy all crossings, no exceptions. Wingman's targets will be roads.-

He crumpled the paper and threw it away before climbing into his fighter and taking off. Something told him that things had just taken a turn for the worse.

-Yellow Sea-

Admiral Smetka, only vaguely aware of the growing dilemma on the peninsula was putting into action the second phase of Operation Thirst.

From the flight decks of the Hudecian carriers 600 fighters were launched into action.

Primarily they would be bombing supply convoys heading south between Seoul and Daejeon.

Secondarily they were to engage the PAAF and destroy any airfields.

It was hoped that by achieving the first they would draw out the PAAF from their airfields, and in the 'big wing' formation, easily destoy any isolated attempt to stop them.

Jochaim hadn't slept in three days. The mountain divison had been retreating from Daejon for over a week, bleeding the Dra-Pol with local counterattacks. He lived in a half-trance of violence and death with little food and no sleep.

But for some reason, they kept fighting. For some reason, the Dra-Pol kept coming. The rearguard of the division had just got across the river right before the Heudecians had blown it. It was a good thing, too-the Dra-Pol were within sight, columns of men moving like a brownish-green snake out of the mountains.

Jochaim shook his head. This was not good. Or maybe it was- they weren't marching anymore. He sipped his Dr.Pepper, and was a good deal into cleaning his G-21 when he snapped. It all cracked, the death, the fighting, all of it. He started giggling. Laughing insanely.

Bleary-eyed, the squad machinegunner looked at him.

"What's so goddamn funny?"

Jochaim wiped tears away from his eyes. "We're dug in at a goddamn McDonalds."

The other soldier looked at him blankly.

"I just realized that these freakin' Koreans just gave me a 'rarge' Dr.Pepper." Jochaim went back to laughing.

It was catharsis for him. He laughed, and for the moment, he wasn't thinking about tomorrow.
_____________________________________________________________

The Kilean mountain division- about 15,000 men (well, less the casualties suffered in the past week, which have not been light) are digging in along with the Heudecians in Gumi. Seeing that a significant attempt to stop the Dra-Pol is actually going to happen, General Lee is sending one of his divisions to Gumi. The other surviving ROK division (a provisional unit) is going to remain in Daegu and create fallback positions.

A ragged Kilean mountain division and a ROK infantry division (25,000 men along with some 200 odd Type 88 tanks and 70 M-109 SPG's) are joining the Heudecians in what will probably soon become the battle of Gumi.
_____________________________________________________________

The first flights of Arrow II's in the air screamed over Pusan AFB. On the runway, yet more allied planes taxied into position.

Viper felt the engine of his falkon surge. Viper (everybody called him by his callsign) sqinted into the early morning sun. Dawn was casting the whole airfield in a bright, almost mystical look. He gritted his chiseled muscular jaw.

(<OOC: Insert kenny loggins 80's power rock song<OOC>)

He slammed the throttle forwards, and the jet seemed to leap off the ground.

Time to kick some ass.
_____________________________________________________________

In co-ordination with the Heudecians, the Kilean Air Force launches a major offensive aimed at weakening the PA
AF in the skies over southern Korea. While Falkon squadrons close with enemy ground attack fighters, The Raven's attack their interceptors from long range. Managed from AWAC's craft over the tsushima straights, the KAF fights using it's new "dynamic swarm" doctrine, in which squadrons fight a non-linear battle, using superior communications and dynamic overall strategy to attack the poorly-trained, tactically rigid PAAF.

This is the first major effort on the part of the KAF. The pilots are sick of pinprick raids and inconclusive skirmishes. Hundreds of Kilean fighters are taking to the skies, and this time, they're out for blood.

Over 250 top-line fighters- Falkons and Ravens- have taken to the skies.

In addition, all the Kilean Army Air Corps planes in Korea, made safe(er) by the surge of allied air power, begin to operate against the Dra-Pol forces north of Gumi.

About 300 jets- a mix of jaguar strike jets, prop-driven Condor antitank aircraft, Wild Weasel A-4's, and strike configured Falkons- all of them totally integrated with Kilean ground forces- are dispatched. The plan calls for about 2,000 combat sorties a day to be flown against the Dra-Pol armies.

Of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy, but the fact that high command called for that level of operational tempo reveals just how much they expect to get done.
_____________________________________________________________

Under the cover of this massive combined air offensve, the Donner heavy bombers return. With Kilean fighters supressing the PAAF, they come over the sea of japan unmolested. Due to damage from the last raid, only some 48-odd bombers can make it, but this still means about a hundred-odd Longbow heavy cruise missiles come down on major concentrations of Dra-Pol troops in south korea.
_____________________________________________________________

In the confusion of the air offensive, the two "gryphon" squadrons take off from Jeju-do. Along with 24 "visgoth" bombers (something like B-1 made specifically for low-altitude air defense penetration) they form up over the yellow sea.

In front of them flies a squadron of twelve "basilisk" ECM jets. Based off of the Gryphon, they volley antiradar missiles at the Dra-Pol SAM radars before filling the sky around the northwest ROK with screeching elecronic static. (years later, ecologists will notice a spike in bird cancer rates that happened around this time. In addition, a non-hardned iPod one of the bomber crews carries has it's HD wiped from the sheer level of ECM the Basilisks put out).

The Gryphons and Visgoths streak forwards, going over mach 2 at just above sea level. The skies above occupied Inchon fill with AAA fire as the Kilean bombers scream in behind a wall of Basilisk-dropped flares. They carry full bombloads, and aim to hit concentrations of Dra-Pol reserve troops and supplies in the Inchon/Seoul area as part of the larger air offensive against Dra-Pol.

Sea of Japan
A PRS Sohee class destroyer moves into international waters in the Sea of Japan just off Dra-pol, and holds station sweeping actively with sonar and radar.

Its purpose is to recieve coded broadcasts from the Spyran diplomats in Dra-pol if/when they have a chance to communicate. The risk of 'allies' tracing directed communications in order to target their ordnance could not be dismissed, and so a more indiscriminate, and less traceable, encrypted transmission method was being used to assuage the potential fears of the Drapoel, and the Spyran diplomats themselves.

Paegam

Ambassador Etoro looked around, soaking in the ancient beauty of the city. Her entourage followed close behind... simply a cameraman filming everything around them, and a communications tech bearing the suitcase containing their transmitter. The Spyran government had wanted to keep the delegation small... the goal, after all, was simply to fathom the thinking of the Drapoel, to see if there was hope for a diplomatic settlement and subsequent end to policies of isolation. And, few had been willing to take the risk of travelling to an unpredictable regime while shells flew all around. Hopefully, Etoro would be enough.

Zhang had made his decision. He was going to help the South Koreans against the 'cheeky commies', whom had killed much of his family during the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Even if it went behind the President's back.

________________________

From a base in the Matsu islands, a dozen GlobalHawk UAVs are launched, headed to the Dra-pol Korean border on a supposed 'training run'.

-Yeongdeok-

Hudecian marines based out of Pohang moved up to this town to prevent the northern corps from being cut off.

-Cheongsong-

Troops from the northernmost corps based in Andong begin defending this town, preparing for a rapid escape to the coast if necessary.

-Ulsan-

The 40 000 Hudecian reserve corps began moving out as fast as they could to the frontline... ideally they would take advantage of the chaos caused by the destruction of the bridges and reach the front line. Otherwise they would move into defensive positions. However, a decision needed to be made soon, before they reach Yeongcheon.

At the airport, the 600 Hudecian aircraft were flying regularly trying to disrupt the Drapol advance.

Transmission to the World

<Transmission to the world>
<Diplomatic Corp>
{Encryption 3857}

Uploading now

Uploading Complete


Garrison II at the moment is debating wheither or not to deploy the 4th, 7th, 12th fleets to the conflict and aid anti North Korean forces. Currently each fleet consists of around 50 ships.

{This has been a diplomatic service announcement}

End Message

http://www.gamespy.com/avatars/av/FN/fn650.gif
Lady Taylor
Lady of Garrison II
House of David
Lady of York

Transmission to the World

<Transmission to the world>
<Diplomatic Corp>
{Encryption 3857}

Uploading now

Uploading Complete


Garrison II at the moment is debating wheither or not to deploy the 4th, 7th, 12th fleets to the conflict and aid anti North Korean forces. Currently each fleet consists of around 50 ships.

{This has been a diplomatic service announcement}

End Message

http://www.gamespy.com/avatars/av/FN/fn650.gif
Lady Taylor
Lady of Garrison II
House of David
Lady of York


uuh...this is invite-only, and you should post in the OOC thread before doing anything here

Someone could've told me that before.... How come it didn't say invite only in the 1st thread either?

OOC: You could try reading the first part of the first post...

Sorry I'll shut up now.

Near Gumi:

The 2nd Brigade of the 56th Uhlans division watches as the Drapoel troops advance, trying to cross the river with light tanks.

Lt. Colonel Tourville watches through binoculars as the first few tanks try the water. His gunner watches the tanks through his thermal, rangefinding, all-around very good gunsight.

"You may fire when ready!"

A 120mm round zooms out of the AMX-10RCT's cannon, headed for a Drapoel light tank.

Tourville puts down his binoculars and takes the RBS-56 BILL launcher on the turret. He aims for a tank with a group of troops behind it. The missile leaps out of the launcher with a bolt of fire, streaking towards its target. It sends a spike of molten metal down into the tank, and probably some of the infantry too.

The other AMX-10RCTs do likewise. Camoflauged on their side of the river, the 29 wheeled tanks open up on the Drapoel troops as they near the river.

On the sides of the tank positions, the paratroops themselves begin to open up.

12.7mm rounds tear through foliage, headed towards the soldiers of the People's Army.

Captain Taylor opens up with his L1A1, followed by the rest of his troops. They attempt to hold back the Drapoel advance until reinforcements can arrive.

North of Pusan, the 1st AEF sloshes onto shore. The port being too crowded, the armored force lands directly onto the shore. LCUs and LCMs first deposit 200 of the big, powerful MBT-5Bs. The engineer's vehicles are called upon to drag more than one out of the surf. The 1st AEF, the first AEF to be re-equipped with SEPs, deploys 700 of the excellent APCs. About 1 out of 10 are turreted, but most are equipped with an M2 and a missile launcher. They carry a total of 7,000 troops inside themselves. Behind them comes a group of G6 wheeled howitzers, and behind them a large force of trucks.

The 1st AEF is the picture of efficency, getting off the landing craft and onto roads headed inland very quickly. However, they do not move far inland. In the end, it is decided that the 2nd AEF will rush up to Gumi area, and the 1st AEF would drive up to Yeongdeok.

At the 2nd AEF's positions, infantrymen pile into trucks and APCs, after hastily dismantling their mortars and MGs. The tanks back out of their positions and begin the drive towards Gumi.

The 1st AEF's unit commanders get their columns moving. The Heavy tanks lead the column up the road. The SEPs and trucks follow, some of the SEPs equipped with AAA and SAM batteries. Why they did not just land on Yeongcheon, they did not know. Bad planning. At least they would help hold the line. On the coast, the 1st AEF's naval support advances up the coast with their troops. An Iowa moves along with them, ready to lend its 16 inch guns to the fray.

Ah well.

From the carriers, a strike group assembles. The 50 remaining Jaguars all take off, escorted by 30 MiG-29KIs.

They fly towards the Gumi battle area, and contact the FAC.

"This is snapdragon flight calling FAC. Repeat, snapdragon flight calling FAC."

Battle Fleet Peiper arrives off Pusan:

14 CVNs: Judah, Reuben, Midian, Simeon, Nathan, Asher, Levi, Solomon, Jehu, Jericho, Elisha, Elijah, Rahab, Jordan
*standard aircraft compliment includes squadrons of F14d and RF-11d Raysian Archangel aircraft plus SH-60 Seahawk ASW helocopters, S-3B multi-purpose Vikings, E-2C AWACS Hawkeyes and EA-6B EW Prowlers. **
45 Ticonderoga Class CGs
60 Arleigh Burke Class DDGs
8 Spruance Class DDs
26 OH Perry FFGs
7 AOE Fleet Resupply vessels
8 As-39 Sub tenders
2 MHC-51 Osprey Minesweepers

20 Seawolf Class SSN attack subs *submerged on outer listening stations*

The following landing force begins debarking with the Pusan perimeter from 50 T-AKR/LMSR Watson (Bob Hope) class transports and 2 Rt-S10 ALCTs(specs to follow in additional post):

11th Lite Armored Corps (from Dibujante theatre)
11th Armored Div(20,000men 400 m1a2 Abrams 500 Bradleys)
13th Mechanized Div(20,000men, 250 M1a2 Abrams 600 Bradleys)

3rd Armored Corps:
12th and 16th Armored Divisions (20,000men 400 m1a2 Abrams 500 Bradleys each)
3rd Mechanized Div (20,000men, 250 M1a2 Abrams 600 Bradleys)

9th Armored Corps:
8th and 9th Armored Divisions (20,000men 400 m1a2 Abrams 500 Bradleys each)
6th Mechanized Division(20,000men, 250 M1a2 Abrams 600 Bradleys)

4th and 5th Seabee Regiments(3,000men each plus equipment)

Offloading from 12 Wasp Class LHAs and 12 San Antonio Class LPDs and 1 Rt-S10 ALCT:

1st and 2nd Marine Divisions (20,000men plus 330 MAFV-1 Borden Medium Battle Tanks each) The majority of the tanks are flame equipped and the squad weapons are M249s and extended range flamethrowers(one each per squad plus M16s etc).
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Details on the Borden.

Vehicle MAFV-1 Borden Quantity: (55 each for Marine Regiments)
Crew 4 (Driver, Gunner, Commander, Loader)
Length 6.45 Meters
Width 2.72 Meters
Height 2.13 Meters
Weight 30 Metric Tonnes
Speed
Road 78 kph
Combat 57 kph
Range 300 miles
Engine
1 x General Motors DRV-9a Water-cooled 4 cycle diesel
Armament
1 x Viking Military Technologies 130mm 1st Generation Electro-Thermal-Chemical Cannon
1 x Saco Defense Industries Mk 19 Grenade Machine Gun
1 x Fabrique National M240G 7.62 x 51mm Machine Gun
1 x Hughes EX34 25mm Chain Gun
1 x Laser Target Designator
2 x Four-Tube Thunderbolt IR/Laser-Guided ATGM Launchers
Ammunition
12 x ATG-1 Mjolnir ATGMs
30 x 130mm ETC Rounds
1,000 x 7.62mm NATO
800 x .50 BMG
Defensive Systems
Layered Ceramic/Composite Alloy Armour with 3rd Gen ERA on forward surfaces and on turret.
Laser/Infrared/Microwave Threat Receptors
Charybdis MkI Laser/Infrared/Microwave Countermeasures Suite
Triphammer Active Intercept System
Kevlar Mine Matt integral to crew deck
Fully NBC-Rated Life Support System
Life Support rated for operation to -48 degrees C
15-Canister Smoke Grenade System
Anti-Spall Coating on all surfaces
Engine mounted forward of driver for enhanced crew survivability
Optics/Sensors
Low-Light Systems for the entire crew
Turret-Mounted IR Sight for both Gunner and Commander
Full Telescopic Magnification on both Natural- and Low-Light systems
Low Probability of Intercept (LPI) Millimeter Wave Radar Set
Computer-Aided Target Recognition system
Communications
Real-Time Command, Control, and Communications (RTC3) Data Link
- GPS Moving Map w' position and status of connected RTC3 units
- Connected to Auto-Diagnostic system for transmission of unit status
- Zip-Squeal Text/Data Transmission Capable
Universal Adaptor Port for Wire Communications
Hardwired Intercom System
High-Frequency Encrypted Radio
Other Systems
Automated Diagnostic System
Enhanced Fire Control System
Unit Cost $6.1M
Prime Contractor Kotterdam Motor Corporation

Notes

While the MBT-3A1 was designed for sheer firepower, the MAFV-1 has been designed from the ground up for portability. MAFV stands for Medium Armoured Fighting Vehicle. It is a tough, agile weapons platform capable of packing a punch while not being too heavy to deploy in a hurry. The MAFV-1 was designed to meet the following requirements: Its dimensions and weight must be such that one can be transported aboard a C-130, two aboard an LCAC or a C-17, and four aboard a C-5 Galaxy. The last mobility requirement can indeed be reached, but requires that the vehicles be loaded on pallets, as they are just barely narrow enough to fit two abreast.

Weaponry:

Although designed to be less than half the weight and marginally smaller, the MAFV-1 doesn't skimp overly much on firepower relative to the MBT-3A1. In fact, it mounts the same 130mm ETC cannon, maintaining a kill-range of five kilometers, with an accurate range of seven kilometers. Like the weapon on the MBT-3A1, it is more than capable of firing HEAT, AP Canister, HE-FRAG, APFSDS-T, and the 130mm ETC version of the RAKE-T, as well as the newly designed Smart Top Attack Kinetic Energy, or STAKE round. On top of all that, it can fire the new ATG-1 Mjolnir anti-tank missile from the barrel.

For anti-materiel applications, the MAFV-1 carries a 25mm cannon by Hughes mounted coaxially to the main gun, as well as a Mk. 19 Grenade Machine Gun from Saco Industries as the commander's weapon mounted in an armoured cupola to grant him a measure of protection while firing it. The loader's weapon, a M240G machine gun by Fabrique National in the 7.62mm NATO, is designed to be quickly unshipped in case of the destruction of the tank to provide extra firepower for the crew.

Two four-tube Thunderbolt missile pods are mounted, one on either side of the turret to grant further anti-armour firepower above and beyond that already supplied by the main gun. In case of critical damage to the pods, or the expenditure of their rockets, both pods are entirely disposable, and may be ejected.

Defensive Measures:

The MAFV-1 mounts a quantity of layered ceramic/composite armour sufficient to defeat up to a 120mm cannon shot within its kill range even without the ERA mounted on the forward surfaces and the turret. No armour is impregnable, though, and a point blank HEAT or APFSDS-T shot still stands a good chance of killing the tank.

Rather than relying entirely on its potent armour, the MAFV-1 also mounts the new Triphammer Active Intercept System, and a full suite of laser, microwave, and IR threat receptors and countermeasures. Also, the forward-mounted diesel engine provides a measure of protection for the crew in the case of a penetrating hit, as well as being well-insulated against heat, and exceptionally well-muffled to decrease engine noise. The composition of the aerosol "Smoke" grenades has been changed so that the cloud not only blocks line of sight visually, but it obscures infrared devices. While the enemy will certainly know that there is a tank somewhere in that cloud of smoke, it lowers the probability of a hit when they are forced to fire blind. As always with KMC-designed vehicles, the MAFV-1 is equipped with a full NBC-rated life support system to protect its crew from environmental hazards.

Fire Control:

The fire control system on the MAFV-1 is based largely on the one currently employed on the MBT-3A1, allowing it to track, target, and engage multiple moving targets, even fast moving ones such as helicopters. This can be done in defilade, on the move, at rest, and even while swimming. The targeting computer is linked into a sophisticated analysis system with an adaptive database that will even suggest an aimpoint and round type based on the past observed performance of similar targets in combat situations. Equipped with a so-called AI similar to that in some of the more sophisticated computer games, the analyzer will actually learn the weaknesses of a specific type of target given enough exposure and is, of course, pre-programmed with the known weaknesses of many standard targets.
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Battleship Group. Taking up offshore firing positions to support the perimeter and approaches to same

Battleships Padre and Raider
2 Padre(Yamato) Class Battleships (AEGIS) First turret forward of superstructure removed along with most secondary and AA guns and replaced with some modern tech. Superstructure modified to resemble Ticongeroga Class crusier(on a much larger scale) "Padre" and "Raider"

Speed:30 knots
Crew:2500
6 18' Guns in two turrets 1 forward, 1 aft
16 5' Guns in 8 twin turrets
8 20mm Phalanx CIWS AA systems
40 Tomahawks TASM/TALM Cruise missiles in 10 quad launchers
20 Harpoon missiles in 5 quad launchers
Mk 7 AEGIS system with 2 MK 41 VLS systems installed where old turret was.

escorts:

6 Ticonderoga CGs
8 Arleigh Burke DDGs
1 AOE Fleet Supply vessel
1 MHC Minesweeper
2 Seawolf Class SSNs

Blockade Group

36 Kilo Desiel Attack Subs taking up station with orders to practice unrestricted submarine warfare against non allied vessels and/or blockade runners

18 Oscar II Missile SSGNs and 6 Virginia Class SSNs deployed outside blockade line off Pusan and submerged (Senior Capt Zuriach commanding)

The Typhoon II SSBN Agamemnon and OHIO class SSBN Benjamin

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

Leaving Netayana for Kilean

The CVN Joshua, CV Caleb, and the Iowa (AEGIS) Battleship "Jericho City" with

10 Ticongeroga CGs
12 Arleigh Burke DDGs
8 Spruance class DDs
32 OHPerry FFGs
2 AOE Fleet Supply ships
2 MHC-51 Minesweepers
1 AS-39 Sub Tender
6 Virginia Class SSNs
48 T-AKR LMSR Watson class transports (empty)
2 RT-S10 Amphibeous Landing Craft Transports (specs below, also empty)
12 Tarawa LHA and 12 Austin LPDs(empty)

RT-s10 Specs
The Ferrussian Coalition of Defense Agencies (FCDA) recently announced the launch of a radical new sea transport: the RT-S10. The colossal ship is a platform for any major sea-based invasion, with an integrated LCAC (hovercraft) deployment and recovery system and a maximum capacity of 2,176 M1A1 Abrams tanks*.

The transport holds up to 60 LCAC hovercrafts (sold with the transport) and the 4 elevators can altogether lower 20 hovercrafts every 10 minutes. With 16 decks for tank/personell/truck transport, and another 2 for hovercraft storage, the space limitations are few. With space in the back for fuel and food (see schematic below), the transport is largely self-sustaining, at least for short periods of time. Additional supplies are recommended for any extended voyage, as is heavy escort.

The transport is armored quite substantially, as the capacity means that losing just one transport could be potentially devastating. It is equipped with a helipad, RO/RO ramps in the front for faster loading/unloading of tanks when at a major port, and quarters for the hovercraft and tank/truck crews. Loading and unloading MUST take place in relatively calm waters.

The ships are being produced as quickly as possible, but it takes quite some time to complete a single vessel. With the included 60 LCAC hovercrafts, an RT-S10 transport costs $6 billion.

Ship Schematic (IMPORTANT)

COST: $6 BILLION

SPECIFICATIONS
Length: 712 ft.
Beam: 273 ft.
Weight (empty): 73,345 LT
Propulsion: Slow speed diesel engines
Screws: 4
Waterline (at recommended max. cargo): 50 ft.
Crew Compliment: 182

Speed
Cruising (empty): 16.2 knots
Cruising (near-full): 13.9 knots
Max. (empty): 16.85 knots
Max. (near-full): 14.4 knots

Capacity
Recommended max. cargo: 197,320 LT / 220,998.5 tons
Overload max. cargo: 305,586 LT / 342,256.5 tons
Area per cargo deck (90%): 63,099 sq. ft.
Area per cargo deck (max.): 70,110 sq. ft.
Cargo decks: 16



ooc note: I figured out that an LHA/LPD combo would hold about 3,000 or so Marines and that 6 Watson class LMSRs would hold a full division of my Army (20,000men) I got the info used in those calculations from the globalsecurity.org site. I use the RT-S10s for equipment for my divisions.

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In the skies above the ROK aboard a U2

We've been told to transmit real time information about troops movements we can detect. We may not be of real help except looking for things behiind known enemy lines as we don't want to transmit firing info on our allies

Yeah, we should be able to pick up supply columns or groups of aircraft fueling and/or heading to launch points as well

OOC: although this is all really interesting POJ ... shouldn't it be in the OOC thread so we don't get this thread all confused?

ooc: its there. I'll add to it there as the numbers change and post updates of significance(sp) seperately. I have a question I'm going to add to that thread (ooc one) as well.

TAG

OOC: Are we offcially restarting this RP?

The People's Army's advance had lost some of its spectacular momentum as many of its initial benefits became none entities. No underground trains brought up fresh infantry this far south- everyone had marched hard over miles of rough and often contested terrain. The constant state of alert caused by South Korean, Quinntonian, and other partisan-type units added to fatigue amongst those troops cursed by metabolisms that should have liked more than a handfull of rice and a strip of dried fish or slice of Drapoel bread each day. Still, many recruits were speculating over a good duck season back home- there'd be real meat, and even pate for this bread, by next week, surely!

Near Andong

Up here, support was still relatively good. The nearest tunnels stopped just a few miles to the west and northwest, so even where tanks hadn't yet driven through, many of the men were at least fairly little-travelled by their own power. Most had eaten a reasonable sized meal, if not in great comfort, while on their way down, and the forward units hadn't yet been heavily engaged- they were actually ahead of serious partisan resistance encountered by units that'd come above ground, breached minefields with their feet, and stormed into retreating ROKA formations as they broke for the southeast.
That said, most officers were under the impression that they'd still some miles to go before meeting serious opposition- they'd correctly believed the river to have been crossed, but many mistakenly supposed that to mean that the enemy was still retreating. Andong was there for the taking, it seemed. But of course thousands of Hudecian troops were still concentrated in the area, which proved quite a shock for the light infantry, many of whom would attempt to cross the river near Andong by existing bridges and by unusual folding ladder-like footbridges that they impressively carried by hand.

Of course they quickly realised the former option to be off the cards when bridges started to be blown. For hours and hours the light infantry arrived mainly by tunnels and aircraft would persist in attempts to bridge the river wherever it was deemed narrow, shallow, or slow enough for their rickety little devices. They had only rifles, light machineguns, RPGs, knee-mortars, and QW-2 shoulder-launched SAMs to protect them against whatever the Hudecians threw. This far north, though, aircover was increasing as ROK airfields became operational in PAAF hands, and the bulk of the PA's near fifty-thousand deployed armoured vehicles drew ever closer.


In the skies to the west

The Hudecian decision to fly a massive formation of aircraft to at once attack supply lanes near the west coast and to engage fighters might have reminded Kurosian I of whatever month he spent studying the Battle of Britain, but then he was dead and few Drapoel had heard of the event.

The Yellow Sea had once been closed to any shipping that didn't appeal to DaKhiem's latest whim, and it stung to see it used as a staging ground for attacks on the revolution. Moving anti-shipping missiles to the South Korean west coast had been a priority, and it was by now becoming seriously dangerous to place anything within 130km of that shore. Still, that didn't stop fighters. Certainly SAM batteries heavily concentrated from the border to past Suwon and Osan presented a threat, but they were not about to take down six hundred aircraft at once. With so many hostile aircraft about, the CS-400 system near the border was pulled down into its hangar- it might take down a whole squadron, but it'd never survive counter-fire from so many aircraft, otherwise.

Hotan had a plan, of course. With airfields at Suwon, Osan, and elsewhere in the area added to the middling effort at Haeju and countless tiny strips near the border the Secretary deemed the massive attack over land the proper time for a gamble. As the big wing looked likely to menace captured ROK airbases absolutely everying available would be fired against it. Dozens of HQ-2B and SA-3/S-125, and hundreds of IR-guided DRAR-1 protected the airbases and the approach to them, while attacks on supply lines went relatively uncontested. The CPRD deemed the airbases of current importance and was willing to leave its forward units to their own devices in order to concentrate fire in their (the air bases') defence. Even many of the artillery guns brought in to fight on the ground were pressed into use as primative AAA, along with hundreds of better suited guns. Fighter opposition was minimal, and most of the few aircraft sent up against the attackers were not expected to return. It was clear that even in the area to be defended -the northwest- the CPRD had picked and chosen about where to concentrate defences. Radar was widespread, and much suffered in Kilean ECM strikes which were resisted frantically by SAM fire, but weapons really focused on little more than the airfields.

Hotan insisted that if this attack was to disable his captured airfields then it must cripple itself in the process. Where it attacked supply convoys and even concentrations of reserve troops in the north it was met with only shoulder-launched SAMs, D-ZSU-47-2 SPAAGs, and a handful of self-propelled DRAR-1 launchers. High-altitude bombing of columns would be little contested above 12,000m. It was clear that there'd be thousands of casualties.

So why was this?

Hotan had ordered an all out, sustained assault on hostile shipping in the Yellow Sea, concentrating on carriers, and secondarily on battleships and big supply vessels. Pilots were told to ignore fleet defence assets where there was any chance of hitting a bigger prize, even if it ment getting shot down in the process. Those big ships were here to bombard Drapoel homes and must be stopped!

KJ-1 attack fighters, SU-17D fighter bombers, J-10 multi-role fighters all streamed out to sea at super sonic speeds. The South Korean airfields were to be empty by the time Hudecian aircraft arrived to a hail of SAM and AAA fire. Fields in the CPRD would keep up a steady stream of smaller wings until... well, until DaKhiem ordered otherwise. The supply tunnels under the Republic had never worked so hard.

Qian Wei anti-shipping missiles were carried two to an attack plane, and could be launched at 130km, DSJ-1 carried likewise at up to 48km, bringing their carriers dangerously close to the enemy.

Still, it was hoped to surprise, overwhelm, and exhaust the enemy, hopefully deprived of much cover by the departure of 600 aircraft at once.

Though SU-15D and FC-1 were available to intercept the Hudecians, few were used so- most were sent to cover the attack on enemy shipping in the Yellow Sea- if any fighters were left, or the Hudecians returned, they'd at least get a fight from dedicated interceptors.

Scores of ASW helicopters too were sent out from tiny pads all around the west, hoping to root out at least some sign of enemy subsurface activity while the fleet was busy thinking about the massive assault by fixed-wing aircraft.


Southeast

Tens of miles from any tunnels, pushing the limits of fighter range even from captured airfields, and ahead of major armoured formations, heavy SAM batteries, or the masses of anti-shipping missiles being dispersed about northern ROK, the People's Army pressed on.

Little did they yet know, their worrying supply condition was about to get a lot worse as the west coast supply lines were assaulted and afforded almost no cover.

Kilean aircraft engaging Drapoel attack planes and their support find surprisingly slim pickings, not that this is likely to console the few PAAF assets that are around to be over-come by the sudden increase in opposition. Air support for the attack anywhere south of Andong quickly began to fall apart as advance units were left to wonder at the dissolution of their well planned and lightening fast drive. Requests for air support yeilded anywhere from nothing to a pair of KJ-1 or SU-15D that'd be pounced upon probably before they even arrived.

Here and there a helicopter showed up to loose unguided rockets, but a one off stike such as that hardly left the PA feeling vindicated when facing ROKA main battle tanks and prepared defences.

Near Gumi

This front constituted part of the offensive that was worst hit by the sudden increase in reactionary opposition to the People's Army. The advance units wanted air support as they flooded across the river, and very little was responding, with even less making it all the way to the front. Smoke in the distance incidated a recently downed Mi-8 helicopter, thought to have been hit by passing Kilean aircraft, and the next column along was even now engaging ground attack aircraft with QW-2 and light guns, and taking a beating in the process.

So support was currently poor, and the enemy was fighting back near-by. This was hardly Hamhung again, mused the Sub-Lt. as he watched the second of twelve Type D-19 light tanks in his section splash across the Naktong. A couple of bridging vehicles based on the same chassis were just appearing from behind a low rise with two SPAAG and four APC in tow when a shell rushed down from the opposite bank and clanged against the thin skin of the waterborne tank. For a split second nothing more seemed to happen, then smoke rose from a hatch newly flung open and the vehicle began rapidly to list in the water. In the same instant a second missle shot across the Sub-Lt.'s field of vision and gunfire erupted on both sides of the river. While screams rose from the first tank, the officer ordered men forward to call back the next two vehicles, which were already driving down into the water. The infantryman who responded by running forward and banging on the second tank and screaming for the driver to stop was dead seconds later as a warhead burst over the vechicle, stopping it for good.

The commander of the first tank, a young man on his first operation like many others in the unit, had almost managed to haul himself from the turret, having exposed himself to the waist when his machine finally rolled over in the water, dragging him and his widening eyes under.

After observing this, the Sub-Lt. finally realised that he was the only man still standing without cover. Everyone else was prone, behind this AV or that burning hulk, or giving rifle-fire from behind a rock, if they weren't already killed. The officer had one hand on his harnessed sub-machinegun, but he made no effort to engage the weapon as he turned quietly and stooped as he scurried behind a light tank that was attempting to train its 75mm gun on muzzleflashes as other vehicles around it caught fire or blew apart in the face of 120mm shelling.

The two dozen infantry mentioned as arriving by APCs perceived themselves joining an assault rather than turning up late to an ambush, and they wasted little time in pouring 7.7mm machinegun fire and 40mm knee-mortar grenades up at the opposite side of the river.

The SPAAGs hung back, hoping to remain out of the enemy's direct line of sight (though intelligence on precisely where enemy positions stopped and started was pretty much being made up as the unit went along), but the vehicle-launched bridges drove right on, hoping to lay their cargo over while the fire-fight raged on. Now-emptied APCs made some effort to screen them in this action by their own bulks.

Far far above, the POJ U-2 should normally have been an easy target, but with CS-400 retracted and HQ-2Bs in the area hopelessly engaged against a multi-national air offensive, it might just get away this time.

OOC: Dra-pol, what do my recon UAVs near North ROK see?

The evacuation of Hamhung is accelerating all the time, with Quinntonian and Quinntonian Dra-poel ships and planes of all kinds working over-time to pull out as many citisens as possible.
Also, massive amounts of naval units, planes and armies are massing on the northen Quinntonian Dra-poel island of Yung-Se.
Governor Bishop Gerald Westgaard IV is quick to publically re-assure everyone that this build-up is only for defense purposes and should not be taken as an offensive manouver.
But, the planes that are still constantly streaming into S. Korea with supplies and weapons.
Also, it should be noted that massive amounts of food, oil, wea[pons, and pretty much anything else that the Coalition members need are being supplied at Quinntonian expense to the war effort.
WWJD
Amen.

Meanwhile in a Ultra-maximum Security Complex underneath the Main Government Tabernacle in Quinntonia's capital, The City of Peace, a lone figure watches piped in but highly censored TV news reports about the escalating violence in and around his old homeland.
"Once I was at the pinnacle of power! But now I have been abandoned to these merciless Christian dogs."

Through the one-way glass, an almost cartoonishly large buzz-cutted man with a large crucifix tattoo on his cheek stares through eyes so cold that one can almost feel the blood that he has spilled opver the years. He raises the dossier in his hand, a hand that has assasinated kings, dictators, the prisoners' father even. "You have the teams in place? We have been working towards this for years now, I don't want anything to go wrong. "
The subordinate in front of the massive mountain of a man shuddered as the mans' eyes bored into him, "Yes, sir, and The Council is meeting tonight to decide whether to finally approve Operation: Zealot. But sir, is he smart enough to do us any good?"
The big, tattooed man almost grinned.... almost. Then he said," He is not stupid, our IQ tests can attest to that, but he is quite insane. Just smart enough to do some real damage and with a big enough dose of megolamania to keep him screwing things up at a feverish rate."
At this, the big man said, "make sure to get the Phase One plan ready, I don't want him to suspect anything."
WWJD
Amen.

-Yellow Sea-

"Sir, we have incoming boogies coming from the peninsula. Lots of them..."

"I expected as much... is our fighter umbrella still overhead?"

"Yes sir, the 150 fighters are still above us...."

150 fighters may not do that much against what the Drapol were throwing at them.. but it would do enough. And if they could count on some support from the Kilean, POJ and AA fleets then they would be all set.

"It seems we'll be able to test our new Maritime Meteor missiles... signal the fleet to prepare to be under attack. Also get on the hotline to all allied fleets, tell them we are under assault, and request assistance."

-Somewhere South of Seoul-

"I got this convoy... missile away!" A flight leader laughed as he pulled back on his stick.

"Good shot, flight leader! Confirmed kill..."

"This is too easy... where are the Drapol air cover? They should be out here by now.. we're creaming their supply lines and destroying their highways..."

"pffft...this is HN Loard ... under attack by Drapol aircraft... all fighters move to backup point A and await coded instructions..." The radio buzzed. The flight leader swore as he manouvred his jet to take positions between the fleet and the coast. They had been outsmarted on this round... but maybe they could still win this match....

-Andong-

"I'm running out of ammo!" The young sargeant yelled over his radio. He readjudted his SAW automatic and let loose another spray towards a group of advancing Drapol soldiers.

They had been holding their ground fairly well all things considered, but out of range down the Hwang river they could see Drapol troops trying to cross. Sometimes they were swept away by the current... other times Hudecian helos or fighters blew them away. But each time the Drapol just came back for more.

"That's it.. I'm almost gone.. we're falling back into the city... grab the wounded and lets get out of here!" The Sargeant provided cover fire while his squad retreated.

In the skies above Lt. Rangan was having his own problems...

"Close up formation! ..... Missile incoming!... Break right Jim!" The fiery remains of his wingman's Arrow II scattered over the river. Lt. Rangan swore as he swerved to avoid a shoulder launched anti-air missile.

"This is Lt. Rangan... under heavy attack by enemy aircraft... my wingman is dead... I've only got 2 more missiles and they are still crossing the river!"

"pfffft.... this is base command we have 6 squadrons coming on your location... ETA 2 minutes... break right and make a heading of S 30 W and they will intercept you..."

Lt. Rangan gunned his Arrow II in that direction, hitting his afterburners trying to outrun the enemy fighters. He reached speeds of over Mach 4 as he took his plane low to the ground. Hopefully those anti-air sites would be coming online any minute now in Andong.

Dra-Pol didn't have a lot of TV transmitters, but they did control south Korean ones, and the KBC station in occupied inchon had broadcast what was basically a loop of Dra-Pol troops dancing on the burning wreck of the Visgoth bomber, then dragging the pilots bodies out and throwing rocks at it.

Well, until a Kilean jet put a missile through the station- but that just seemed sort of petulant.

It turned out that the air defenses around Inchon/Soeul were a hell of a lot thicker than anybody thought. Ten of the bombers and thirteen of the gryphons sent in weren't coming back. Everybody hoped they died in the crashes- nobody wanted to fall into occupied Dra-Pol territory.

They got the Dra-Pol, yeah, but almost 50% loss rates wasn't what the KAF was all about, and wasn't something they could keep up. Runways were cratered and a lot of SAM radars were now craters, but it wasn't worth the cost.
_____________________________________________________________

The KAF pilots on their sweep are somewhat aggrivated. The tactical fighter wings found targets- but not as many as they thought. The Raven squadrons were for the most part loitering over Pusan.

Then they got word of the Dra-Pol antishipping strikes. The Falkons were low on fuel, their missiles spent, but the Raven's werent, and dozens of them turned twards the yellow sea. They were eager. A whole swarm of PAAF jets, and the KAF would catch them on the return! Low on fuel and heading back to base....

Most pilots ended up checking their cannon ammo. Four Talons and four sidewinders? Bah. The pilots all knew, in their fighter-jock minds, that they'd all make double ace in a day.

How justified their ego's were remained to be seen. As they crossed over water, the targeting radars went on...
_____________________________________________________________

Admiral Stotten was really really glad he was sitting on deck in the Tsushima straits right now. The Ostendt battlegroup had poked it's nose into the yellow sea and got a destroyer so messed up that it was still sitting in a kilean shipyard. The situation now? Not good. All kilean shipping- steering clear of the sea of japan and yellow sea to begin with- would now hug the coast of japan and apporach Pusan from the south.

Back in Kilean, the shipyards kick into high gear. The naval buildup, already on the books for a while, has been given top priority by the War Mobilization Athority.

Especially the "fleet air defense destroyer" project.
_____________________________________________________________

<OOC>: more on the ground combat later!<OOC>

-West of Seoul- Over Yellow Sea-

The Hudecian jets hastily trying to return to their carriers joined up with the Kilean jets.

Although they could not beat the Drapol jets to the fleet they could catch them on the way back and slaughter them. The 600 jets had been armed ready to take on other aircraft, and had only a few anti-convoy cluster bombs.

-Yellow Sea- Hudecian Naval group-

"Aircraft closing to within 100km sir, ... they're opening fire!" The radar operator said astonishingly.

"At 100 km? Check your equipment..." The XO was confused, none of the missiles they knew of could fire that far from a fighter.

"Yes sir, they indeed launched missiles at 100km..."

"Arm all anti-missile defence systems in the fleet. We have several minutes before they arrive. Make sure that the computers have computed their trajectory and shoot them down."

-Gumi-

Hudecian artillery pounds advancing Drapol units, while infantry dig in around the city.

-Andong-

After regrouping Drapol units push the badly outnumbered Hudecians into the city. The retreat gives the Hudecians time to reorganize and resupply their troops.

In the city, the more experienced Hudecian troops make Drapol pay for each inch of the city. Snipers and machine gun nests take their toll on the advancing Drapol troops, but slowly they secure the northern parts of the town. Casualties are heavy for the Hudecians with over 250 dead and 400 wounded. Air evac helicopters shuttle the wounded out to Pohang.

South of the city, Hudecian M1A2s and Bradley fighting vehicles face off against the Drapol troops trying to cross the river. Artillery, useless in the street battles of Andong, are used instead to pound potential river crossings for the Drapol army.

-Pohang-

The remaining groups of the II Army land bringing with them the heavy equipment for the entire army group.

As well... a third Air Defence Corps begins landing at Pohang airport.

High above S Korea aboard a U2

can they even see us? I doubt it. We do have quite a bit of shielding and tech to make us look harmless to most systems. Even though the transmit is through the satellite, get us out of here once we send the locations where those fighters, or at least most of them, came from. it Looked like everywhere but there are some major airfields and not just any strip of rice paddy can accomodate a high tech fighter when it wants to come home. the 'tale of the tape' will tell so to say. Our relief should be inbound anyway


Aboard the PJS CVN Judah off Pusan

"ATTENTION ON DECK"

Rear Admiral Peiper strode into the room as the ringing from his chief's announcement died away. The staff and assembled liason from the various commands remained standing.

So then, we are ready. Issue orders to the submarine commanders in accordance with directive #1. None of the subjects must return alive or functional. We have the coordinates and the cross information from the AWACS aloft here.

We must also support our allies before the sweep. Understood.

YES SIR!!

the room emptied quickly as most who had served with the Admiral knew he did not suffer fools or inaction as he found one to be the source of the other.

the noise of aircraft activity increased dramatically over the next couple of minutes as it seemed most aircraft on the carrier, and others, were launching.

Headed towards the Dra-pol yellow sea incursion against the Hucedia navy are 48 F14ds who are trying to engage the Dra-pol aircraft at a range of between 184-120km (115-74 miles) as the Phoenix missiles have a kill ratio of around 90% at 120km and outrange known Dra-pol airborne weapon systems. Each fighter carries 6 Phoenix missiles plus 2 Sea Sparrow missiles and a 20mm vulcan cannon (MK6a1a)
F14 Tomcat (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/f-14-specs.htm)
an E2c hawkeye AWACS accompanies for air to air oversight and control.

60 EA-6 Prowler EW aircraft head towards the combat zone over S korea with the looking for SAM sites and other AA installations. If lit up by SAM radar they will fire HARM High speed anti-radiation missiles to destroy it and activiate the ALQ-99 Tactical Jamming systems(TJS) to avoid being hit (hopefully)
Prowler (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/ea-6.htm)
Approximately 250 F14ds are following closely with 4 AWACS planes to engage any Dra-pol aircraft that appears and make the "you fly you die" rule a fact for Dra-pol flyers over the S Korea combat zone. This is an air suprememacy sweep.

300 RF-11d Archangels are following equipped with 4 MK-20 "Rockeye" cluster bombs for the advancing Dra-pol infantry and armor in the Gumi and Andong areas. they also carry a pari of Raysian QUAMM-28 air to air missiles just in case. They also each deploy 2 GBU-12(Paveway II laser guided 500lb) incendiary bombs at behind the known dra-pol battle lines.

following are 24 E3-b Viking multi purpose aircraft euqipped with harpoon missiles to launch at the nearest airfield targets identified earlier in this post.

Aboard the "Dina"; an SSGN Oscar II rising to launch depth

The commanders missile keys

thank you

inserting the key and cauing the launch systems to go "green"

LAUNCH AT TARGET PACKAGES PER CONFIRMED VLS TRANSMISSION.

very well.

12 SS-N-19 missiles launch from each of the 18 Oscar IIs deployed. 216 SS-N-19 (non nuke) missiles inbound at as many sources of the fighter launches as could be determined. (kinda hard to land high tech fighters on crumpled runways and dirt craters)

ooc: this is combined with the 24 air launched harpoons.

each surface escort vessel plus the two battleships launch one tomahawk each in as well in an effort at extreme redundancy to cause maximum havoc on the Dra-pol's ability to land its aircraft , launch in the future or conduct AA operations. 121 Tomahawks inbound

************PROMISE NEWS NETWORK**************

please standby for an annoucement from the Minister of Defence; Admiral Chamberlain. It is rumored he will be speaking on an acquisition from our old ally Quinntonia.

With POJ Marine Recon between Daegu and Gumi

Senior Lt. Ian Stryker just wasn't sure. His guide seemed to knew exactly where he was going and their other guides had helped map out possible routes of advance from Pusan to just about anywhere meaningful that wasn't currently under Dra-pol control. Unfortunetely that list seemed to be get smaller and smaller. Lt Styker just wished he had the recruiter that the guide, Koushou, kept taling about. Lt. Stryker knew he had never seen a guy with a crucifix tatoo under his eye.

Turning at the sound of the massive explosions to their left and front lt. Stryker figured that the navy air had finally gotten involved. Stopping to check his GPS he realized something.....the lines near Taegu and possibly Gumi were within 60 miles of the coast. So was Andong but that wasn't his mission. Lt. Styker motioned for the SAT phone. This had to be called in. He wondered how the Dra-pol would coexist with 18" explosive neighbors.

Offshore Aboard the Raider

Signal the Padre to change course and get me their weapons control officer

Meanwhile guns turrets began turning and massive barrels elevating as the ship increased speed.

perhaps we could use the same coordinates from the carrier strikes?

A short while later Lt. Styker made contact with a liason in Taegu and he thought he could hear the whistle, even over the airstrike explosions, and he knew the Dra-pol had bad intentions coming in their mail.

Jochaim ducked to one side as his squadmate sent a RBS 56 downrange. As it passed over one of the Dra-Pol tank crossing the middle of the Hwang river, it went off and the shaped charge crumpled the turret like a tin can, sending the amphibious vehicle to the bottom of the river. Jochaim rested his G-21 on the edge of the foxhole and started taking potshots at the floundering survivors.

It had been going like this all day. They'd tried to force their way across the river, only to have their toeholds wiped out by superior Kilean firepower.

The feldwebel shook his head.

"this wasn't a real attempt. they didn't mean to cross this river."

"it was real for wietz- he's dead. so's haiden and gelder." said Jochaim.

the feldwebel gave jochaim a dirty look and continued.

"no, no- not like that. I just mean...like, okay- I was on operation Halo, right? when we went over the santander river into dibujante we did it with combat engineers to clear the mines, total air supremacy, top of the line bridging equipment, behind a smokescreen, and after a twelve hour barrage by our overwhelming artillery in an operation we had more or less rehearsed for the past decade. Even then we took a hell of a lot of casualties. I lost a good officer and more than a few friends on Halo."

"your point?" Jochaim had become a very bitter and sarcastic person.

"my point is" continued the hauptmann "that you better be damn glad to be in that foxhole, beacuse they can shell us with those popgun mortars of theirs, and they can send over those dinky little tanks, and they can kill a few of us- a few of us like wietz and haiden and gelder, but they can't cross that river. not with guys like those."

The men were rolling their eyes at one of the "you-damn-whippersnappers" speeches the feldwebel did every now and then.

The feldwebel glared at them.

"you think this is tough now? you think I'm giving you a hard time? you think that just a couple miles of retreat against an enemy advance guard makes you vets? lemme tell you little snots something- I slogged the retreat to Stahsburg for the better part of a month fighting against I-shit-you-not 40 to 1 odds. I've been in a human wave attack, kids, and it is not nice. That just now? that was a probe. When the Dra-Pol really wanna cross that river, when they really put their mind to it?

.....when they do that, most of you guys are gonna die. So dig in deep and keep your bayonets at hand, beacuse we are gonna need them."

The feldwebel turned away from the now silent squad and started enlarging his foxhole.

Jochaim picked up his entrenching tool and joined him.

Northern ROK

Relatively near to the border the CPRD was apparently doing its level best to make South Korea Drapoel. Thousands of “engineers” had been dragged off their farms and infantry drill fields to lay the groundwork for new forward HARTS, most being placed with primary caution thrown to attack from the sea, and secondarily from the air. This meant big earthwork defences going up south and mortar pits being placed thousands of yards ahead to keep enemy artillery at a distance. Slopes were being chosen so as to deny aircraft and munitions coming from the coast and secondarily the south a clear line of sight or direct line of attack.
Of course few positions were near completion, but anyone who could observe closely enough would surely have been amazed at the speed with which the Drapoel worked. The supervisors were experienced, having built defences such as these by the thousand across the CPRD, and it was often said that the Drapoel had a natural talent for administration, and clearly for hard work. Construction was progressing like the massive tunnels dug at thirty metres a day, or the reconstruction of DaKhiem almost over-night during the Three Day War. Mobile SAMs crawled up on to hills for miles around, hoping to disrupt attack runs on the strategic areas to be fortified.
Armour and men were moving in force from across the border, still feeling relatively safe as they hopelessly outnumbered local resisters and enjoyed the protection of home-based SAMs and aircraft, radar in well fortified and retractable positions, relatively inaccessible terrain, and the distraction afforded by their comrades to the south. A whole new army group was on the move.
(This –for scale- bearing in mind that during the Crusader War Dra-pol fielded 9.1million soldiers in two army groups, two reserve army groups, and several minor security units.)

Paegam

Ambassador Etoro was finally brought to a small but quite beautiful room inside the ancient palace. The stone walls featured a number of worn old freezes depicting scenes from Drapoel mythology and folklaw and half-forgotten kings and heroes from before the revolution. Between them hung flattering portraits of young Director Koshiako Kurosian (a figure never before seen by foreign nationals); his deceased father, The Greatest Leader, Director Kurosian I; Sulo, the First Director; and Comrade Secretary Hotan. The ceiling was quite low, barely six feet, and the room was narrow. In the middle was a long table of ornate design, one of the items secretly imported by Kurosian I during the supposedly closed years of his early Directorate. As the table’s end, before an unglazed slit of a window, sat KI’s most important import.
Madame Kurosian was clearly European, her skin virtually blinding next to the typically dark Drapoel, and she wore white robes kept in rather better order than the pale brownish garb of most in the Republic. The unarguably beautiful and glowing woman was one of the best kept secrets in the enigmatic hermit kingdom, her existence alone could have caused uproar had it been revealed during the period in which Drapoel were taught of the outside’s utter desolation.
Madame Kurosian had instead saved the Republic in a manner of speaking when, after the arrest by Quinntonia of her lover’s first son (born by a different mother) and the assassination of KI himself, Hotan chose to reveal young Koshiako Kurosian and to create him Director.
“Welcome to Dra-pol.” She said, aides having already introduced her identity.

DaKhiem

“...comrades, my father, The Greatest Leader, Kurosian I, died for the revolution. He was resurrected by the revolution, he gave his first born to the revolution, and died again still heavy of heart for his loss. Even as he was finally slain he fell fighting for the revolution’s international defence!”

Director Koshiako Kurosian skipped mention of China specifically, though the story went that his father was killed in a firefight there as western terrorists attacked a government building. In truth Kurosian I was beaten to death in a Chinese toilet, and the unarmed middle aged five-foot-nothing politician had no chance to defend himself or any aspect of the revolution. Still, the late Director’s second son was making a point, if his family could sacrifice so greatly and achieve so much, so could every other of the Republic’s hundreds of millions of families. It was worth it- despite the losses suffered by the Kurosians, here Koshiako was, Director of the Republic, the Kuro manifestation of the international revolution.
Comrade Hotan, Secretary of the Communist Party, had just released his work, Student of the Kuro Revolution, to coincide with the latest propaganda drive. Soon there’d be a copy at each collective. The Director himself quoted from it several times during his latest address. It was a collection of maxims, quotes (primarily made by KI, Hotan’s mentor and Koshiako’s father)

Yellow Sea

The face of the attack came in the form of, well, of as many aircraft as could be operated from all the ROK airbases captured in the north west, and from south western Dra-pol.
Long range Qian Wei missiles were carried mainly by better funded J-10-equipped squadrons, and on launching at 100km or more these aircraft peeled off and headed back, leaving less advanced aircraft to close with native-origin DSJ-1. This all meant that the first great wave sent scores of anti-shipping missiles flying in from north and east while small formations of maybe half a dozen aircraft came one behind the other from those directions.
SU-15D joined these small squadrons of SU-17D and KJ-1, often racing ahead to tangle with fighters and hopefully draw surface-based fire. They were fast and armed with mid-range Mach 4.5 AAMs, but they came piecemeal. And they came with cheap radar suits that sometimes struggled against the sort of countermeasures that may be thrown up by such a major target, and may be over-loaded by the sheer weight of targets they had to process. Their pilots were committed and aggressive, but often inexperienced and reckless with it.
Still, more ominously than a shower of missiles followed by a constant patter or follow-ups, many of the attack-planes fully intended to close even after loosing ASMs, sometimes to loose unguided or laser-guided bombs, sometimes unguided rockets, or even 23mm and 30mm cannon-fire against enemy vessels. Amongst the four thousand attack fighters available at the outbreak of war and scattered in with the many aircraft attacking hostile shipping in the Yellow Sea there existed a handful of kamikaze units. First encountered during Dra-pol’s brief foray into the Second World War (in which the newly born republic engaged Soviet, Chinese, Japanese, and reportedly American forces with equal ferocity), these warriors seemed ideal in the eyes of PAAF commanders. Today they’d fly rusting old MiG-19, two squadrons of which had been acquired some years ago by a war-torn republic newly developing supersonic flight, stripped and packed with explosives.

(The Qian Wei (advanced guard) anti-shipping missile carries a 145kg warhead and flies low at around Mach 0.9. DSJ-1 has a 158kg semi-AP warhead, 48km range, 20-28m flight altitude and 5-7m attacking altitude (ie. it dives to attack near the waterline after flying in below many SAM systems)
I’m currently under the impression that the main wing of J-10 and attached aircraft will be long gone, back to Dra-pol and whatever remains in the NW-ROK by the time most of POJ’s aircraft arrive, and most of the attack will be over. It’d take time for them to learn of the attack, process the scale of it, ready and launch aircraft, and then they’re mainly coming from a few carriers, no? I’d assume there’s a big gap between the first few and the last, reducing the damage that can be dealt before we’ve scarpered, unless they take time to form up, thus wasting more time and arriving after its all over. I could be wrong, but hey, I’m not done Rping the thing yet, let alone the attempt to land afterwards.)

Andong

The attack here was building by the minute. Tens of thousands of Drapoel had crossed the river here and there, aircraft and retreating Hudecians had killed hundreds, and the city itself was finally under serious and deliberate attack. The Hudecians may have suffered over six hundred casualties in the north of the city, but the People’s Army had lost over a thousand killed, let alone wounded, in pushing them back.
The Drapoel were less than accustomed to attacking cities; most of the fighting at Hamhung in the Crusader War had occurred in the hills outside the city, and at DaKhiem the Drapoel had simply run away from Raysian airborne forces and then gassed the city from within. On reaching Andong the infantry had just kept going as if nothing had changed, and had been shot down at a rate of over four to one.
However, support was arriving, and tactics were changing. While to the Southwest airstrikes were coming in thick against the PA and cover was limited to certain areas, here cover was better. Tanks and AVs were still moving in strength, and Andong would bear their brunt. Self propelled and towed guns and rocket artillery were beginning to open-up on the city’s south, and their fire was not discriminate as the infantry slowed to watch the shells fall ahead of them. These units were worth SAM cover, plentiful DRAR-1 systems ever on the move and often hiding behind terrain features only to lock IR sensors onto enemy aircraft at the last second, but even in the east it was not the same further down the line.

Near Gumi

The situation here was highly unpleasant for the People’s Army recruits struggling across the river. Armour, artillery, SAM, and air support was still lacking, and now more mundane supplies were arriving in smaller quantity and with less regularity. Reinforcements too had been delayed or decreased by air attacks in the west, and the PA units had few guns with which to return fire on Hudecian artillery positions- most of what they did have were modest 75mms and even tiny 47mm weapons. These were soon reduced further as POJ aircraft attacked the advancing units, dealing hundreds more casualties in return for light flak, shoulder-launched SAM fire, and some cannon-fire from D-ZSU-47-2.
The Drapoel SPAAG was proving popular throughout the People’s Army. Thousands of the lightly armoured vehicles were on the move, many carrying extra fuel tanks and all capable of limited amphibious and impressive off-road travel. Their 47mm guns reached beyond the range of old Shilkas, they tracked fast, and they were often employed in the direct fire role, smashing dozens of shells into enemy positions when proper SPGs weren’t available. They injected diesel fuel into their exhaust to shroud positions when aircraft showed up or when a river crossing was to be attempted. In this they were joined by light tanks and APCs that had similar Soviet-inspired capabilities. The SPAAGs were being used to ferry men and supplies about where trucks couldn’t go or APCs weren’t available in sufficient numbers. Of course many were to be found wrecked across the ROK- their armour was barely sufficient to keep out rifle fire, and owing to how cheaply they were produced and how hard their supply lines were hit, many had broken down and become static guns open to being picked off.
Over all though, for all its progress further north, the attack was faltering around Gumi. Faltering in the sense that heavy casualties were being suffered in comparison to those dealt and movement was noticeably slower than elsewhere, not to say that it was about to stop. The infantry kept coming out of the smoke, behind walls of grenade and light mortar fire, bayonets fixed and machineguns spitting.

The People’s Republic of China

“...favourable settlement of border disputes did much for relations, but if the Yellow Sea remains so aggressively occupied, the Central Directorature fears Beijing may be pressured... less accommodating, this time.”

The Banat agent looked almost like a child beside his lofty white contact, but he spoke seriously of his country’s needs.

“Will your government not help, this time?”

___

Not far away, further Banat operatives began their rather longer journeys, also enjoying the help of Father as they headed towards a rendezvous with an old submarine off a distant Chinese shore. No one seemed to know exactly how far it was to Dibujante.

-Yellow Sea-

Hudecian fighter pilots, although well trained were badly outnumbered. Firing at their maximum range and closing to cannon range with the Drapol fighters they found themselves unable to cope, even with the extensive sea-based support vessels.

Aboard HN Hclav (Nimitz Carrier)

"Sir, charlie squadron reports they've lost 3, beta squadron is down to 2..." The radio operator shouted over the din in the command room of the carrier.

Then the radar operator shouted a warning...

"We have 3 MiGs incoming... closing to 1000m.... 700m.... anti-air weapons engaging... shot one down... the MiGs are not responding... 400m..."

The radar operator had a sick feeling in his stomach.

"They're suicidal!" He screamed in panic. "300..200...they heading right at us!"

All the guns tried in vain to stop both MiGs... one was shot down but the other made it through.

Commodore Andre stood in his command room and watched the plane come at him. Damn.... were his last thoughts.

Admiral Smetka saw the fireball erupt from the Nimitz carrier's command deck. "What the...? Take over the responsibilities of the Hclav's fighters... keep those fighters away from my ships!"

The battle could have raged on for hours if it wasn't for the timely arrival of the 600 returning Hudecian fighters, which turned the tide in Hudecia's favour.

Casualties:
1 Nimitz carrier severly damaged
2 Kitty Hawk carriers damaged.
1 Iowa class battleship sunk
1 Iowa class battleship damaged
6 Halifax class destroyers sunk
12 Halifax destroyers damaged
3 Ulsaan frigates damaged
2 Spruance class destroyers sunk
120 F-22s shot down
30 F-18s shot down
30 F-36Ts shot down
1 000 dead/missing presumed dead
1 500 wounded

Paegam

Etoro was taken aback... she had not expected isolationist Dra-pol to have any western citizens, let alone one in such an elevated position.

She bowed deeply, then smiled and introduced herself.

"Thank you for welcoming us into your great nation. We have heard that the Choson People's Republic has had few interactions with foreign nations in the past, and are most grateful for the opportunity. I am hopeful that this is the first step towards expanded relations between our two countries."

PRS
Spyran civilian reporters begin to diffuse out into various war-related locales. Entry visas are applied for in most of the nations defending the South, seeking stories about government policy, civilian attitudes, and the perspective of troops departing for the front. Dozens more attempt to reach southern Korea, to explore perspectives on the front, and amongst the Korean population. Other than the government cameraman following the PRS ambassador, no reporters attempt to enter Dra-pol.

Radio Lyong, PRS government-funded radio station, transmits as much objective coverage on the war as can be managed. Once reporters are on the ground, the coverage is set to expand.

[Radio Lyong's shortwave broadcasts should put both parts of Korea, Japann, and North Yaman well within range].

Yellow Sea

I’m currently under the impression that the main wing of J-10 and attached aircraft will be long gone, back to Dra-pol and whatever remains in the NW-ROK by the time most of POJ’s aircraft arrive, and most of the attack will be over. It’d take time for them to learn of the attack, process the scale of it, ready and launch aircraft, and then they’re mainly coming from a few carriers, no? I’d assume there’s a big gap between the first few and the last, reducing the damage that can be dealt before we’ve scarpered, unless they take time to form up, thus wasting more time and arriving after its all over. I could be wrong, but hey, I’m not done Rping the thing yet, let alone the attempt to land afterwards.)



ooc: you would be correct in that the missiles(216 SS-N-19s and 121 Tomahawks) launched against the airfields and other targets left about the same time the flight started launching. the missiles would probably beat any returning planes back as the missile launch would have started not long after your planes take off.

the 24 air launched harpoons from the e3b-vikings would start showing up around the time your planes got back, I think?

that still puts the f14 flight way behind the airborne strikes or arriving as the last of your kamakazes close in.

back to ic:

Yellow Sea; aboard the AWACS

Cover lady to all flights. Targets are fleeing to our north. If you vector 005 you might catch them on afterburner but will come within range of enemy land based counterfire. You will also have a wet landing due to fuel contsraints

Roger that Cover Lady; Viper 6 actual to all flights, time to take it home. RTB, out

*the F14s and the E2c head for the carriers*

-Andong-

The street battles rage on through the night. Hudecians use night vision goggles to snipe at the Drapol advance although nothing can stop it. Hand to hand combat erupts in parts of the town where Drapol advances faster than the Hudecians can retreat.

Finally in the dawn, several dozen tanks arrive on the southern edge of town to cover the retreat of the remnants of the division holding Andong. Before the town falls the Hudecians signal their high command of the loss of the city.

Casualties:
400 dead
650 wounded

remaining strength of division from Andong (initially 5000): 3400

-South of Andong-

After the final Hudecians cross the river with Drapol hot on their heels, the bridges across the river are again, blown skyhigh.

Reinforcements from Ulsan arrive to create a second line of defence on the mountains south of Andong and stretching back to Daegu.

-Pohang-

As Ulsan airport becomes increasingly crowded, the Pohang airport is pressed into service with the arrival of 20 000 Hudecian marines and 300 fighters.

Over the next few days, many nations will be expressing how much they would be dissappointed if China took an active role in ANY way to help Dra-pol. Quinntonia and Quinntonian Dra-pol have spent the last several years developing many large and lucrative trade agreements and are both simotaniously forwarding their request that China refuses and Dra-pol requests for aid. They also make mention that they would consider all trade agreements null and void if they do so. These trade agreements, especially considering the powerful economies of the two nations and their constant import to Quinntonian Dra-pol of all manner of things would be in the nieghbourhood of $550 billion USD/year in total.
OOC NOTE-I am also preparing to have all my trade partners do the same, but I do not want to clog up the thread needlessly. Dra-pol, you have seen over the Asian message board over the last few months how busy I have been in preparing for this, and I have signed many trade agreements, all with the stipulation that they would in no way support Dra-pol, or her allies. I could just leave it to you to RP an honest Chinese reaction to the loss of so much revenue, as I completely trust your RPing abilities in this matter. Let me know, thanx.
WWJD
Amen.

OOC-Also, I mistakenly made apost of my support for POJ and the aquisition of a certain island on the OOC thread, please see that.
IC-Hudecia, you are told that all your ships may begin to move toward internation waters if they are damaged, and my Deep-Sea Salvage Tugs will then tow you to Hamhung, where you will be repaired, re-fitted, re-supplied, re-fueled and re-armed as needed, at our own expense. Also, we have many hospital and resue ships all around the area and already have over 200 large rescue choppers in the air to pick up survivors form your naval battle. There are also fire-fighting units on the way, should you still need them. All crtically wounded people will be brought to Hamhung, where our staff doctors will treat them, all free of charge.
Please let us know if you do not require these services, but it will lessen your expense, allowing you to keep a larger force in the field, and will allow us to unofficially support the war effort.
WWJD
Amen.

OCC: Sorry if I haven't kept up, the server is bad to me!

IC:

As rifle-caliber rounds bounce off the turret, Lt. Colonel Tourville ducks down inside the turret and closes the hatch. The AMXs continue to pour fire into the Drapoel troops, the 7.62mm (?) rounds having little effect on the vehicles. However, the 75mm cannons on the light tanks cause more worry.

A 75mm round bounces off the front hull of Tourville's AMX, leaving a big charred mark. The crew inside nearly dies of fright, even though the low-caliber gun had little chance of penetrating the armor. A 120mm round is shot towards the offending tank.

The airborne troopers fare worse. While the well-prepared positions of the 2nd Brigade protect troops from near misses and shrapnel, some mortar rounds inevitably land in the positions. A piece of shrapnel dings off Captain Taylor's helmet, giving him quite a fright. He shoots at the muzzle flashes on the other side of the river with his L1A1, but spends most of his time running up and down the lines, checking on his company.

"Casualty count!"

He comes across the second M2 position, the barrel and tripod flung several feet away. While one member of the crew is obviously dead, the other squirms around, in heavy pain from the ultiple shrapnel wounds covering his legs and lower body.

"Medic! Karzai! Get over here!"

The medic, Izrail Karzai, rushes over to the former MG position. He pulls a wad of dressing out of his bag and begins bandaging up the gunner's wounds. Taylor pats the injured trooper on the shoulder and runs down the line, jumping into the next position he comes across.

Before long, the tubby outline of LRRA Griffons, distinguishable by their FLIR mount, appear. Most have folding fin rockets and ATGMs, but a still large number are painted international orange with big red crosses.

The low-cost, low maintainance twin-engined Hueys land along a road near the town.....

The roar of jets becomes audible overhead. Apparently, a formation of naval jets were coming in low and fast, just visible through the cracks in the trees.

Puffs of white smoke begin to appear on the near bank of the Naktong, indicating friendly positions.

"Smoke. Consider targets on the opposite bank."

A chorus of Roger thats comes from the 50 Jaguar IINs.

They fly in low over the trees. A pair of Jaguars pour 30mm cannon fire into a SPAAG unit and a bridgelayer, and release folding-fin rockets in its direction, probably overshooting.

The Jaguars drop cluster bombs, napalm, and fire folding fin rockets at the advancing Drapoel columns on a broad front over the river. The pilots naturally felt very bad about their actions, but war was war, they decided.

The Jaguar pilots, somewhat shaken from their first raid, where two planes crashed into cliffs, are careful to pull up quickly. This brings them under heavy AAA as they pull up and out, spraying flares and chaff out behind them as they turn back to the friendly side of the river. Yet again, the Jaguars' heavy armor and robust construction come into play, but two Jaguars are lost, their pilots ejecting over the river or near one of the banks, and four others are in what is considered critical condition. The MiG-29KIs fly above and behind the attack jets, watching for any challenging Drapoel fighters or SAMs.

At Yeongcheon, the 1st AEF stops its advance northward.

"This is the 1st Armored Expeditionary Force calling Hudecian local CP, do you read, over?"

The SEP in the lead, studded with radio antennae, is given the job of mobile command post. It tries to contact Hudecian ground forces for positions.

At the port of Pusan, the RO/RO fleet yet again arrives, carrying the 3rd AEF. The troops get off the ships and enter their vehicles, mostly SEPs and CV-9040s, accompanied by MBT-5As (indicating the small stock of MBT-5Bs) and prepare to move out. The commander drives to the allied CP in a Valpen jeep. He meets the MPs at the first checkpoint, and salutes them.

"I need to get through here to the CP for orders."

-Near Nakdong (the city)-

"This is Northern Hudecian HQ, we have heavy artillery and armoured divisions down the road at Yonggi... advancing towards Nakdong."

-South of Andong (beyond the river)-

Hudecian marines and armoured units again set up across the river prepared for the anticipated Drapol attempt to cross.

An additional 20 000 troops had moved up to block what advances the Drapol forces had made to the west of their location.

-Pohang-

Along with fighters from Ulsan, Hudecian fighters launch from this airport in an attempt to aggressively take back the skies near Andong.

In a dark room that doesn't exist, during a meeting that didn't happen, several men and women that weren't there make a decision.
It is the decision of this council that Operation:Zealot should go ahead as planned, and immediately, we have been setting this up since the end of the war and I don't wnat to see that kind of resources go to waste. Agent Korah, will your "Men of Masada" be able to pull off the "escape"?
"Yes." came the monosyllabic reply from the gorrilla of a man before them.
"Then begin."
All at once, the big man turned and began to move towrads the door with a grace that shouldn't exist on a frame that size.
The Chairman of the Council looked at his nieghbour and remarked simply, "I'm glad he is on our side."
WWJD
Amen.

Aboard the Raider

Capt. Martin looked hard at the situation plot in CIC. With the Hudecian withdrawal the Dra-pol moving agianst them fall within our range yes? Do we have a forward liason there?

yes sir, a Lt. Stryker from the marines has a forward team near Pohang now with orders to link up with their liason people and forward observers to coordinate fire control. He is the one who called in the ranges as Gumi and Daeong.

Very well as soon as he makes contact, consider the order given to commence firing at the Dra-pol troop concentrations. they use mass assaults yes? Well then, incindiary fire onto their buildup points behind the lines should help diminish assualt strength should it not? Our planes and spy planes should be able to spots these concentrations in advance yes? 20 or 200,000 men don't all hide under the same tree so we will burn down the woods around them.

Sir! civilian losses?

that is not our consideration here and I assure you it isn't the dra-pol's either. dismissed.

as the twin turrets of three 18" guns each begin to turn and elevate on both the Padre and the Raider in anticipation of fring orders, turret crews frantically make preparation to move reserve ordinance where it will be accessable.

Pohang

there, over there I think thats the building we were told to check in. Lt. Stryker hoped that in the bustle and mass motion that had become Pohang that he could work to coordinate with the Hudecians.

Aboard the CVN Judah

Admiral Peiper watched as his fighters launched for yet another air suprememcy sweep. They would again be coming in behind the EW, EA6-b Prowlers and their HARM missiles. Over 200 F14s were launchng to follow-up the Hudecian fighter sweeps over Andong. It appeared that his fighters could put their Phoenix missiles into the air at 120km(75miles) with something between 75-90% accuracy. Lower than he thought it should be but nothing seemed to work correctly when dealing with the Dra-pol.

Gumi

The POJ marine recon team had no problems linking up with their Kilean counterparts. Close cooperation had been established during the Dibujante war and now it was a matter of following established guidelines that had been proven to work.

The Apache Longbows and Cobra Helocopter Gunships coming up from the Pusan area had little to no problem finding the battle lines. Especially with a focus on the western flank of the Dra-pol and they proceeded to offload every part of their ordinance on the Dra-pol forces they could see or draw fire from. While the Hellfire anti-tank missiles may not have found many targets, the pilots were certain the 70mm Hydra folding fin rockets using M255E1 Flechette rounds (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/hydra-70.htm) had reaked havoc among the Dra-pol massing for continued assualts in the Gumi area.

As the smoke and debris, cleared the survivors on the ground could hear the sound of more aerial engines approaching...planes..maybe paratroops...no the silhoute and sound of the http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/aircraft/c-130.htm]Spectar ( [url) Gunships[/url] was unmistakable to any who had heard the sound before or seen one....and lived.

but even that couldn't drown out the cries of the wounded or the sounds from the ground to the south ....advancing m1a2 Main Battle tanks as the full wieght of the 9th Armored Corps (6th Mechanized and 8th and 9th Armored Divisions; 1050 M1a2 MBT and 1600 Bradleys with 60,000troops) rolled into the western flank of the dra-pol attacking Gumi expecting no quarter and certainly giving none as the more senior non-coms had already briefed their soldiers on their nation's past with the dra-pol invaders.

The 2nd POJ Marine Division moves forward to protect the 9th Amored western flank. (Gumi is the eastern flank)

[OOC: Just a note, but civilian casualties just might be important... Spyr expects Dra-pol to inflict such casualties, because of their ignorance. They need to be taught a better way, and once taught, they will take that better way.

The rest of you have stated that you're here to defend the people of South Korea. If it starts looking like you arent making extreme efforts to avoid civilian casualties, then that justification crumbles, and you start looking like imperialists... who Spyr might see as worse than Dra-pol for ruling Korea.

So, your moral superiority isnt just something you can toss away withought thought. Its the only thing keeping other nations from supporting Dra-pol, and honestly, you cant beat him if he gets allies who can force supplies through the blockade.]

(ooc: And with BG, big CPRD arms/aid supplier in the past, torn between hard line socialist/anti-capitalist and pro-democracy/human-rights leanings all the coalition need do to tip the balance in Dra-pol's favour is to blur the line between their own actions and those questionable pursuits of the PA.)

PRC

“'Will your government not help, this time?' My government would have given you CS-500 and sent a hundred warships to prevent a blockade, comrade. Unfortunately we no longer live in a world shared by such an entity. The Senates are weighed-down by bickering and uncertainty. Of course the Old Guard is still at your side, but there is only so much that we can do. It is becoming ever more difficult to gather new funds- two more of my old comrades were caught last week and taken to re-education facilities that I built. Those were meant for monarchists, damn it! Iansislians, Victoria Salvadorians, Haver..whats...”

Father was quite menacing as he came close to losing his temper, especially next to the little Drapoel. He certainly didn't look quite stable when, in (and further to) his irritation, specific words eluded him. He tried to focus and return to the issues at hand.

"I er we can't send fleets... we can't send CS-500... we can acquire some fuels... I can't say that it will be enough." He said with great understatement. "We may get some CS-400 missiles... no new systems, you understand, people notice when eighty million dollars of vehicle rolls away and gets on a boat or a plane to China or Pakistan.

"About that... I'm... going to have to convince more" he sighed, "friends in Beijing... and Islamabad." The Igovian Stalinist almost spat. "I mentioned the problems with... fiscal apropriation?" Father's eyes were flicking from the face of his contact to the floor resting on neither for more than a few seconds. The drain to his once absolute power now placed on him by GSIC, the BG Commonwealth security agency, was highly discomforting for a still young man of such ambition.

Evidently he'd want paying back somehow, this time.

To: Quintonnian Drapol

The government of Hudecia deeply thanks the government of Quintonnian Drapol for its assistance in this time of great tribulation. Rest assured your assistance will be repaid.

Prime Minister of Hudecia
Ms. M. Honatava

-Ulsan- (secret command center)

General O'Neil was furious. He stormed into the command center, nearly biting off the head of the attaché at the door.

“Such an attack on our fleet can not go unchallenged or unpunished,” he belted out. “These are my orders, there will not be any more retreating or withdrawing without good, strategic cause. Our units will hold, to the last man if necessary!”

“We have over 20 000 troops and 600 fighter jets in reserve, put them forward now! I am sick and tired of waiting and letting Drapol choose the site of our battles.”

“Our fleets will launch retaliatory missile strikes on the airbases in the former ROK… I want all the airfields south of Seoul to be leveled. All I want to see is ashes! I want the Hwang river to flow with their blood!…”

“Sir, the mission was a success however, we did drain Drapol of its dwindling aviation fuel…” A major weakly offered.

-Yellow Sea-

As per Gen. O’Neil’s orders, Admiral Smetka began launching massive missile strikes on airbases with what remaining vessels he had. However, not one aircraft was to be risked in the engagement, they all would remain behind to protect the fleet.

Missile strikes on roads were also intensified. Radio operators from Ulsan began broadcasting warning messages in Korean into occupied ROK telling the citizens to stay inside their homes for the next 72 hours for their own safety.

-Southwest of Andong-

The armoured divisions of the II Army massed and attacked advancing Drapol units, which had crossed the Hwang river earlier. In support was over 60 000 heavily armed veteran troops, 500 M1A2s, and hundreds of other support vehicles. Overhead, 500 fighters and fighter/bombers would pound anything that moved with cluster bombs and napalm.

Before leaving to attack, the soldiers had been treated to a short video clip of the HN Hclav being struck by a suicide fighter pilot. The effect was obvious, shock turned to disbelief, disbelief to anger, anger to rage…

Catching the advancing Drapol units off guard, and without proper defensive positions set up, the Hudecians quickly overrun the lead units and push Drapol back closer and closer to the river.

"Roger that, Northern Hudecian HQ. We are several miles south of Yeongdeok. Where do you want us to take position, over?"

Communications had been sketchy lately. For all they knew, the Hudecian response could be "Rain predicted on sunday, wind north-northwest."

Meanwhile, the 3rd AEF begins heading for the front. The long columns of tanks and APCs stretch out as they drive for Andong. Attack helicopters cover overhead, but they will be inside friendly territory for a good two hours, if they travel at a stately 25mph and avoid traffic.

Meanwhile, from Pusan, a ramshackle force of Uhlans troopers sets off from the docks. The recon troop consists of a trio of LCMs, carrying land Rovers and Sabre tanks, and a group of CB-90s carrying troops. The group sets off for its first objectve- Gwangyang. A light rain begins to fall as the boats slosh through the water near the coast.

A trio of frigates, meanwhile, charges west along the coast, their objective to disrupt what they could. The three Duke frigates make their maximum speed as they dash west, on the lookout for veunerable naval assets.

-Northern Hudecian HQ

"LLR... Reinforcements are required north of Pohang.. major assault anticipated soon against Hudecian positions there."

Field marshal Anknecht looked at the map. Heudecian and LRR troops were now embroiled in what looked to be one hell of a battle around Andong. POJ armor had moved to try and flank Gumi, where General Lee was holding the Dra-Pol at the outskirts of the town.

He looked around the command tent at his staff officers. It was all in place- II Corps was off the ships and ready to go. Now the problem was where to send it...

Anknecht turned to the Heudecian Major next to him in the tent.

"So you boys are getting LRR reinforcements along with more of your own reserve troops?"

"that's more or less it, sir. we're staging a counter-offensive aimed at smashing their bridgeheads." The heudecian pointed to the pockets in question.

Anknecht nodded and turned to the POJ officer- the same fresh-faced kid who was attached to allied 2nd army staff in Dibujante- "you've got a corps making a move to flank the Dra-Pol around Gumi?"

"Thats right, Field Marshal. They're weak there and we think we can actually be able to re-take ground and buy back some breathing space."

Anknecht turned to the next man over- the only civilian in the tent.

"The Joshuans are right, then? Not as many Dra-Pol as it seems?"

The ISD agent cleared his throat before leaning forwards in his folding seat.

"Tactical intelligence has been very weak, and photo-recon squadrons have taken heavy losses, but the last High Perch sat pass shows that allied forces may actually outnumber the Dra-Pol around Gumi."

Anknecht stood up.

"Alright then- we move. II Corps would help near Andong, but it'll be way more than just help around Gumi. I want to hit the enemy where he's weakest, and send him reeling. We'll hit him hard and move from there, with the overall goal of turning back his southernmost spearhead. We've got a hell of a lot of Quintonnian gasoline to burn and those damn kimchee MRE's to eat, so the ships from Kilean have been full of mostly bullets. We've got the supplies for one hell of a dash."

Anknecht motioned for his staff to follow him as he walked out of the tent into the chilly Korean night. They followed him as he walked.

"We're going to try to hit them sometime around tomorrow night- we'll fight from afar in the dark. The Joshuans are already ahead of us and I'll be damned if we're going to fall behind."

Anknecht reached his command tank and lifted himself up onto the fender.

"We're first four- we are the best there is. Next to Stahlsburg, Gumi is going to be a schoolyard scuffle. I trust my officers to get things right, and to use their own good judgement to attain the overall goals of my plan."

Anknecht stepped up onto the turret.

"now get to your tanks and prepare to start moving"

Ankecht stood in the coupla of his tank and raised his fist in the "go" signal. Across the clearing, dozens of turbine engines whined to life as the 75,000 elite troops of II Corps finally began to move.
____________________________________________________________

The three divisions of II Corps are moving out of Pusan and headed to Gumi. There they will make a frontal assault against the Dra-Pol troops. After a long and severe artillery bombardment, mechanized infantry and pioneer units will attempt to break through the Dra-Pol positions. Once the first line of resistance is broken, heavy armored units will break out into Dra-Pol rear areas and attempt to link up with POJ forces around Gumi.

Kilean tank doctrine is to some extented modeled on soviet armor warfare. A panczer division will attack with one of it's three tank brigades at a time. When the first brigade is halted or outruns its supply lines or simply becomes exahusted, the second brigade will attack through the positions of the first one. When the second brigade expends it's momentum the third attacks, and so on, and so on. It's leapfrogging on a grand scale and ensures that anybody opposing a Kilean armored formation will be meeting a brigade at full charge.

This doctrine gives formidible attacking power to the KLM, but it does have flaws- it's a very complex operation, and only a formation like II Corps could execute it without snag-ups, and secondly, the formation, if stopped in it's totality, has a very hard time re-starting it's advance and regaining momentum.

Isle of Daeron

Major General Franz Peiper comparing notes with the aviation commander on the isle.

you should be able to support the offensives by our allies in the Andong area?

Correct, we have 2 squadrons of F16s (50 total planes) with 2 squadrons of MIG29 Fulcrums (50 planes)launching for a fighter sweep with AWACS planes and some EA6-b Prowler EW support from the carriers.

We will be sending in 2 squadrons of F15E Strike Eagles (50 planes) following that with cluster and incindiary bomb units and well as anti tank missiles.

Pusan Perimeter; 2nd Guards Army HQ

Field General Otto Skornsky reviewed the situation with his staff

I need to personally attend the next Kilean briefing as we need to maintain close cooperation with our allies. Our liason says their 2nd Corps is moving out in support of our 9th Armored corps attacks. We will wait to determine our next move based on the progress of the attacks but I need you to let the Kileans know that we have Two armored corps still in reserve (5 divisions total) plus a marine division uncommitted. My 1st Guards Airborne Division should be continuing to help fortify this area, but the 9th Corps commander, Lt. General Rogers has requested the continued use of the heliocopter assets. I have issued those orders. Also 2nd Marine Division is to maintain the western flank of the 9th Corps; we will not allow the Dra-pol respite or the opportunity to counter on our flanks. Understood?

YES SIR!!

Southwest of Gumi; 9th Armored Corps Assault HQ

the kileans have joined in on our east assaulting direct. Move the 6th Mechanized Division forward and have the 9th Armored join the 8th armored on our left to strike the enemy with a solid armored door. The assault will swing left to right (west to east) driving the dra-pol into the Kilean door swinging from the other way. When we join and the doors slam shut we will have them as so many rats in a trap.

Lt. General Carla Rogers knew how many of her current command had been pulled off the beach near Hamhung those many years ago. Now was the time to repay that debt in kind.

she looked up at the noise of helocopters and smiled. General Skornsky was making good on his promise she noted as the AH-66 comanches moved against the engaged dra-pol. the next flight of AC130 Spectars should follow soon as well. She had insisted on this, that every POJ or allied trooper would be able to look up and smile at the sound of approaching aircraft knowing them to be friendly. It was also the sound she hoped would give the Dra-pol survivors nightmares for years to come.

Aboard the Judah

CAG Russell Peeler was leading this assault of Rf-11ds personally. He saluted the flag bridge and the launch officer just before the catapult shot his plane into the air. His flight formed up quickly and headed for the Gumi battlearea. this was a ground support mission of 200 Archangel aircraft with lots of F14 fighter cover. their role was to put JDAMS and 2000lb CBUs(guided bomb units) down on the bridges and major roads leading into the assault area from the north. they were also to engage and destroy any re-enforcing Dra-pol columns they encountered. About a dozen EA-6b prowlers accompanied to fend off SAM threats which were becoming fewer and fewer. the Prowlers were likewise becoming fewer and fewer and most of the reasons for that were not positive from Commander Peeler's point of view.

(ooc: You must remind me if I’ve forgotten anything really important- I’ve at least half a dozen people to whit I must respond, and I’ve half a bottle and counting of hard liquor in my scrawny frame.)

Northern Yellow Sea

Two A.M. and a light rain fell on the rocks. Several metres inside the mouth of what was originally a natural cave obscured by outcrops in the cliff face, blast doors eased apart.
A Houjian Class missile attack boat was revealed, for all its modest 520 tons one of the most dangerous warships Dra-pol had ever commanded. It was one of twelve in the Yellow Sea Flotilla, and the first to sneak out of its bunker since the second day of war. The little vessel hugged the coast close already to China and began its journey. It’d go from skirting Dra-pol’s northern most westcoast to mixing with trawlers off China, following it all the way around, perhaps stopping off in its country of origin, Penglai, to refuel. Most of the Yellow Sea Flotilla was attempting similar to this.
Command was confident that its tiny fleet could sneak out, all be it gradually, for incursion against Chinese territory and final alienation of Beijing would almost absolutely assure Drapoel victory in the ROK, but to be entirely honest there was relatively little to be gained by success. Short range Beth Gellen D/E submarines and Penglai missile boats only had so much potential as high-seas commerce raiders.

A little earlier the PAAF had suffered massive losses just a few miles south. Attempting to close with bombs and rockets had caused scores of attack fighters to fall. It was believed that at least two thirds of Kamikaze pilots had died short of their targets, still, some hits were reported, and many thought the strategy vindicated. Of course it may well have worked more by surprise than anything, but DaKhiem would likely be slow to recognise this.

(I am a little puzzled as to how seeing Drapoel flying MiG-19 to certain death against a massive modern fleet in or near waters traditionally closed to foreigners would incite rage against those obviously hard-up, committed, heroic, arguably pitiable Drapoel, but maybe I don’t understand some other nations so well as my own. Personally I’d be impressed/concerned about what we’d have to do to beat these people. Maybe I’m being too romantic..ist :) )

Secretary Hotan was pleased by reports that suggested aircraft carriers and battleships crippled. Others were more fit to make speeches akin to those following Dunkerque- many fighters had escaped before a massive POJ wing arrived, but wars are not won on evacuations.

Or are they?

The PAAF had lost hundreds of SU-15D, SU-17D, and KJ-1, but it had thousands remaining, all told, and hundreds of J-10 and FC-1. They’d lost a lot of pilots, but most were rookies- veteran pilots flew the J-10 that’d turned for home before and significant counter-fire emerged. The Qian Wei programme had proved invaluable, and comrade Secretary Hotan couldn’t help but notice that weapons built in co-operation with foreign powers (Penglai in this case, Beth Gellert in CS-400s) were proving most effective. Was Kurosian, The Greatest Leader wrong to have continued Dra-pol’s isolation? To be perfectly honest, Dra-pol absolutely could not keep ten thousand combat jets flying- it hadn’t the resources, that was an absurd notion. Hotan was a reasonable man. Ruthless, sometimes, but reasonable. He knew that his air force had a limited potential. The amount of fuel he could get in via China was sufficient only for a small core of aircraft. He hoped to Kuro that it’d be a constant trickle so that he could rotate his aircraft and pilots, keeping local air superiority over the CPRD, at least. If not, he’d have to ground all of his old Soviet fighters and put up J-10s in the short term, and risk losing them forever. Seventeen had crashed on returning to pot-holed airstrips. Damn those Joshuans. Hotan had the corpses of thirty thousand POJ troops exhumed and their ghoulish remains crucified anew- some opposite the Westgaard line, others around the ROK. Their sub-machineguns were issued, with whatever ammo was stripped from the bodies, to Banat troops policing northern ROK cities. Drapoel commandos surrounded Christian buildings and the occupants were slaughtered, the events filmed on ancient cine-cams and later delivered to the Spyrians at Paegam (they’d need sixty-year-old projectors to play them back in their gory sepia tones). It couldn’t be more evident that Dra-pol came from a different era, an age before globalisation.

Kurosian III and Hotan were both losing patience with the outsiders.

Director Koshiako Kurosian was a clever boy, but his learning displayed vast gaps- gaps enforced secretly by Hotan’s command. The boy was at least concerned with logistics, and with keeping up the progress of the Republic, in spite of the war. Everyone who could move was either working a metal press or throwing down seeds in a furrow. If not, they were pointing an ancient Japanese war-relic rifle at those who were. Starving? You’re not working as hard as the soldiers in South Korea- meet your quota and you’ll get a mouthful same as the tankers at Andong.

Northern ROK

At the outbreak of war the CPRD claimed 48million persons in its People’s Army. Thus far less than six million had entered the ROK. over 80,000 were stationed on 19km of Russian border (up from four to six thousand in the soviet era) and upwards of 1.6million on the Chinese border (compared to a total of 1.8million men in Chinese military service across the massive country). That left over 46 million men and women concerned only with protecting Dra-pol’s two coasts and with attacking the ROK. With less than six million deployed over forty million remained in Dra-pol south of the northern frontiers. There was no scale of logistic effort that could feed and supply forty million soldiers in the field, but perhaps the existing supply system plus half the remaining strength of the PA could put another six million under good supply condition into the ROK.
(ooc:It’s sometimes hard to remember that for every asset the DPRK has Dra-pol has at least seventy...SEVENTY! Not 100% more, not 1,000% more, not 10,000% more, 70,000% more! You cappies are going right the –blank- down! Each NK assault division seen in the 50s would in RL now be two or three- each RL assault division would now be seventy in this reality- that’s way, way more than 100 for every oneengaged against the UN in the 50s in reality, even with support taken into account.. i can’t even imagine how many missiles you have to fire, how many sorties you have to fly before we even notice it- I wouldn’t have bothered to say this if my inbox wasn’t full of messages from the ‘enemy’ praising me for Dra-pol’s restraint in not killing everyone to a man, yet :) Essentially though, we may have X million men on the offensive, but we also have two or three bringing supplies to each man amongst those millions, the same way as he travelled, and the home country is almost unaffected by hostile strikes, thus far (were it not, forty million capitalist civilians would be dead)) . One must remember that in NS terms Dra-pol had for RL months a Frightening economy and only just yesterday got it down to Thriving. We spent an absolute shed-load on building up underground reserves of fuel and munitions- what other Nation State with 1.6bln people and a frightening economy would rely on moderately upgraded 1950s and 60s Soviet fighters for its airforce? Exist with sixty light vessels to comprise its ENTIRE navy- not one carrier, not one battleship, not one nuclear submarine. You get the idea- we have an absolute mass of SAMs and Avs moving with our advance. Tens upon tens of thousands. We don’t drain more than a few insignificant tons of fuel in the navy. Our biggest ship are more than a hundred times smaller than an mid-range carrier. Our tanks are 20% smaller than the west’s, and so on.)

Andong
The river crossing was proving expensive. Scores of light tans and APCs had been deleted by Hudecian resistance and counter-attacks. They were clearly not enough to hold many beach-heads. Still, the PA had barely used 10% of its strength, concentrated just a few dozen KM from the front. The enemy was moving from a peace-time footing to total war, and sailing across hundreds if not thousands of miles of ocean. Dra-pol had waited for decades to make this move. Tunnels easily reached to within range of the Andong front. Three metre wide tunnels. Troops and supplies had no trouble moving through those- tanks could have moved through them, but the exits were man-sized. Still, the math was impressive. Twenty-plus key tunnels as far south as near Andong- if each one had a mere twenty exits, and the war had been on a mere two or three weeks, more than six million fully supplied men could have exited in that time. Still a nothing in PA terms. Those six.. plus the over land millions, were easily supplied by tunnels at least a hundred metres deep. What good was any bomb, shell, or rocket against a hundred metres of earth, concrete, steel, and solid rock? Unless the coalition took one end or other of Dra-pol’s tunnels they were absolutely impervious to modern weapons of war.
(ooc:I could be wrong, but I don’t think there’s anything that can penetrate 100+m of soil, stone, steel, granite, and concrete, especially without knowing exactly where too look for it.)

The coalition could bomb northern east coast roads all they liked- they’d stop main battle tanks from getting in, but never fuel, food, ammunition, and men in the tunnels, or light and medium tanks, APCs, and SPAAGs over the hills and rivers. They might even stop big FROG rockets from getting in- but they had 70km ranges, and were happy to sit back in relative safety.

Andong was being absolutely swamped by infantry relatively well fed, fresh, and with RPG-69-Is, QW-2 SAMs, and small arms. This close to Drapoel lines and to tunnels the infantry would go all out by the hundred of thousand.

Near Gumi

The scene was horrific. More than 14,000 Drapoel lay dead. It was East Asia’s Somme (ooc:Hey, my great granddad lived through that, or I’d never have been borne and this wouldn’t be happening. He was Scots Irish, mind), and the Drapoel would keep coming. Artillery, tanks, small arms, aircraft, and naval guns reduced the attack minute on minute, but they had no back-up plan. Reinforcements trickled through, lacking heavy support, thanks to Hudecian, LRR, Kilean, and POJ air strikes. Tanks and assault guns attacked, but where lost they were rarely replaced. The Infantry kept coming. Casualties were horrific, but few Drapoel knew the true scale of their losses. Those units tasked with crossing points especially littered with their own dead were invited to believe that it was a bloody crossing, but that they would be the ones to finally make it... the human spirit is naturally inclined to believe such things when contrary proof is denied it.

“Yes!” Thought Comrade Private Kim, “My platoon is the first to cross!” And then he was cut down by coalition airstrikes and artillery. “Yes!” Thought Comrade Sung. “My platoon is the first to cross!” And so it went on.

Soon tens of thousands were dead, but westcoast reinforcements kept filtering through. They were never –thanks to massive airstrikes- enough to break through, but they would never stop, either. More than twelve million men were reaching military age each year- could the coalition afford to kill more than twelve million men every year? That was just reinforcements.. not to mention fifty million regulars to begin with. Were forty million capitalist South Koreans worth it?

It was true- the Gumi offensive was not going to break though... unless the defenders believed that and withdrew forces. DaKhiem knew that it had tens of millions of lives to expend. The Gumi offensive may be weak, but it would never relent. It would always need resisting. Was the coalition prepared to fight forever at Gumi, and to resist millions of men at Andong? Even if supply lines were hit, though the Gumi offensive may suffer, may become like Siberia to so many Russians, it was sustainable, and Andong was ever more likely to yeild Drapoel victory.

Tanks? Aircraft? Ha! since when could tanks or aircraft hold ground? Infantry held ground, and as the Drapoel crossed the river near Andong- suffering tens of thousands of casualties- they held on. Tanks driving in would be absolutely showered with RPGs. If Russian RPGs could take out American Abrams tanks, Chinese and Drapoel RPGs could certainly take out coalition MBTs when fired eighty times thicker than in Iraq. DaKhiem anticipated more than a regiment of enemy troops utterly wiped out each day, and expected western democracies to put their own boys before South Korea’s.

True, there was no immediate threat of the CPRD taking Gumi, but reinforcements were unstoppable, and if the coalition became complacent about Gumi, it would fall. Andong was near surrounded. by four million screaming Drapoel.


Paegam
(Well, I’m so heavily drunk.. the ambassador is free to express her interests/concerns, now!)

(Seriously, I’m quite severely off my face and trying to talk to long lost ladies in america and argentina at the same time.. leave me alone!)

(ooc: Don't worry, I'm OOC negotiating an end to this that isn't an absolute Koshiako Kurosian victory. It even weakens a lot of my characters, but it's not yet sure to be settled.)

(ooc: The short version of that is that last time I was this drunk I broke into a shop using only my face... and that near Gumi we're not going to win, unless the coalition lets us. We're reinforcing Gumi constantly, but mostly with liight infantry, as everything else gets bombed. At Andong we're throwing multiple millions of men with millions more doing nothing more than carrying supllies. Who here is prepared to wipe out twelve million screaming communists each year?
It looks like the south is -blanked- but tthankfully I'm trying to negotiate another end that'll drastically change Dra-pol forever. Depends what involved players think.)

(Basically, this is barring tactical napoleonic brilliance on your part, defenders of ROK, Gumi is going to be a battle that'll rage on forever, while Andong is a losing fight fro anti-Drapoel forces. You kill one man a minute, we'll put a hundred in his place.. two hundred.. a thousand... whatever it takes to force you out)

Kilean is one hell of an economic superpower, and is more than willing to replace men with shells for a massive meatgrinder battle like Gumi. We'll probably adopt german-style defensive postures of rear-area reaction forces and infiltration tactics.

Kilean is in this for the long haul- and we'll just see which will run out first: kilean economic might or Dra-Pol men.
_____________________________________________________________

At ports all over southern Korea, the major Kilean sealift efforts see it's first major gain, as hundreds of thousands of Kilean troops arrive under heavy air cover. Even as the 600,000+ men begin the long organization and unloading process, northern Kilean is bustling with literally hundreds of transport ships and over 1.5 million men getting ready to make the long trip to Korea.

On the home front, the Total War Mobilization Athority has begun a further comb-out of industries. Now that skilled female labor is availiable for factory work, even more men will be free for military service. The factories of Kilean's massive industrial cities are churning out tanks, jets, and shells in huge numbers, while Kilean's few shipyards frantically construct cheap, modular "freedom ships" to carry the might of the KLM over the oceans.

The total war machine- set in motion for the DIbujante war- is now in full gear, and Kilean as a whole is seized with a combination of fear and hate for the Dra-Pol and communists in general. A constant barrage of propaganda portrays the Drapoel as almost insectile, inhuman, faceless robots who show- and deserve- no remorse.

In the ROK, General Lee continues the not-so-proud South Korean tradition of generals taking things over. In the absense of any communication with Seoul, he declares himself "leader of the Korean provisional regime" and beginst stepping up civilian evacuation efforts in what's left of the ROK.
_____________________________________________________________
Kilean mountain division soldier in night fighting in and around Gumi
http://mercury.operationcitadel.net/~matthias/nationstates/img/kileansoldier2.jpg

Kilean and allied troops are holding, but it seems to be stalemate, pending the arrival of II Corps
_____________________________________________________________
The Kilean Landsmaacht is now present in large numbers in the Korean theatre. The following units are now unloading at Pusan:

3rd Army: Largest concentration of Kilean armor in the Dibujante war. Saw major combat during crossing of the Santander River, the battle of Agrenida.

Units in 3rd Army:

6 panczer divisions
7 infandtry divisions
2 indep. panczer bde.

TOTAL: ~335,000 men ~3,500 tanks (mostly Lions, indep. panczer bde's use Etronian "Chasseur" light tank)

7th Army 7th army is comprised of the divisions that were raised for the final offensive in Dibujante, but never used. 7th army is powerful unit, led by veteran officers and with young, fresh troops. They have been built from the ground-up with new equipment and were the first unit to be totally equipped with Lion MBT's.

Units in 7th Army

3 panczer divisions
4 cavalry divisions (mech cavalry)
5 infantry divisions
2 mountain bde.

Total: ~310,000 men, ~2,900 tanks (Lions)

Other units being sent:

4 heavy artillery rgt's (12 8-in guns each)
3 theatre missile regiments: 36 SCUD TLE's each. Kilean uses the scud beacuse it's simple and cheap to manufacture. We have huge stocks of them and use them to mass-launch at semi-strategic targets.

1 cruise missile regiment- 24 longsword ground-launched cruise missiles. Destined for Jeju-do.
_____________________________________________________________

<OOC:> the Kilean government actually is willing to keep fighting, and by and large the Kileanishe people are now firmly in a seige mentality and the total war mobilization has only made stronger the militaristic nature of Kilean political life. Dibujante outnumbered us by about the same ratio (even more, but his 'army' was an armed peasant mob) and we ended up winning. Numbers no longer scare Kilean. We're heady with victory, and at the same time scared/hateful of Dra-Pol and everything it represents. Dra-Pol has been a boogeyman in Kilean for some time.

We can keep going for years. The Kilean people have been told and conditioned that this struggle- and they DO see the Korean conflict as a logical extension of Dibujante- will be a long and brutal one, but it is needed to save the world from communism. Of course Dra-Pol isn't really communist, but the fact that you pretty much resemble something out of 1984 just does most of the propaganda work for us.<OOC>

(ooc:BG can't get fully involved as last time, because the wide open political system hosts a clash between old guard socialists and more moderate human rights activists.
Still, it recognises that 12 million Drapoel men alone are reaching military age each year, and that to resist this the capitalist coalition must be accepting of recession. The US lead the 1st Korean war under the impression that it was fighting the one major threat to US dominance of the planet. Are Hudecia, Kilean, the POJ in a similar position? Beth Gellens think not. Soon their populations will losefavour with a war that has one one central justification. Even the luxuriating 1st world populations of such democracies have limits- modest limets combared to what the long suffering communists will endure.)

Father continues his bribes- he works on a local scale while the laughable capitalists think of national economies. Father targets individual Chinamen and Pakistanis in silence, quietly making a millionaire here and there. PRChina's economy continues to benefit from capitalist (Quinntonian etc) bribary, while individuals with influence receive private millions from Father's fortune. The Socialist cause is clearly and quietly winning out in China. Politics mean nothing in an imperfect system. The fuel and the missiles will continue to flow like Drapoel soldiers over the Naktong until the next Napolionic masterstroke by the capitalists.

Kinshasa, Presidential palace

President-General Ndelebe looked discontently at the sheaf of transmissions. The war was officially on, and they could not participate. Currently locked in a pitched battle with the United Elias, the Commonwealth knew that it could not face the invader coalition that had gathered against Dra-Pol and come out intact - Furthermore, the Commonwealth had shared nuclear secrets with Dra-pol, and as he read he knew that Dra-pol scientists were learning about nuclear warhead construction and maintenance in the secret nuclear program near the Angolan border.... If the invaders learned about this, they might turn their attention against the Commonwealth, and that had to be avoided at any price.

Still, they could not reasonably defend Dra-pol's actions. The sham communist state had taken South Korea's military by surprise and worked on a "unification" under their own perverse idea of a revolution. The nuclear cooperation agreement would see the light eventually, and as such Ndelebe might as well back Dra-pol politically, if not militarily. After all, if any of the invading nations should take offense and attack the Commonwealth, they would fight a fully mobilized CAF on home ground and be soundly destroyed by hardened CAF men and material.

As he went to write the missive, his hand shook ever so slightly. Was this worth it? Mayhaps this move would even turn old allies, such as the Kilean wehrmacht, against him... No, there was no turning back, Dra-Pol was as old an ally as Kilean, and he was sure the director-general would understand his reasons for stating what he did.

Open missive to all nations participating in this crisis

The African Commonwealth honours it's ties to the Choson People's Republic of Dra-pol, and will not directly commit any forces against the people's army, even as we do not feel this "revolutionary" effort is in the best interest of the south korean people or the world at large. We remain NEUTRAL in this conflict, and condemn the attacking nations for letting their tempers get the better of them in this delicate conflict.


Kinshasa Military Airstrip #29

A massive column of dust and sand was whirled over the pad as the gargantuan "Skycrane" heavy lift helicopter took off, carrying truck upon truck loaded to the hilt with weapons, ammonition and medical supplies. Five other soon followed it from neighbouring airstrips, and they took off due north-east towards China, refueling in sympathetic eastern states along the way. Once there, they would transfer arms, ammo and field-medicinal supplies and instruction manuals to the people's army by truck and Drapoelian carriers to Kanggye, all in the utmost secrecy.

DaKhiem was mightily pleased to learn of even modest AC support. The more trade that looked to flow through the PRC the better- Dra-pol desperately needed Beijing to see the benefits of keeping Dra-pol as an ally rather than freezing her out (the 1.6million troops along the Chinese border may have helped- who wants to surrender Manchuria on the off chance of losing trade with some western capitalists?).

It was likely that Drapoel technicians involved with operating CS-400 (essentially one genration above the S-400 used by AC) would in future (if they survived the war) be ready to make their services available to the AC.

Paegam

"Unfortunately, my purpose here is not merely to open relations between our nations... I come in time of war, and I must inform you that the People's Republic of Spyr harbours grave concerns..."

Etoro continues on, expressing the nature of the international community, actions which are favoured (trade, treaties) and which are not (NBC weapons, unprovoked attack, crimes against humanity). She recounts the tale of Red Tide, a nation which attempted nuclear and biochemical attacks during the Japann War... and was reduced from a prosperous country of a billion to a toxic, irradiated wasteland by the wrath of the international community. She speaks of Bonstock the imperialist, his desire to dominate Asia and the unity and determination such a threat caused within Asia, leading to his retreat (notably, Etoro implies that Bonstock remains a threat to all Asia, including Dra-pol).

"We know that Dra-pol remains isolated... and because of this you have not been exposed to the way the world operates. But know that each time you fire chemical weapons... each time you kill a civilian... each time you execute or mutilate an enemy soldier, you will seal your image as a villain, a monstrous nation bent on conquest and destruction. If you are seen this way, then the world shall unite against you, and that is a war of attrition which even the Choson People's Republic cannot win.

Spyr feels it shares much in common with Dra-pol. We too once ruled over our peninsula, and we too are a state formed and maintained of Revolution. We understand your desire to reunify Korea, to both reclaim a glorious past, and to bring the enlightened benefits of revolution to your fellows. Such is a laudable goal. But, the international community rightly fears for the people of South Korea under Dra-pol.

South Korea is not Dra-pol... the Koreans are not Drapoel in culture or in thinking. It is not simply a matter of sending them off to collective agricultural communes and administering them as you do in the North. If you attempt such, they will resist. The forests will fill with guerillas sniping and nipping at your heels until you topple to the ground. In response, if you do not depart the South, you will be driven to anger or frustration at an enemy you cannot see, nor find, and you shall take out anger upon the uncooperative Koreans. They shall die. It shall be genocide. And the international community shall sweep down and destroy you.

Do you not wonder why your former ally, Beth Gellert, does not now leap to join you in your fight? It is not because they cannot... it is because they are unable to assist a nation which abuses those within its power. If Dra-pol behaved differently, Beth Gellert would be standing here beside you in your fight to unite Korea.

Spyr does not merely come with warnings, however... we also come with solutions. If Dra-pol renounces all of the things which the international community reviles... if they abandon NBC weapons, if they treat prisoners fairly, if they refrain from harming civilians, then the international community will begin to lose its resolve... why do they fight and die against a soldier who is no longer a monster, but a small, hungry Drapoel infantryman, with a family, hopes and dreams like theirs... in the face of such an enemy, only the truly evil shall continue to slaughter you, and perhaps the international community shall turn around and strike at them instead of you.

Winning this war with bullets may be viable, or it may not... either way the cost will be great. Even if you change to avoid the wrath of the international community, you may be forced to halt your unification efforts. But you can end this war without such a great cost, and without loss of face. You can negotiate.

You can halt your advance, as your foes halt theirs, in a cease fire, where neither side attacks the other. Then, you can meet with their representatives and discover why they each fight, and what is needed for them to stop. You will concede on some points, they on others, and you will end up with a treaty, which shall hopefully satisfy all parties and bring an end to the conflict.

You may be doubtful... you, after all, desire Korea's industrial base to benefit your people as well as theirs. But you do not need to invade to get that industrial base. You can watch as it appears within Dra-pol itself... all you must do is open up."

Etoro continues on, describing the ideology of Spyr's own Revolution... Strainism, or its more academic appelation, Free Market Fasco-Socialism. She speaks on the principles of Smithian economics, where allowing people to pursue their self interest produces the maximum communal good, and where people have a moral responsibility for each other's well being. She speaks of Spyran President Strain, author of the policies which sought to educate people in moral responsibility, then allow them to pursue self interest, while taking from the profit of that self interest to fund a powerful welfare state which could both support its people and defend itself. She is, of course, careful not to ever directly say that she thinks the Kuro Revolution's methodology is incorrect.

"A principle of Strainism, and of almost all nations, is that the prosperity of the people should be maximixed for the benefit of all. The foe of prosperity is division: separation between people. Cooperation and unity are the driving forces of greater human happiness.

So, engage in trade! Interact diplomatically with the nations around you!
Many Spyran corporations, and those of _Taiwan, Japann, and numerous other nations, would be glad to invest in your nation. They would build your industrial base, and you would be a source of labour to create products for sale, as well as a massive market in which to sell them. As this buying and selling occurs, your people would bring in more resources, which could be taxed to bring increased revenues for the state, allowing you to provide even further for your people.

Cooperation is not just commercial... it is also intellectual. Sharing truth and knowledge can benefit us all. Perhaps a Drapoel could build the fastest aircraft ever known, or be a prize-winning astrophysicist... until you educate and cooperate with others, you shall never know. And, perhaps that fastest plane comes from the mind of someone in the African Commonwealth, or even Kilean... denied to you now, but in a world of cooperation you could simply learn its workings and replicate it for your own needs. If you open your nation to commerce and knowledge, then your prosperity will increase, and your technology will become more and more advanced... and, unlike invading Korea, this shall continue to occur, without costing thousands of lives. All you must do is recognize that the rest of the world may have something to offer.

Spyr wishes to assist you in achieving peace and prosperity. Thus, we offer our aid in ending this conflict and in its aftermath.

We know that Prisoners of War are a difficult matter for you. We have offered to keep Drapoel POWs captured by the nations battling you in the South, until release is negotiated. We make the same offer to you... if you capture enemy soldiers, simply get them to a port. We shall dispatch ships to carry them out of the warzone, and we shall maintain them until their release is arranged.

We also offer our aid in bringing all parties to the table at peace talks, as well as a neutral location for such talks.

And, we offer to be the first to enter into diplomatic and economic cooperation with Dra-pol once the conflict ends, for the mutual prosperity of all our peoples. We can even set aside seats in our International University, for Drapoel who seek higher education about the foreign world."

[OOC: Likely, this all doesnt come out in one long speech, but its easier to condense the main points of what would be said here...]

The door swung open.

"You CANNOT do this!" the Foriegn Office diplomat was enraged.

General Lee turned to look at the red-faced Kilean diplomat. Behind him, ROK soldiers were setting up a large flag and civilian camera crews were doing sound checks.

"Ah, but I already have." General Lee smiled slightly as he said it.

"No- no! There was a plan, a timetable. You were going to do this with allied consent, when the situation was more stable, and with the blessing and consent of a new constitutional convention!" The Kilean diplomat was screaming in bad Korean, and he wasn't being exactly polite.

General Lee snapped his fingers. Two stocky ROK marines interposed themselves between him and the Kilean officical.

General Lee spoke with the impolite tense- something usually reserved for small children.

"Independence is not something that can be handed down! I have done this exactly beacuse it is without anybody else's consent! Only history and the Korean people can judge my actions!"

General Lee collected himself.

"This changes nothing, you know? We will fight the Dra-Pol- and YOU will fight the Dra-Pol, but we will not do it as an army without a country. We will not swap the prospect of Dra-Pol occupation for Allied occupation. Foriegn troops are here as guests of the Hanguk government, nothing more. This is, as far as myself and international law is concerned, is an internal South Korean matter."

General Lee stepped in front of the camera.

"checking, checking...1....2...3" the broadcasting people were just getting ready. The cameraman counted down.

General Lee took one last look at the Kilean diplomat.

"We are not your puppet. We are nobodies puppet. I'm going to talk with your Field Marshal Anknecht and get your patronizing ass out of my country"

Martial music started blaring as TV Free Korea began it's first broadcast with the proclemation of the Republic of South Hanguk by General Lee, operating under an ROK constitution "suspended for the moment due to the emergency situation and the presumed deaths of the peoples elected representatives in Seoul"

The door swung open.

"You CANNOT do this!" the Foriegn Office diplomat was enraged.

General Lee turned to look at the red-faced Kilean diplomat. Behind him, ROK soldiers were setting up a large flag and civilian camera crews were doing sound checks.

"Ah, but I already have." General Lee smiled slightly as he said it.

"No- no! There was a plan, a timetable. You were going to do this with allied consent, when the situation was more stable, and with the blessing and consent of a new constitutional convention!" The Kilean diplomat was screaming in bad Korean, and he wasn't being exactly polite.

General Lee snapped his fingers. Two stocky ROK marines interposed themselves between him and the Kilean officical.

General Lee spoke with the impolite tense- something usually reserved for small children.

"Independence is not something that can be handed down! I have done this exactly beacuse it is without anybody else's consent! Only history and the Korean people can judge my actions!"

General Lee collected himself.

"This changes nothing, you know? We will fight the Dra-Pol- and YOU will fight the Dra-Pol, but we will not do it as an army without a country. We will not swap the prospect of Dra-Pol occupation for Allied occupation. Foriegn troops are here as guests of the Hanguk government, nothing more. This is, as far as myself and international law is concerned, is an internal South Korean matter."

General Lee stepped in front of the camera.

"checking, checking...1....2...3" the broadcasting people were just getting ready. The cameraman counted down.

General Lee took one last look at the Kilean diplomat.

"We are not your puppet. We are nobodies puppet. I'm going to talk with your Field Marshal Anknecht and get your patronizing ass out of my country"

Martial music started blaring as TV Free Korea began it's first broadcast with the proclemation of the Republic of South Hanguk by General Lee, operating under an ROK constitution "suspended for the moment due to the emergency situation and the presumed deaths of the peoples elected representatives in Seoul"

{Tag}

-Juwang Mountain-

Artillery ontop the mountain was busy pounding advancing Drapol forces with some support from naval and air units. Still, Drapol missile units were returning fire against Hudecian artillery inflicting casualties.

Hudecian naval units would launch missile strikes against these missile units and knocked out a few, but the rest remained well hidden.

A buildup of necessary troops in this region would not be likely to occur until the reserve was replenished in a day or two by the arrival of 3 more Hudecian corps (60 000).

-Southwest of Andong-

Fighting was bitter all along the front, and the rugged terrain made it difficult for any clear advantage to be gained from the armoured assault.

As thousands of more Drapol troops poured across the ever growing temporary bridges across the Hwang-gang, it became obvious that the assault would fail in its primary objective very soon.

Casualties were as heavy as expected, more than 1 000 suspected dead, 1 500 wounded, and at least 50 men were reported missing/ presumed captured.

(OOC: suicide bombers inspire hatred in Israel and the USA, even when they target military units, why would you suppose it would be different when you use it? Our soldiers are not atomatons, they feel anger and rage when they see such acts, just like most people react when they see suicide bombers anywhere in the world)

Tourville's AMX was running out of ammunition. While many more Drapoel light tanks and other armored vehicles lay burning on the banks of the Naktong and in the river itself, two AMXs had gone up in smoke, thanks to RPG fire. 8 good tank crewmen had already been lost.

Why don't those poor kids just give up and go home?!?!?!?! thought Tourville. When he was the age of many of these Drapoel troops, he was playing in the local rock band, not out fighting for a cause.

An RPG warhead explodes next to Tourville's tank. It shakes the crew, the big black spot from the 75mm shell still visible on the front armor. While tanks are impervious to infantry weapons fire, to most everything else they are sitting ducks.

The helicopter-borne reinforcements rush out of their craft and into the line, just in time to repell the first Drapoel crossing. Some troops get carried away and end up jumping down the bank into the path of a horde of Drapoel soldiers, with predictable results.

The rocket-armed Griffons also help push back the Drapoel troops, but one is brought down by SPAAG and the rest are relegated to transport missions. medevac variants fly out fully laden to the convoy of M113X ambulences not terribly far away.

Captain Taylor takes a shrapnel wound in his leg in mid stride, and falls over near a GPMG pit, which is, seconds later, destroyed by a mortar round. An Ak-74 armed corporal runs over to the captain.

"Sir, are you alright? Medic!"

The corporal takes out a bundle of field dressing and tapes it to Taylor's leg. The captain then forces himself up and continues on.

"Corporal! I need some help!"
"Yes, sir!"

With the help of the corporal, captain Taylor continues his rounds. They find a good spot on the end of B platoon's positions. The corporal begins to fire, and Taylor hurls a white phosphorous grenade near an advancing Drapoel unit, drawing in 14.5mm and 12.7mm fire, as well as several Carl Gustav warheads.

The banks of the river are littered with the casualties of both sides. While the Drapoel forces take much heavier losses, they can make up for them much more easily than the allied forces. The LRR paratroops were very angry. Needless waste of human life on such a scale has them worked up into quite a rage.

At the 1st AEF's position south of Yeongdeok, vehicles start up their engines for the short trip back south. The tanks lead, and barrel down the road. APCs hold twice the standard capacity of troops, with many clinging onto the top of the vehicles. More come in trucks and SEPs.

They arrive north of Pohang and start digging in alongside Hudecian troops. Tank crews dig open-backed shelters, and APC crews dig themselves in by a similar manner, with their infantry squads spread out in front, in sandbagged positions. MG crews set up, providing excellent fields of fire across the front of the positions. Offshore, clusters of ships can be seen, including the two Iowas. Most of the fleet moves up towards Pohang, ready to provide gunfire support. Artillery batteries are set up on the decks of LPDs, turning the vessels into five-minute battleships.

On the road to Andong, the 3rd AEF starts to encounter resistance. And lots of it.

The lead MBT-5A drives through a rice paddy, on the lookout for Drapoel troops along with the rest of the tanks. Suddenly, infantry-caliber fire pours out of the grass. Soon, a formation of Drapoel troops is rushing the tanks.

A fierce battle ensues, but the tank MGs take the upper hand. Tiger PAH-3s are called in to clear the road, and hammer away while the columns of armored vehicles inch foreward.

From the carriers, the Jaguar force, now down to only 50 total airframes, including the three in repair, prepares to launch for a strike in support of forces around Andong.

The IINs lurch from the decks of their carriers, and climb to cruise altitude. They head nothwest towards Andong, under MiG-29KI aircover.

The 2nd AEF progresses towards Gumi, slowly but surely. Soon, the lead tank crews can see the smoke and fire against the setting sun. The column stops where there is sufficent space on the roadsides to take a breather. Vehicle crews get out and stretch their legs, and infantry do likewise, in preperation for the battle ahead for them.

OOC: Oh Fudge! I'll just let Xiaguo RP my forces for now. I'm too busy with other things.

The High Council of North Yaman is behind closed doors on the Hill today, discussing how NY may in any way effect what appears to be a horrific outcome to what is already a bloody mess. The people of NY, new to communications technologies set up by the Spyrans watch in horror on the big screens as news crews catch the scenes in South Korea. The people, used to small tribal warfare until the Red Night incident, witness the brutal slayings and listen to international commentary on the brewing conflict. Loudspeakers, being set up by the SFD, announce important events from the neighbouring penninsula.

The populace, unaccustomed to such modern realities, begins to further understand the nature of the world outside their peaceful penninsula.

(ooc note- I really shouldn't post when drunk, but by that hour who's around to stop me? I was just aware that I might not get many posts in today/tomorrow, so thought I ought to do something. Don't worry, I'm not going to forget this thread, its just possible that it'll change from frantic pace to a little sluggish, and back. Plus, I'm going the pub in a few hours :oops:
Here, have a CPRD fact of the day, in lieu of a real post! Did you know... during his 1931-38 revolution, Comrade Sulo, the First Director, in addition to abolishing a previous Drapoel tradition for bowing, especially to one's social betters, also further reorganised the already baffling Drapoel language, eliminating many tenses and formalities. Of course, in the latter part of his rule and the early part of Kurosian I's Greatest Directorship many Drapoel were severely punished for slips of the tongue.)

The Caliph of Daylam expresses his neutrality in the conflict. No troops will be deployed to either Dra-pol or the ROK in this conflict. We hope it can be resolved peacefully and without harm.

So spoke the foreign minister, who also happened to be the commander of the Navy. His name was Zheng al-Din II, a gigantic Mongol.
As the transmission ended, he silently chuckled to himself. He calculated that if Daylam was found out, it would certainly not be chuckles that the other countries expressed.


Even as its neutrality was proclaimed, a large convoy of 'cargo planes' headed for its destination, nominally Shenyang. They came from bases in Central Asia, and they would take an inconspicuous route through the PR to get there. This would not be the last such 'cargo' delivery.

The Caliph of Daylam expresses his neutrality in the conflict. No troops will be deployed to either Dra-pol or the ROK in this conflict. We hope it can be resolved peacefully and without harm.

So spoke the foreign minister, who also happened to be the commander of the Navy. His name was Zheng al-Din II, a gigantic Mongol.
As the transmission ended, he silently chuckled to himself. He calculated that if Daylam was found out, it would certainly not be chuckles that the other countries expressed.


Even as its neutrality was proclaimed, a large convoy of 'cargo planes' headed for its destination, nominally Shenyang. They came from bases in Central Asia, and they would take an inconspicuous route through the PR to get there. This would not be the last such 'cargo' delivery.


Inside the planes were a variety of foodstuffs and clothing. Peaceful enough. There was also tons of ammunition, consisting of bullets and shells, headed straight into the hands of the Drapoel military. From Shenyang the convoy would perform an incredibly speedy operation to land the supplies in Dra-pol. This process would be repeated. Again and again, and again.

OOC: O.K Drapol.. I guess we can just RP some stuff while we wait.. I don't think you'd mind us RPing some battles either.

IC:

-Southeast of Andong- (Juwang Mountain)

Artillery on Juwang mountain made the approach difficult but not impossible for the Drapol troops. Drapol troops advance relentlessly despite the hail of shells.

Hudecian troops attempt to stop them and engage just north of Juwang Mountian.

-Southwest of Andong-

Another M1A2 exploded beside the group as the Drapol counter-attacks increased in furosity and strength. The Hudecians were bogged down in a cycle of thrust and counter-thrust. Casualties increase on both sides, and one of the Hudecian corps falls back into reserve.

-Near Andong- North of the Hwang-gang-

"Where the heck are we sir!" The 1st private asked, his fear evident.

"I think we're on the wrong side of the river... that would explain all the Drapol troops here" the Lieutenant responded anxiously. "Stay down!"

Casualties: (new ones)

1200 dead
2000 wounded
100 missing

If not, he’d have to ground all of his old Soviet fighters and put up J-10s in the short term, and risk losing them forever. Seventeen had crashed on returning to pot-holed airstrips. Damn those Joshuans. Hotan had the corpses of thirty thousand POJ troops exhumed and their ghoulish remains crucified anew- some opposite the Westgaard line, others around the ROK. Their sub-machineguns were issued, with whatever ammo was stripped from the bodies, to Banat troops policing northern ROK cities. Drapoel commandos surrounded Christian buildings and the occupants were slaughtered, the events filmed on ancient cine-cams and later delivered to the Spyrians at Paegam (they’d need sixty-year-old projectors to play them back in their gory sepia tones). It couldn’t be more evident that Dra-pol came from a different era, an age before globalisation.

ooc: I think this answers the questions about whether or not the POJ is going to see this through. I will post IC as soon as I review the thread and can put a post together.

Joshua City; Presidential Complex

DAMN!!!!!

President Richard von Joshua's cane snapped at the handle as his grip tightened while viewing the pictures and video from the Westergard Line.

His face redened and his hands shook as he sorted thru an attached report and pictures that obviously had come from a low light source entitled "Shenyang"

Are we certain of this...this group of piss-ants' involvement

We cannot be certain but our SR-71 pilots felt the size of the flight and its direction worthy of protracted attention.

Very well. Is Direktor Stryker still in Lusaka with the Media Training and Development Center he helped establish. (after getting a nod) Have him report here and book a flight for him to the embassy in...wherever this shithole is.... I need him to deliver this message personally. It requires a special talent of which he has ample. Also dispatch the Armeggeddon

A special diplomatic pouch is prepared containing the material reviewed in a unique format. A vlf radio message is sent.

In the open sea between Dibujante and POJ an antenna buoy surfaces for a short period of time and is then retracted.

Make your depth 1400 and change course to 082. Increase to flank after we pass the layer. We will need a sequence of missile drills that will not involve actual course or depth changes until we arrive at our destination. Officer of the watch. Awaken me in 4 hours.

sir!

Pusan

Field General Skornsky reviewed the announcement by General Lee with both elation and concern keeping his thoughts to himself. Reports indicated that the attacks by General Rogers 9th Armored Corps were proceeding very well but with heavy casualities being taken by the 6th Mechanized which had to dig in place angainst renewed, and seemingly endless. Dra-pol assaults. His planned release of the recent desecrations of POJ dead Marines by the Dra-pol should ensure a very high morale level and a certain "elan" necessary carry their forces forward against odds. Airstrikes and helocopter sweeps continued and he found himself monitoring losses carefully. Equipment must be maintained in order to preserve the quality over quantity equation on POJ's side in this war.

That will definitely impact the number of additional troops we can bring over as supplies for soldiers take up room as do equipment parts and ammunition

He knew the dra-pol faced the same problem but from a different perspective and priority set. Sooner or later the dra-pol generals would realize that their greatest strength came in fighting from home territory that maximized their structure and organzation in that they could count on the local population at home. Said reliance was already hurting them here Gen. Skornsky knew from what few prisoners had been taken in violation to policy. Certain ranks were exempted from any automatic policies. If those taken knew that, things went well; if not, well..he glanced at his pistol belt hanging on his chair.

Field Marshal Ankecht leaned back, closing his eyes. It was one of the oddities that earned him a reputation as something of a wierdo, but everybody humored him, beacuse he was good at what he did. Anknecht knew it was wierd to do but......well, he could see it, in his head. War was like a symphony. He was the conductor. The chatter of orders on the radio and the written papers his staff had made up became a clear picture in his head. It was going to be beautiful. A set-piece combined arms attack...

Anknecht smiled. He could coordinate this.
_______________________________________________________________

Kilean troops around Gumi have been in the fighting, but it's been rather inconclusive. II Corps has taken about 800 casualties so far in half-assed skirmishing. Now, Field Marshal Anknecht is going to attempt his breakthrough. He doesn't just want to make the Dra-Pol retreat, he wants to break through their line and run loose in their rear area.

The KAF- somewhat quiet since the heavy losses taken in the combined air offensive- looses several squadrons of fighters to take care of PAAF interceptors.

For the first time, Donner heavy bombers carry conventional payloads. Two squadrons of them lumber over Gumi. Their role is twofold- carpet-bomb Dra-Pol positions to supplement Kilean artillery, and act as bait.

A regiment of upgraded A-4 skyhawks with anti-radar missiles loiters over Gumi. Any missile radar that lights up to attack the bombers will be pounced on. This is the real goal of the bomber raid- present them with a target that they cannot afford to NOT fire at. The Wild Weasel squadrons will take very heavy losses, yes, but they will destroy radar sets that Dra-Pol cannot afford to replace.

On the ground, General Lee's ROK division makes a feint attack, with mechanized infantry advancing behind a rolling barrage in an attempt to punch through one of the Dra-Pol flanks.

As the ROK attack is in full swing, the self-propelled artillery of II Corps opens up on Dra-Pol forward positions. Firing at a maximum sustained rate they fire quickly and move...but not before Dra-Pol counter battery fire comes screaming in.

But that was the point.

When Dra-Pol counterbattery fire comes in to supress the SPG's, the towed artillery of II Corps, hidden and dispersed until now, fires on the Dra-Pol gun positions. Hundreds of 152mm cannons and two Corps artillery regiments (18 8-in guns each) pound Dra-Pol artillery parks and rear areas in a massive supression effort. Kilean has managed to stockpile a huge number of shells- thanks in large part to quintonnian efforts- and the barrage is kept up at a sustainable rate for over four hours.

Kilean troops move up to the front under the cover of the huge artillery barrage. At the last moment before the attack, the artillery fire stops- just long enough for the Dra-Pol to come out of their bunkers or foxholes and prepare for the attack. Then, every multiple rocket launcher in II Corps flushes it's racks at the Dra-Pol main line.

Cougar heavy tanks roll out of the smoke. They carry mostly flechette and HE rounds- they will break the dug-in infantry of the main Dra-Pol line, and the infantry divisions of II Corps will exploit the attack.

It is dangerous for the huge tanks to close with the Dra-Pol; opportunities for suicidal antitank attacks with point-blank RPG's or satchel charges exist, and many Dra-Pol take advantage of them. Several of the massive tanks are destroyed, and dozens more are immobilized.

The Cougar, though, is basically a reincaration of the "breakthrough tank" concept. Dra-Pol AT guns have their shells bounce off the superheavy armor of the Cougars, and the antitank missiles sent against them are often countered with the "dazzler" laser countermeasure.

The laser antimissile system has also found a new use- used to blind IR/optical antitank missiles, it finds new use in using it's mid-power laser to blind Dra-Pol soldiers.

Two regiments of Condor tank-busting aircraft move to support the assault. Taking huge losses, they dive low over the Dra-Pol troops, hitting the Dra-Pol with low-level bombing and napalm.

Field Marshal Anknecht wants to turn the battle for south-west Korea into a mobile and fluid one. He knows that the Dra-Pol will soon flood millions of men into the south, and he wants to have the most room possible to play matador to the huge mass of the Dra-Pol army.
____________________________________________________________

Lusasat-1 had been the pride of the fledgling Kilean space program. It's launch had been halted due to the war, but now it was finally set to blast into space.

Just....it wasn't going to the moon. No, it wouldn't be able to tell the Kilean scientific community about subsurface lunar geological features. In a fact that just depressed the hell out of the scientists who had labored so long and hard, Luasat 1 had been drafted.

Or rather, the LDSGR- Lunar Deep Scanning Geological Radar. A powerful surface-penetrating radar, it was supposed to be used to study the moon's deeper rock structure. Now, though, after heavy modification, it sat on a military booster rocket, bound for earth orbit.

Beacuse a radar that could see lunar rock formations was also very, very good at seeing......tunnels.
_____________________________________________________________

The latest Kilean Naval Law, passed at the start of the dibujante war, was giving the Kilean navy what it always wanted- a real surface fleet. Now, the first ship of the new building program had been comissioned. The KNS Jorg Muller- the first of the Jorg Mulle class of anti-aircraft destroyers- sets sail for Korea to replace the KNS Unison, which has been in shipyards ever since Dra-Pol missiles reduced it to a floating hulk.

http://mercury.operationcitadel.net/~matthias/nationstates/img/aadd.jpg

The Jorg Muller's are the least soviet-influced of all the Kilean navy's new ships. They have powerful air-search radars and a very large number of surface to air missiles. They carry both the AA-N-8 missile- a medium range fleet air defense missile that can hit targets out to 80 miles- and the AA-N-12, carried in a VLS system, that is designed to shoot down theatre missiles or other high-speed or low-observability targets at out to 120 miles. The ship is very specialized, it's only surface-to-surface weapons being its gun armament- the lethal AK-130- and it's only antisubmarine weapon being ASW rockets

Displacement:8,900 tons
Speed: 30 knots
Major Electronics: air search radar- 250 mile range, fleet combat mainframe.
Armament:
2 AK-130 DP gun mounts
2 30mm CIWS
2 AA-N-8 two-rail launchers (60 missle magazine each)
16-cell VLS for AA-N-12 missile.
2 RBU-2000 ASW rocket launchers.
Air Wing:----


Following the PAAF attack on allied ships, the production of these air-defense destroyers is top priority.

"Change of plans. We have vague reports that someone might be on to us. No other information. The planes will need to break up and land in separate places in ensure we are not detected. The PR is amiable enough, we should be fine."

"Over."

The cargo planes split up, taking wildly varying courses of China, stopping in places as far apart as Xi'an and Xuzhou. They took a circular and ridiculous route before they rendevous in Shenyang.
All was at stake...

POJ Battle Line of the 6th Mechanized Infantry Division; the "angle" near the joining point with the Kilean battle lines

Looking down slope at the piles of the dead, Capt. Wentz of B Company 2/7 Infantry was thankful for the lull. He had stopped counting assaults at 13 and that was 2 days ago(he thought) His company had 250 men when he was ordered to hold this line. Looking down at the remains of his unit, he thought he saw 3 familiar faces. The rest were battalion and regimental rear area types pressed into service to hold the line while the armored formations had moved to crack the Dra-pol lines further west.

The river, that was more like a small stream in this sector, was choked with bodies and he either had gotten used to the smell or his sense of smell no longer existed in this horror. He also had a Kilean platoon from their 2nd Corps that had moved to the sound of firing during their advance and wound up....here. Fancy that he thought with a smile. The Kileans fought at least as well as his own men and he was thankful they were on the same side.

Capt. Wentz could not look at the river for too very long as it brought back memories of a beach west of Hamhung years ago. The bodies in the surf had been his own men then. He heard rumors that the dRa-pol had exumed the bodies again for public display. typical he thought.

just typical dra-pol but it might work against them as the invasion obviously had already.

He looked down the line at the ROK "civilians" (he couldn't call them that anymore "fighters" or "warriors" was more appropriate to their actions over the last 36 hours) manning his firing line. They had originally approached him when his men had taken their positions. The old farmer had explained that the land they were fighting on was land his family had worked for generations and they would fight for it if they could. His sons and grandsons were with him. Most of the rest were from the nearby village and said much the same thing.

They had some training which they attributed to the "warrior of the crucifixion" (at least that was what the interpreter translated the phrase as). Whoever this person was, he had trained and supplied them well. It seemed also apocryphal to hear stories of living men with eyes

"as black as dra-pol hearts and lifeless as the death of which the dra-pol were worthy" and he knew the story of the "living crucifix under the eye that twitched" was definitely fictional....maybe.

Whoever, or whatever, the trainer was; he was good. Capt. Wentz knew that much. They had fought with the valor and courage of a people fighting for the homes and families.....well...... maybe we need to go recruiting thought Capt. Wentz, they have more reason to fight hard than most

It was also the old farmer's son who had suggested early on that the stockpiles of fuel served no good if the tanks and other vehicles were dug into defensive positions. So after dark the night before they had snuck out onto the slope and saturated it and the river bank with the spare gas at the son's suggestion. The next morning when the dra-pol came screaming across the river, it only took one incindiary grenade to turn their "victory charge" into a dance of whirling, flaming death. The dra-pol had not attacked since(that was early this morning) and Capt. Wentz had heard the assaults on the west were rolling up the dra-pol towards the Kileans who were coming the other way.

Maybe, just maybe, they could turn it around Capt Wentz thought of the Dra-pol who had made it across the river and up the slope when the gas had ignited. Some had tried to surrender. He looked at the line of bodies with some regret that dispersed as so much smoke when he thought of the old farmer's reaction to the execution. The old man had hugged him with tears in his eyes and Capt. Wentz thought the farmer was going to kiss him. The older son later explained that the dra-pol invasion had cost most people the lives of loved ones in the cities overrrun near the northern border and also that many had been killed in the dra-pol advance seemingly out of hand. They viewed the execution as justice delivered in a manner the average ROK civilian understood and appreciated.

Charter flight from New Jericho Airfield; Destination Daylam

Direktor John Stryker(former POJ Marine MSGT and now Direktor of Information and Media) leaned back in his seat on the Gulgstream IV. He had the "training video" for the Daylam ambassador and he hoped that the embassy in Daylam could arrange a meeting for him with someone higher up in the government. They were playing a dangerous game and had to be aware of the history as well as the recent dra-pol actions. His next stop was the PRC who had taken the extrordinary step of receiving him. Bad international press of supporting the dra-pol, or even allowing others to through their border, was not something the PRC would ever want(especially in light of the invasion, recent events, and tie backs to other horrible atrocities) and Direktor Stryker knew a pool of reporters working through his Media Training Center in Lusaka that would love all the different angles of this story. He was almost certain that the end result would be a closed PRC border that was actually enforced. the only question was whether all the gory details of dra-pol brutality and an open border would be on the Promise News Network(and every one of its international affiliates) first or not. The Direktor smiled because he thought he already knew the answer.

One by one the planes landed. They would land as many as three days apart so as to throw off any sort of intelligence as much as possible. The first one came, unloaded its supplies, and then hired workers. The official story was that they were for a 'humanitarian' agency. In reality, counting on little more than luck, they were moved over the PRC border, taking a route that would lead them into the center of Drapoel territory, far away from the coast and well within the SAM range of the massive Drapoel batteries.
Lt. Tarkan was the leader of the operation, and it was him that led the bribed, unquestioning manual labor to bring the supplies into Drapoel territory. From there, he hoped to get in contact with some sort of government official.



In Daylam, efforts were made to block the tape getting to anyone important by all but illegal means. The government played a teasing game, at one point assenting to look at the tapes, but then giving them back without viewing and giving an excuse of 'pressing concerns' in Central Asia, where Turkmenistan was being occupied, stabilized, and de-guerrilla'd (is that a word? :lol: ) and annexed into Daylam.

Captain Taylor surveys the carnage along the river. Gasoline can be seen flowing down with the current.

He looks down at the bloody bandage around his foot, and at the troops around him.

"Head count!"

The sergeants count up the troops in their squads. The total comes to a mere 43 out of 90 who started out with the company. Both sides were enjoying a lull in the fighting, and Taylor hoped it would last. Out of the 1,500 paratroops who started with the 2nd Brigade, there were 700 left.

In Colonel Tourville's AMX, the crew tensely surveys the river, waiting for something to happen. The two hulks of the destroyed AMXs still smoulder, and the other crews keep well away from them. Tourville himself confers with the other tank commanders behind his tank, fighting to stay awake. While one of the commanders talks, he falls to the ground, sound asleep.

A few miles away, the lead convoy of tanks and APCs from the 2nd AEF prepares to rush the Drapoel line in support of the Kilean offensive.

Low and fast over the treetops, Tiger PAH-3s and rocket armed Griffons and Mi-8s cross over the river and attack Drapoel positions, especially infantry trenches.

At almost the same time, the tanks begin rolling out. At the front of each column is a BLV-4 bridgelayer.

While the MBT-5Bs and truck-borne infantry provide suppressing fire, the BLV-4s attempt to deploy bridges over the narrower parts of the Naktong.

Two out of four bridges are destroyed off the bat, but two remain. An MBT-5B mounts the brigde, only to be knocked off by a Drapoel RPG. The crew tries to bail out of the tank as it sinks, and they swim to the other shore as best they can, trying to avoid gunfire. The rest of the tanks charge on, and across the river. The infantry follows close behind, but takes heavy losses. The tanks and infantry work quickly to secure a bridgehead, and advance in a semi-circle from their bridges. SEP series APCs also cross, turreted versions with cannons and ATGMs, carrying infantry squads inside. BTR-80 II wheeled IFVs, capable of carrying 15 fully equipped troops, slosh across the river and onto the banks, the vehicles firing with their 20mm cannons and infantry from firing ports in the side of the vehicle.

http://www.mccoy.army.mil/ReadingRoom/Triad/06272003/images/32nd_Bde_soldiers_running_400x.jpg

Troops of the 2nd AEF on the east bank of the Naktong, running up to covering fire positions for the bridge crossing.

*****************Promise News Network ********************

Good evening. I am Thuliesawa Ndelu, a recent graduate of the John J Stryker Media Training Center in New Lusaka City. This broadcast is coming from our Media Relations and Developent Office in the heart of downtown.

A threat to all nations of civilized behavior has arisen on the Korean coast in the invasion of the ROK by Dra-pol, and sadly has the support of at least one newly established Rogue empire. The outlaw nation of Daylam. A brief, but necessary look at the dra-pol past is in order.

A documentary outlining the "War to Defend Quinntonia Sovereignty" is played that is presented from the Quinntonian, POJ, and HBF point -of-view. The massacres of Quinntonian volunteer aid workers are detailed along with the slaughter of dra-pol sympathetic to the Quinntonian establishment in Hamhung. The sebsequent use of chemical weapons by the dra-pol on the Quinntonians and the slaughter of the POJ marines on the hamhung beaches is also detailed.

That portion then segways into the video obtained shot the POJ and Quinntonian sources of the crucified remains outside the Westergard line and in the ROK of those POJ marines who were dug up years after their death. This is followed by a commentary on the beginning of the dra-pol practice of crucifying living people who fell into their hands regardless of military or civilian status, age, sex or role. (yes the tape points to the brutal crucifiction of children by the dra-pol)


In Daylam, efforts were made to block the tape getting to anyone important by all but illegal means. The government played a teasing game, at one point assenting to look at the tapes, but then giving them back without viewing and giving an excuse of 'pressing concerns' in Central Asia, where Turkmenistan was being occupied, stabilized, and de-guerrilla'd (is that a word? ) and annexed into Daylam.

an interview is then put on camera live by satellite with Direktor Stryker who gives a first hand account of his efforts and dismissal out of hand by the Daylam government. The interview then shifts a tri-screen format to involve the POJ Minister of Defense Admiral Joshua Chamberlain who walks Ms. Ndelu and the audience through the POJ Sr-71 video of Daylim transports, a chart and maps that explain how the POJ believes that Daylam is illegally suppliying the Dra-pol so that the Dra-ol can continue their atrocities(may not necessarily reflect actual fact), and outright accuses the Daylam of quid-pro-quo butchery against the ROK civilains.

The interviews conclude with a statement by Direktor Stryker that he is in route to the PRC where he has been told he will be received and he will present the same evidence there and ask that the PRC enter into discussions about the best ways to close their border to the Dra-pol and/or prevent further Dra-pol butchery and atrocities if not bringing an end to the illegal Dra-pol invasion itself.

thank you Direktor Stryker and Admiral Chamberlain. I am told that the official POJ government position is that Daylam comes perilously close to an act of war in supporting this brutal and horrible Dra-pol activity. I am also told that the POJ Minister of State, Bishop Gary Christonsion, has issued a statement to all allies, including our government, that a boycott against Daylam is needed and that classified numbers of POJ military forces are already in route to help ensure that international will is abided by.

This is Thuliesiwa Ndelu of the Lusakian Broadcast Corp for Promise News Network and all of our internaitonal affiliates who have agreed to carry this broadcast.

Thank you

-Juwang Mountain-

Hudecian lines were being pounded.. and hard... by the repetitive Drapol attacks. Casualties were mounting and even though, for the most part, the troops were holding fast, it was becoming increasingly evident the futility of the battle. They would be beaten back... if not today .. then the next .. or the next...

Time was on Drapol's side.

Casualty report:
1200 dead
2000 wounded
10 towed artillery destroyed
7 Humvees destroyed

-Southwest of Andong-

The Hudecian lines faltered under the weight of yet another assault by Drapol.

What began as an orderly withdrawl would have became a full fledged rout if it hadn't been for the concentration of armoured units defending them.

Still casualties were high, another 1000 dead, 2500 wounded, and at least 20 M1A2s and 5 Challenger II tanks burned out.

In response, the Daylami governent releases its own version of events, decidedly different.


First the reporter, an extremely attractive Turkish woman, gregariously points out the dispositions of all Daylami military forces (with some notable holes, which would be irrecognizable to anyone not intimately familiar with Daylam's military).

Then comes an emphatic plea by the government, quoting several verses of both the Quran and Daylami law (which are all but synonymous) giving special rights to prisoners-of-war.

Finally comes a lengthy denial of any sort of support to Dra-pol, and an official statement from Zheng al-Din that Daylam has distanced itself from the conflict and will continue to do so. It implores POJ to drop these false allegations and cease its threats upon our neutral nation.

Meanwhile, in Shenyang, increased but stealthy and careful as ever supplies continue to be funneled through the center of Dra-pol. Lt. Orghuz proceeds with the mission.

-Ottawa-

"This conflict is eating up men as fast as we put them in there..." the Defence Minister protested to the PM. "We have lost over 5000 men in the last week! That's a whole division... gone!"

"We do have an additional 60 000 men incoming in the next few days," General Carter responded. "We can use those to firm up our lines of defence further south. Our mission in the north was to slow them down... which we are achieving."

"But at what cost? How many men is enough?" The Minister of Education joined the fray. "Polls show that support for the war is draining fairly quickly...."

"Support dropped from 95% to 80%...." Minister of the Interior Agueville said scornfully. "Hardly a significant matter."

"Let us be clear here," PM Honatava interjected into the Cabinet discussion. "We are not fighting for ourselves here, we are fighting for the Korean people. Failure here does not mean we can fall back to another position, it means that the entire peninsula is doomed. The Conservatives in the Parliament are firmly behind us on this one... we will honour our commitments."

With that all dissent ended. For now.

-Yellow Sea-

In the Yellow Sea the drastically drained Hudecian navy was still trying to put on a brave face to the world. The true loss of power would not be revealed to the world, probably not even to allies.

The Hudecian navy was running scared. Admiral Smetka thought fearfully. But no one must know that. If anyone found out how pitiful their condition was it could be the end. Missile strikes were still being launched at roads and airbases but no more fighters would be taken away from the fleet.

Sweat poured down his face as he remembered the teribble sight of the suicide fighter crashing into the HN Hclav. It was a memory that was stuck there in his mind.... nothing could dislodge it.

In China....

A small group of young asian men who all had seen far more than their fair share of death in their lives were huddles into the trees around a remote airport.
One huge man looked throug his scope into the airstrip at one of the planes taxiing to a rest. He raised his hand, and with his camo-make-up obscuring his crucifix tattoo, he lowered it.
Several shoulder mounted sufrace to air missile launchers burst forth their fiery death. And direct hist were scored all around. Daylamese wreckage flew high into the night air as the second volley burst forth.
Similar scene like this were happening wherever Daylam had thought to sneak in goods of any kind to Dra-pol. It seems they had a little problem with spies.
WWJD
Amen.

OOC: You think we would be stupid enough not to provide guards? As soon as a plane touches down it is going to be provided with guards, whether they be Daylami or mercenary.
This isnt a remote airport, this is the large city of Shenyang. Your best bet for interfering with the supplies is attacking the trucks that are driving them into Dra-pol.
IC

Transmission to Dra-pol, encrypted: Even now our supplies are knocking at the doorstep of Dra-pol. We have faced accusations and small-scale attacks, but still they come. We hope these will be beneficial to your war effort.

Signed, Lt. Orghuz.

Gumi

The People’s Army’s lacklustre thrust from the west had been in trouble since late in its first day around Gumi. Finding that many of its units arrived in the wrong order, in slightly the wrong part of the line, with parts of their support lagging behind as fuel was brought up, and so on, the attack never quite felt Drapoel. The human wave attacks and relentless, stubborn refusal to withdraw under superior fire gave it the look, but DaKhiem hadn’t swung a punch this far from its body in over fifty years, when the opponent had been a relative lightweight UN force, constrained by little things like cloud cover. This time the modern enemy seemed widespread and advanced enough to cause unanticipated problems in far too many places at once. Massive air strikes over recent days meant that expected support didn’t arrive in a big follow up punch, but in a meek shove that didn’t seem to much phase this heavyweight.
The Kilean combined arms and multiple fronted attack was more than the still twitching plan A could cope with, and owing to the disorderly nature of their arrival and the serious nature of casualties and chaos, no one was sure who’s right it was to order a plan B . Drapoel artillery, thin on the ground at Gumi to begin with, hurt by POJ attacks, and under reinforced thanks to Hudecian raids, wouldn’t survive a sustained and directed four-hour barrage. Similar was true of most anti-aircraft systems in the immediate area. Save for man-portable QW-2, a couple of 14.5mm machineguns often being dragged on trolleys by teams of men, and an almost negligible fraction of the D-ZSU-47-2 SPAAGs and DRAR-1 SPSAMs the units at and near Gumi were out of cover.
As tanks and infantry come, it is clear that the real bulk of the Assault Division meant to spearhead the Gumi offensive has been destroyed. Units resisting the attack are scattered and incoherent, and as hard as they may fight there’s no realistic hope of organising a counter to the attack. Here and there a few men or small units have by now broken into dazed retreats, though most hang on to the last. Many of those falling back –having no idea which way to go or quite where they want to get, the PA doesn’t offer many contingency plans based on retreat- fall foul of the trickle of units still coming the other way. Officers amongst the rag-tag of units still trying to keep up the shattered offensive organise more than a few executions on encountering elements of retreat.
The most the trickle of forces from the bombed-out west can really hope to achieve is to provide fresh RPGs and SAMs to units not yet overwhelmed near the front. It does mean at least that any offensive towards the west will keep running into fresh (relatively) troops heading the other way, but rarely will they constitute well informed, fully supported, or full size formations, rather whoever could get through the bombed out way down from the northwest. All along the way small units have dug in to provide relay points for advancing PA units in some effort to bring about a bit of uniformity and purpose. Most of these involve mini hand-dug HART-alikes and tunnel complexes. Of course they’re nothing like so serious as those defences in the north, but soldiers not sent to the very front and into action have worked no less hard in digging out defences. There are no concrete bunkers or underground railways, but there are tunnels big enough for little Drapoel soldiers to crawl through, a few feet below ground with exits concealed as well as possibly. Of course the closer to the front these defences are, the further they are from presenting a coherent defensible position, and work goes on even as the sounds of fighting approach.

The Choson People’s Republic of Dra-pol

(ooc: Daylam aircraft shouldn’t have much trouble provided they’re not on bad terms with Beijing. The CPRD still has air superiority over its own borders, and can hit aircraft and missiles scores of KM over and around the Chinese border- China has its own air defences, and attacking commercial aircraft in her airspace would probably not be a super idea for the anti-Drapoel coalition. It’s not up to me- they can do it if they want, but I’d imagine it’d help set them up as generally aggressive against socialist bodies, apart from getting whatever the use to do it shot to pieces.)

Between the ranks of the northern army –a force almost the same size of the entire Chinese army- Dra-pol was stepping-up cross border trade. DaKhiem had agreed to ask that nations wishing to import war supplies to the CPRD via the PRC pay a new tariff on such shipments, and for his part Director Koshiako Kurosian had publicly announced that Dra-pol would shoulder part of the extra cost. This well explained why the economy had dropped (“four places” in Nation States terms) so significantly in recent days. The closure of Kosong probably didn’t help, either.
Still, DaKhiem was accepting aid from Daylam and the mysterious Beth Gellen rogue “Father”, and paying through the nose for Chinese and other imports, while openly asking for an increase in both aid and trade, as it fitted the revolutionary, anti-capitalist, anti-religious, or simply profit-driven residents of earth. Back in the other direction trade was still relatively light. Dra-pol couldn’t spare much production capacity, and was running an ever-larger deficit. Sadly propaganda posters and tapes implying that after taking Hamhung the westerners meant to do the same again across East Asia (and why not?), and that unlike the British and Portuguese they wouldn’t cordially return Hong Kong and Macau, didn’t quite compensate for the flow of metal and fuel.
One suspected that perhaps comrade Secretary Hotan had a guiding hand in this very un-Koshiako-like opening up.
Dra-pol needed fuel and steel, and frankly almost everything else involved in the construction of guided missiles, armoured vehicles, and er, food.

There was something more than this underway. Save a few speeches almost humble asking for increased trade, young Director Kurosian III had been little seen since the first week of invasion. Hotan was speaking more frequently, again, after a brief decline in appearances since Koshiako’s first public sightings. Hotan was delivering –on KIII’s behalf, of course- major new Directions. There were now between 6.8 and 7.2 million Drapoel in South Korea, all told (over thirty seven thousand had been confirmed dead, several times that wounded, and some estimates from the far south were probably based on an underestimation of the offensive’s failing). New deployments were levelling off as the Central Directorature decided that it could not reliably feed significantly more men in the field for an extended period. Of course it could produce the food -it managed when the men were sat on the border contributing nothing but manual labour for the stock-piling of military supplies- but the scale of disruption thus far to lines of supply gave cause for concern ahead of a new drive south.
So, the rest of the People’s Army won itself new tasks. A new Great Progress was thrust upon us, said Hotan. The reactionaries had gathered more force than could have been imagined in the past, and the CPRD needed as such to make sacrifices and force progress to counter that.

In short, Dra-pol was still changing. There’d been hints at it with the industrialisation a few years ago of Kanggye and with the Kosong experiment, but idealistic young Koshiako had slowed such activity. He stuck hard to Sulo’s old teachings- Year Sulo meant something to him, and industialisation... it was modernist, it could have come from that western Manifesto. It wasn’t Drapoel.
Hotan didn’t see it Koshiako’s way. Hotan had fought and (supposedly) won the Crusader War against modern foe, and he saw that Dra-pol was fighting the same again. The Republic couldn’t have it both ways. Returning, as Sulo’s students would have it, to the beginning of civilisation and proving how a time-line free of capitalist infection could one day yield a new empire to rival the Choson would mean pitting a stone-age Dra-pol against the C21st coalition.

“We can have unification under force or modern arms, or we can have isolation for the sake of our progress and ours alone.” Said Hotan when no one was around to hear.

It was obviously now impossible to abandon the first option, he supposed. To admit that the Central Directorature was wrong to embark upon the Great Progress of Unification would undermine its great progress to and from Year Sulo.

Koshiako wanted to do both, which would bring defeat in the first and probably the fall of the CD, anyway, meaning the second item would never be pursued anyway.

It was with all this confusion in mind that Hotan was transforming Dra-pol. Chinese engineers were brought in along with the Drapoel taught in Quinntonia or else schooled later by those former students, and western experts arrested after Kilean’s attack on Kosong were likewise.. pressed for assistance. Even as war raged to the south, millions of People’s Army personnel were set to work carving out more conventional runways, sinking new mines, building new factories and plants, mainly near Kanggye, but also dotted through the mountains elsewhere. Collective industries were beginning to decline a little as semi-skilled labour was drawn to centres such as Kanggye to work in factories of all sorts.

Near Andong

There was order here. Gumi was completely falling apart, but the northern fight was going at least a little better, if not swimmingly. The Drapoel were taking disproportionate casualties- as they tried to cross the river and negotiate little-trailed land east of it many units were picked off. Type D-14 medium tanks were coping well with the road-free terrain they moved over. They were designed to deal with rougher terrain in the north, after all. Most resistance east, so far as anyone could tell, seemed to be coming from the sky and sea. Certainly that was damaging and inflicted thousands of casualties, but it was never really going to stop men on the ground. On this wide front administration of the assault was controlled by Banat and Red Bamboo commandos with frequency-hopping portable radios. They didn’t engage in heavy fighting, kept their heads down, wiped-out whole communities where anyone threatened them in a physical or intelligence sense, and kept to their task- telling the thousands of tiny, off-roading supply units exactly where they were needed. They acted as waypoints and relays in a cross-country setting where millions of advancing soldiers created chaos. They pointed out where best to dig in fall-back positions, where to place SAMs in order to give a good coverage/protection balance, and so on.
From the air they appeared as if any other wandering platoon amongst millions of men.
The majority of AVs surviving from near fifty thousand deployed were focusing on crossing the river, bypassing or smashing local resistance, and generally speeding things up across this front. The second highest concentration of AA defences deployed (after the battered airfields of the northwest) was with the offensive.

(ooc: While the major offensive southwest is breaking apart under concentrated air and missile strikes on its supply lines down the west and in the face of tens of thousands of enemy troops, I think I’m justified in saying that the other push at Andong is going reasonably well now- we seem to have faced only a few thousand coherent enemy troops, and we’re using a force.. about the size of the German army thrown into Russia, only we’re supplying them not with trucks and horses but with trucks and underground trains and tens of thousands of AVs. I accept that we’re taking massively bias losses- crossing the river and coming across difficult country the mainly Hudecian and local defenders have a big advantage, but if they’ve lost 5,000, we’ve lost twenty-odd thousand, maybe a little more, and that’s hardly put a dent in the operation. This offensive just doesn’t care about a few thousand enemy soldiers- it’ll just create a pocket of them and keep going.)

Paegam

Madame Kurosian, who saw some truth in parts of what was said, heard the Spyrian’s words. She’d been in Dra-pol for so many years that the outside was a blur, but she’d always been relatively moderate by Drapoel standards. She’d tried for years to convince her son, Koshiako, that he shouldn’t call her comrade mother, not that it’d worked. She knew that a lot of what was said would be useless, her son would never listen to it. Still, she’d take what she dared to his attention, or perhaps to Hotans when next he visted Paegam.

It would take time for word of Hotan’s new drives to reach isolated Paegam.

China

It was no secret that anti-socialist forces were again at work in China. Last time they’d actually assassinated a head of state while he was on hand to give another speech in his generally popular tour, this time they seemed to be shooting at commerce. DaKhiem didn’t hesitate to sympathises and to play on such things- China was given Drapoel frequency hopping radios for secure communication and anti-terrorist co-operative efforts. Banat units were offered to help track hostile elements (including internal threats to individuals’ power). (ooc:I..think Beijing might well reject even friendly special forces running about her streets, I dunno, opinions? They could be used in nefarious ways without hurting Beijing quite so much as using Chinese agents might..ah well, not that important.)

Daylam operatives too were contacted and offered a small number of frequency-hopping radio sets for enhanced security of communication in future.

Further afield, DaKhiem was making likely futile efforts to convince Lusaka to crack-down on blatantly anti-socialist propaganda aided by persons and facilities on their soil. Dra-pol didn't really have much to offer the UARL, but it couldn't hurt to protest.

-Uiseong-

After another brutal night of combat, the Hudecian II Army had finally received the order to retreat to Uiesong and and Wonji.

Casualties:
500 dead
1500 wounded

-Juwang Mountain-

Things couldn't be going worse on the easternmost front of the conflict. Over 5000 Hudecian troops were now surrounded on Juwang Mountain after Drapol troops overan the forces guarding Cheongsong and Yeongdeok. The remaining troops, numbering less than 30 000 fell back to Hyangno-bong.

Casualties
1000 dead
2500 wounded

-Pohang-

"Finally," General O'Neil sighed in relief as he watched an additional 40 000 troops disembark in the bay. With no reserves left, he had been counting on these troops to help him secure Pohang against the impending assault. "We have a lot of work to do."



-Ulsan-

The continuing flights of Hudecian transports had brought another 20 000 jet - lagged but armed soldiers.

OOC: Sorry.. maybe I should quickly review

I Army (80 000)

I Corps (Gumi)
II Corps (Ulsan)
III Corps (Daegu)
IV Corps (east of Uiseong)

II Army (80 000)

I Corps (split - 1 division on Juwang Mt., rest on Hyangno-bong Mt.)
II Corps (south of Yeongdeok)
III Corps (Uiseong)
IV Corps (Wonji)

III Army (80 000 - mostly enroute)

I Corps (arriving in Ulsan)
II Corps (arriving in Pohang)
III Corps (arriving in Pohang)
IV Corps (enroute - ETA maybe 2-3 days)

I do have significant forces up there (you have millions though). If you have been following my posts I have given these numbers time and time again. You are not fighting a "few thousand" up here. You are fighting tens of thousands of men and heavy equipment. That front is my responsibility, the western one is LLR and Kilean and POJ's far as I know. (although my air strikes from the Yellow Sea were to support them)

Also you are failing to explain an important fact. With no major river crossings how can you effectively (or for that matter .. in any coherent amount) transport ammunition and fuel across the river? And again, with few major roads on the eastern coast, transporting fuel is around that side is well... near impossible. Off-road travel is not just dangerous (damage is easier) it is slow.

Think of the British/US operation "Market Garden" in WW2... when they tried to do what you're doing.. shovel hundreds of thousands of men and equipment up a single (or a few) road it ended in disaster (for the most part). The troops had to line up on the road and wait for bridge builders to arrive (which were delayed by the lineup). If you are walking, then how do you expect your troops to fight after they have marched so far? My troops are stealing buses and cars (I posted this earlier) to get around, and there is only about ten thousand troops using any one road at any given time.

ooc: as an add on to Hudecia's post. The battleship bombardments and AF missile strikes from Daeron have been in support of Hucedian forces outside Andong and that area in general.

The naval air strikes and helocopter involvements have been in the Gumi area as rped.

Field Marshal Anknecht receives word of the Heudecian retreat just as his men are celibrating their first victory over the Dra-Pol. It was a lopsided fight- an allied heavy mechanized force against a weak enemy vanguard deprived of supplies- but it was still the first significant allied win, and the Kilean and Promise of Joshuan troops were flush with victory as their tanks eventually halted to wait for support units to catch up.

The news from Andong was...not so good. The Dra-Pol were there in force, and were there in the kind of numbers that the allies should expect for the rest of the war.

Anknecht would have to modify his plans. 3rd Army was finally here, over 300,000 men in 10 divisions. It would go north from Pusan, to Pohang. There, on the eastern coastal plain, it's panczer divisions will meet the Dra-Pol tide head-on.

Anknecht would head back to Pusan later that night. II Corps would do well enough on it's own. He needed to be on-scene for the clash to come. Anknecht wasn't going to take up defensive positions. He was going to attack, he was going to send 3rd army charging headlong into the Dra-Pol army.

Gumi was going to look like a sideshow next to this.

Aboard the Iowa Class (AEGIS) Battleship "New Joshua"

an elderly gentleman steps off the helocopter in casual civilian clothes and strides towards the open hatch off the helo pad. The Senior Chief and others gathered snap to attention in surprise dispite the civilian garb.

Fleet Admiral Rauss. Sir, it is a priviledge to have you aboard sir! Can we show you to the VIP quarters?

No, Senior Chief, the Flag Bridge please. My uniforms and gear are being offloaded now. It seems my retirement is at a temporary end. Inform the Capt. and Commodore that I am taking command here and we will be having a command staff briefing in 30 minutes. (turning to his aide) I will expect a full report on the damage done the Hucedian Fleet and a timetable for our arrival in the Yellow Sea.

Yes Sir, Fleet Admiral Rauss SIR!! Welcome back!!!

a few moments later on the 1mc a boatsain mate's whistle is heard throughtout the ship

Arriving, Fleet Admiral Rauss. The Admiral is in command

The anouncement is met with cheers throughout the ship.

ooc: Fleet Admiral Rauss has been in the Blockade of Belmore, The TFUN war, Tulip Terror Wars, Dra-pol 1, Africian Commonwealth, and Dibujante wars.

Joshua City

A news blackout went into effect shortly after a "liberal" news source reported increased Stratotanker and transport activity at the New Jericho Air base along with reports of what could only be bomber(or flying saucer) launches. Unconfirmed reports of Media and Information Director Stryker being taken into custody shortly after his return from the PRC over protests in this matter are being vigorously denied by all government parties.

Pusan; First Meeting with Field Marshall von Manstein

to the Kilean liason:

your heavy troops are already moving to support our allies. That is good. I am issuing orders for the 1st Guards Armored to ready up at the earliest notice.

(to the rest of his staff)

issue preliminary orders to 11th Armored and 3rd Armored Corps for movement and coordinate our activities and those of the Fleet Admirals force with Battle Group Peiper and the Battleships. General Skornsky, is your airborne force ready?

yes sir Field Marshal.

OOC: You think we would be stupid enough not to provide guards? As soon as a plane touches down it is going to be provided with guards, whether they be Daylami or mercenary.
This isnt a remote airport, this is the large city of Shenyang. Your best bet for interfering with the supplies is attacking the trucks that are driving them into Dra-pol.
IC

Transmission to Dra-pol, encrypted: Even now our supplies are knocking at the doorstep of Dra-pol. We have faced accusations and small-scale attacks, but still they come. We hope these will be beneficial to your war effort.

Signed, Lt. Orghuz.


Of course there would be gaurds, and I was trying to illustrate through RP one of many attacks, similar attacks ould be happening all over China, as we have spent most of the last several years fighting or preparing to fight the Dra-pol, and so have a plethorae of units like these all over China.

Also, it should be known that these are my "Men of Masada", an agency from Quinntonia that we don't even acknowledge as existing, so you will have a tough time tracing any of the attacks back to us.
WWJD
Amen.

OOC: Yes. But the idea of Dra-pol attacking a plane in the middle of Shenyang is not realistic.

The 2nd AEF runs all over the Dra-pol troops, closing on them from their rear lines and surrounding them between the APCs and tanks and the infantry on the other side of the river. Prisoners are trucked back to camps near the coast, what few surrender.

MBT-5Bs prove very hard to destroy with RPGs, and losses from ATGMs are reduced even further by the ECM systems carried by the 5Bs.

LRRA infantrymen, supported by domestic copies of the Patria AMV (I have finally made up my mind, after having gone through the John Henry, SEP, and BTR) and up-gunned M113Xs, since the 2nd AEF did not have any CV-9040s pour into the weakened Dra-pol lines and overrun many positions, the 20mm cannons and ATGMs carried by their various modes of vehicle support helping greatly.

The majority of the troops in the 2nd AEF have been carried in ZIL-131, Ural 375, and M-925 trucks, as well as a few PTS-Ms here and there. About 25,000 truck-borne troops arrive along the banks of the river and the western border of the perimeter. They dig themselves in, armed with heavy machine guns, Carl Gustavs, and ATGMs, and wait for a Dra-pol attack. Their trucks are not far away, in case a quick getaway is made necessary.

The armored portion of the 2nd AEF (the troops in tanks and APCs) set up advance positions to blunt any prospective Dra-pol advance, along the same general line as the POJ and Kilean troops.

Captain Taylor finds that he is the ranking officer to be left alive from the battle. He takes mandatory command of the 600 remaining troops from the 2nd brigade, dirty and battle weary.

A wing of Mi-8Ls appears on the horizon, headed for his position.

The plump, stout helicopters set down in back of the paratroop's positions, and let out fresh troops from the 1st brigade, which was assembling around Ulsan. A Lt. Colonel walks over to Captain Taylor.

"Where's your brigade CO, captain?"

Taylor points to the charred remnants of a jeep on the road.

"I'm the senior officer."
"So you're the CO, then. We're taking over these positions. Your brigade has been relieved."

The remnants of the brigade climb into the awaiting Mi-8s, which take off fully loaded. They leave the Naktong behind, and head east. Shortly later, they arrive on the tarmac of Gimhae International, where a group of Il-79s waits for them.

The troops are marshalled off the helicopters and into the awaiting heavy lift cargo planes, which take off in short order, heading north for Bedford Mallard.

By nightfall, the pilot announces their entrance into LRR airspace. Outside the windows, a brightly-lit flight of F-16Hs from the nearby fighter station (a small dirt/paved airstrip that suits LRR fighter aircrafts' field requirements nicely) escorts the transports into Bedford Mallard international.

Near Andong, a flight of Tiger PAH-3s flies escort duty for an element of the 1st airmobile division, brought in from mainland LRR to allow the 3rd AEF to reinforce Pohang.

"This is peach 1 calling peach flight, armor 9 o'clock."
"Roger that, engaging."

A section of Tigers peels off from the main body, and dives down towards a group of Drapoel troops and light tanks.

Cannon shells and folding-fin rockets are flung at the target before the helicopters make a sharp turn and attempt to get low enough to avoid AAA and shoulder-fired SAMs from the target.

Meanwhile, a not unimpressive flotilla of Merlin HC3s and Mi-8Ls snakes its way up through the narrow corridor of allied-controlled land going up to Andong, under the cover of Tiger PAH-3 attack helicopters and MiG-29KIs from the carriers. The flotilla soon reaches the beleagured Hucedian positions.

"This is the 1st airmobile division calling Hudecian command for Andong, we have arrived. Requesting LZ coordinates, over."

The transports themselves are very well armed. Mi-8Ls and Merlins alike sport long winglets, full of folding-fin rockets and ATGMs, and 14.5mm MGs protrude from the windows. Some even carry two AA-11 MOD AAMs, making their appearance nothing less than fearsome, especially with the addition of shark teeth by ground crews.

Meanwhile, the 3rd AEF drives to Pohang full-tilt. Through the night, the columns speed along the highways and minor roads, headed to Pohang, where the 1st AEF already was, digging in alongside Hudecian troops. Attack helicopter squadrons were arriving daily. The faces of even some of the reserve Mi-24D pilots could be seen, always older and more worn than the younger Tiger pilots. The attack helicopters fly from both makeshift beach bases and from LPDs.

Through the night advance, some tanks and trucks drive off the road. Engineers are occupied freeing heavy tanks from awkward positions nose-down in ditches and shallow creeks.

But the bulk of the force reaches Pohang intact. They start digging in alongside the 1st AEF and the Hudecian troops there. Through mingling with the Hudecian troops, the men of the 1st and 3rd AEFs, who had never before seen combat, form opinions about the Dra-pol troops, which vary from storyteller to storyteller.

Off the coast of Yeongdeok, a fearsome sight appears. Two Iowa battleships and a cluster of frigates and destroyers show up along the shore. All is quiet, until the early-morning silence is shattered by the pounding of 24 16" battleship guns, and the woosh of NLAR launchers as they fire on the Dra-pol troops who had overrun the town not long before.

(ooc:I've got two or three big posts almost ready to go up, but I'm having too much trouble with the forums, and with falling asleep, so I'll be back to place them tomorrow. Bear in mind that if too much movement is done between my posts a lot of it will end in tears as its discovered that the Drapoel did such and such hours earlier.)

ooc: Dra-pol, Please see the ooc thread regarding Daylam

Thanks

Unless my arguments regarding why I am not a smoking crater are refuted, there is no reason to assume the OOC shipments to Dra-pol are stopped. "Innocent until proven guilty."

OOC: Nations do not need to provide a reason for their actions, although it should be fairly logical.

If Xeraph, Matich et al... have a problem with you they can respond how they want to. In one of the wars I was involved in we nuked a nation into dust for his godmodding and poor RPing (that was kinda a side show... both sides turned all their nukes at him and fired). So you see, if you are being imperialist people can respond how they want to. Personally I agree with you and think that they poorly RPed it, but you shouldn't have attacked so many other nations.

In any case, you need to have a nation to continue trading.

(ooc: I agree that Daylam's destruction was some of the worst RPing in all history, and in his place I would have ignored it totally. Still, I also agree that his conquest of central Asia was rather questionable.. but in the end it doesn't matter all that much, his contribution is never likely to turn the tide on its own- I assume that there are lots of other nations trading with Dra-pol over land anyway, both from NS and the real world. One more or less doesn't matter much, so I'm not too bothered, personally.
Sorry I've been slow posting- the forums wouldn't let me on at all, yesterday, I tried at about four different points through the day/night, but y'know..)


(ooc: I direct you to the ooc thread for a response to some other concerns brought up here. Sorry if this post is a bit general, it's just what came out while I was unable to look at the thread directly.)

PR China

The rendezvous was finally made. Banat agents were hauled aboard the little diesel/electric submarine and set on the latest stage of their trip. Next stop; Dibujante.

Elsewhere Drapoel diplomats, such as they were, arrived to discuss with Beijing the fascinating intricacies of international trade and local consumption of basic construction materials- DaKhiem suspected that China was consuming concrete and cement intended for the CPRD.

Andong front (as we’re generally referring to the advance from the north)

Progress was relentless, a much more typical Drapoel operation than was the withered Gumi effort. Huge waves rolled forwards. Whole great assault divisions slammed forwards until they ran low on fuel or munitions, at which point they would stop and consolidate (only because they physically couldn’t move forward much further).

Anything encountered directly in an assault division’s progress was subjected to its full force, with self-propelled (75mm and 150mm) and towed (75mm, 115mm, 150mm) guns and (122mm) rocket artillery, tanks, mechanised, and foot infantry. Air support was lighter than it had been at the outset- damage to captured airbases, increasing distance from home airstrips, somewhat reduced fuel stocks (though far from exhausted), and of course heavy losses when engaging the Hudecian fleet and its escorts saw to that. Still, it wasn’t unheard of.
The enemy’s taxing big wings kept air operations to support fighting west of Gumi and to cover the chaotic line of supply and reinforcement to an insignificant level, and other aircraft were held in reserve for possible future engagement of naval assets.
The escape after the Yellow Sea battle however was seen as something of a success, as POJ aircraft had been narrowly escaped by the bulk of the PAAF, and small operations remained possible on the northern front, under a massive air defence umbrella.
Of course PAAF casualties continued- usually attack planes were flying fast and low through hills, often at night. Most Drapoel aircraft were cheap, fairly fast, easy to fly, and made to take-off and land on the shortest, roughest strips any jet fighter could- their night flying abilities, like those of their inexperienced pilots, were modest.
Flying like this, the PAAF sometimes managed to boost the punch of a forward assault division, but did little to protect the mobile spearhead units from enemy air attack. From time to time they hit their own advance units when they began to dig in. When coming back the other way, Drapoel anti-aircraft machineguns and low-level SAMs hidden on the rear face of a low ridge engaged one pair of KJ-1. One was shot-down and the second crashed on landing at an improvised airstrip, its landing gear peppered by 14.5mm rounds.

As one assault division ran out of momentum its efforts were divided. Some men would be focused on defending in the short term against possible counter offensives, or more likely increased air strikes on their specific position. Another portion would work more heavily on digging in- small (Drapoel) man-sized tunnels, conventional earth-work defences, stationing of heavier SAMs and AAA than what moved with the advance, and digging in artillery was all to be expected. There was something more drastic than that, however, as trucks would begin to arrive with concrete and heavier machinery than transported by the division’s trucks and AVs. A final portion of the assault division’s surviving fighting strength typically went all but on leave at the front.

Usually these men slept, slept, requisitioned food, and tried to sleep further against the humming of machines and rumbling of explosions. Where divisions came near land still inhabited by South Koreans, or still bearing the hallmarks of major civilisation, here and there discipline wavered. Generally there was little interest in locals or surviving facilities, where there was, discipline usually prevailed, but well, the Drapoel are human. In isolated cases soldiers on leave found it enjoyable to goad the capitalists or to smash and steal things that’d survived evacuation, fighting, and official requisition by DaKhiem. Metal spoons and such were quite popular, as ordinary Drapoel had long since surrendered such luxury items –if they ever had them- to one or other Great Struggle’s need for steel.
Disorder never lasted long before officers, the Red Bamboo, or the Banat restored Drapoel formality, but it was often typically fierce and extreme for the short time it existed.

Still, one assault division running low on fuel or whatever else was not going to stop the People’s Army, and more were quickly sent forward from the multi-million man reserve that existed across the northern ROK. Often, units were sent to bolster the forward position now occupied by the halted division while others –previously sent in similar fashion to the last point so entrenched- set out again with so many resources as they could muster. That division would in turn stop when it’d gone through a significant measure of its supplies.
One might compare it to a big version of Kilean offensive doctrines, though really in the PA’s case necessity rather than choice brought it on.

Surface to air missile and anti-aircraft artillery defences were of course vital to this approach, with systems spread across the north side of the river, by now bridged in countless places by some of the tens of thousands of bridge sections available to the CPRD. More SAMs arrived every day from Dra-pol as Hotan’s industrialisation, arguably initiated by the late Kurosian I, intensified in spite of growing unease amongst hard-line Suloists, of which Director Kurosian III was arguably one. Exiled ex-Director Kurosian II was most certainly an adherent to the old philosophy, only more so since the power-struggle with his father saw him arrested and handed to Quinntonian authorities.

Kosong, the Choson People’s Republic of Dra-pol

“...when indiscriminate capitalist missiles arrived to snuff-out Dra-pol’s grand olive-branch, this genuine attempt at acceptance of western ways.”

The documentary film was horribly amateurish, the equipment with which it was made generally worse, except that the camera captured high quality images, if focused at completely the wrong distance to fully appreciate Kosong’s damage, or the presenter’s ham-fisted display. The military cordon had been repositioned so as to allow the filming without making evident DaKhiem’s martial administration of the ‘open city’.

“Director Koshiako Kurosian himself is expected soon to visit the city...” The presenter rambled on.

DaKhiem, the next afternoon

The little capital, rebuilt yet again in all its humbleness, again called by tannoy for its occupants to consider the Central Directorature’s video wall.

“Comrades! Secretary Hotan speaks!”

If it was at all possible, Hotan’s face was more than usually stern. He appeared, filmed from the shoulder up, against a bare concrete wall, clad as ever in the dull tones of Drapoel tradition, his shaved head another blank space amongst the many in shot.

“Comrades, I come before you today with more of the sad news that our revolution has become accustomed to suffering. Even as I speak, our friends in Beth Gellert are releasing through Iskra!, their international news information agency, a videotape provided to them with my own solemn approval.

“A documentary film shot yesterday and meant as a record of the devastation wrought against Kosong was found in later production to depict also the tragic event of which I mean here to inform you.

“Comrade Director Koshiako Kurosian has, like his great and good father before him, fallen to the bullets of reactionary terror.”

In a slightly scratchy edit Hotan’s face was clumsily replaced by the video taped a day previous at Kosong. In the background to the right of shot, while the presenter gesticulates comically in description of the recently fallen missiles, a small figure (even by Drapoel standards) is seen to walk ahead of an entourage. The party is apparently surveying damage to a large building from which the city’s main video wall fell during the Kilean attack. Seeing the party the presenter becomes all the more frantic, pointing and insisting that Director Kurosian III is arrived. Seconds later a few puffs of smoke indicate gunfire, which resonates in the presenter’s excited cry.
A firefight is conducted over a period of about eight to ten seconds before several of the distant Drapoel figures race off in pursuit, the presenter supposes, of their attackers. They leave behind three fallen bodies, the small boy identified as Koshiako being amongst them.
Another bad edit later the aftermath of the pursuit is captured in greater detail. The boy Director is dead, shot in the head, his face covered in blood. Two of his Banat guards lay shot, one apparently dying. Captured are the two assassins- tall white men marked by a striking crucifix tattoo below one eye.
Bound, kneeling amongst blade and sub-machinegun wielding Banat, and seemingly hurt, one of the two confesses his Joshuan origins, the other his Quinntonian orders both in this atrocity and the killing of Kurosian I and the attempt on Hotan’s life.

Hotan’s face is crammed back onto the screen. The Secretary promises vengeance against those that’ve scorned the Republic and obliterated the Kuro dynasty, vowing to drive the enemy from the south and to recapture Hamhung (he did not say liberate, and probably for good reason, considering PA planning for Hamhung fighting).
In the international release given to Iskra! of Beth Gellert and Chinese state media, Hotan’s speech was different. He made fewer promises of destruction and genocide and greater issue of the damage the enemy had -since its unprovoked invasion of Drapoel shores some years ago- dealt to the Republic and its leadership. The Secretary, when he was not comparing his foe to inquisitional maniacs and self-serving crusaders, out-right demanded the immediate release into his custody of all Drapoel prisoners taken in the Crusader War, Kurosian II included.

Yes, he was certainly up to something. Hotan still had more reserve plans in mind than reserve soldiers in the ex-DMZ.

Aboard the carriers, the combined wing of about 43 Jaguar IINs, reduced by 17 airframes and 14 pilots, prepares to go on another mission.

The Jaguar pilots were dreading missions now more than ever. In a grand total of three sorties, nine pilots had "gone down with the ship," with the other five having ejected, including the former wing commander, over the front of rapidly advancing Dra-pol units. While officially MIA, they were in all likelyhood deceased. Missions were no longer objectives to hit, they were fights for survival. With the current rate of attrition, they would all be dead too soon.

The 43 Jaguars lurch off of the ski ramps and catapults and into the air.

The 43 jets form up with the 20 MiG-29KIs assigned to cover them, and head for their target, northwest of Andong. They were to hit bridge crossings and destroy as many bridgelayers as they could, a conveniently general objective.

After a very short subsonic flight at low level, with the MiGs covering from above and behind, armed with ALARMs and AAMs, the formation nears the target area.

They sweep in towards the Andongo (i'm assuming that it runs both northeast and southwest of Andong). The Jaguars' radars pick up targets as a barrage of tracers bursts through the trees to the sides and under the attack jets. Overhead, the MiGs can be seen firing their ALARMs and manouvering wildly, evading SAMs. Also on the radar is a large formation of helicopters coming up from the south, part of the 1st airborne assault division.

The Jaguars come ever closer to the bridges, but they take a loss. One aircraft is severely damaged by flak, and turns completely around and heads towards the helicopters. The pilot ejects and lands shortly after. An Mi-8 can be seen manouvering towards the pilot.

In an instant, they are over the river, being fired on by exceedingly heavy AAA.

The radio is a flurry of various chatter. "I'm hits!" and "Bombs away" dominate, with various obscenities and cries of celebration.

Cluster bombs and folding fin rockets are used against the bridgelayers, but the IINs don't stick around to take a look at their handiwork. All the aircraft are engaged in wild manouvering to get out of the AAA.

The ISD director was normally a quiet, almost inhumanly calm man, but now his jaw had dropped.

"Jesus Christ! Somebody confirm that was actually him!"

The whole staff snapped out of their gawking and started to work.

"Find out who that was! Who really did this? Was it Quintonnia? Was it POJ? Hell, was it us?"

The ISD Director picked up the phone.

"Anknecht here!" came the reply.

The director spoke quietly and calmly.

"Field Marshal, it seems that Kurosian is dead. He is dead, and Hotan, it seems, is in charge for the time being."

"oh, crap." came the reply "that can't be good. Hotan is....Hotan is dangerous!"

The Director sighed. "look, just keep fighting the war. consider this a heads-up that the Dra-Pol will start fighting a lot smarter, alright?"

In a tent in far-away Korea, Anknecht put down his telephone, and wished with all of his being that Hotan would not stay in power for long.

3rd army rolls along the narrow eastern coastal plain. Anknecht is in personal command of the huge, experienced force. Now they are charging headlong twards the Andong front.

While Kilean strategic intelligence is great- the Lunasat 1 probe is just returning the first scans of major Dra-Pol tunnels- tactical intel is a little bit spotty. The tactical recon squadrons out of jeju-do have taken a serious beating, so it is a recon platoon from A company/4th battalion/56th brigade/21st armored that makes contact with their Dra-Pol counterparts, a group of Red Bamboo advancing on foot. After an ambush, a close range firefight, a retreat, a regrouping and a final close assault, the Kilean recon unit reports back.

The next High Perch pass some 70 minutes later knows just where to look and what to look for, and it's comm laser sends a signal bouncing around the Kilean military communications system, a signal that eventually ends up on a laptop in General Anknecht's staff tent. The main body of the Dra-Pol forces has been located, and the Kilean commanders almost wish they didn't know just what they were up against.

In any case, the order is given. 3rd army has been advancing in typical Kilean fashion, whole divisions advancing through each other, but now the carefully planned advance-by-echelon is going to be modified. Instead of advancing in a finely timed manner to keep up a constant pressure, all six panczer divisions in 3rd army will "dogpile" the Dra-Pol; instead of advancing one at a time, they will throw themselves at a tiny front and seek a breakthrough.

This is, frankly, dangerous as hell. The situation will become confused as whole units advance through each other to the same objective, and any attempt to resupply them or re-organize them for a further advance will be pure hell, even for Kilean's excellent quartermasters corps. As a rule, this is something that should only be attempted in a situation where the long-term disruptions don't matter, beacuse if the troops don't win today, they won't be around tomorrow.

A situation sort of like......right now.

Field Marshal Anknecht is putting all his money on this attack. His only reserve forces are two brigades of Etronian-made Chasseur tanks he's holding back for the (hopeful) breakthrough. While his seven infantry divisions make a general push all along the front, he throws his six pancer divisions- and their over 1,800 Lion MBT's- forwards on a front barely three miles wide, right into the heart of the Dra-Pol army.
_____________________________________________________________

The Dra-Pol soldier peeked out of his foxhole. The Kilean artillery had only fired for thirty minutes, but it seemed that they had put out as many shells as they could for that time. His ears were the source of a searing, stabbing pain, and hurt quite a bit.

But he was used to pain.

He looked out, past the Dra-Pol line. There was a smokescreen there now- one evidently put up during the prepatory barrage- and the Dra-Pol soldier could see faint movement behind it.

As his hearing gradually came back, he was gripped with terror. From out behind the smokescreen came a sound like a hellish wailing. The squeak and rattle of treads, the whine of turbine engines- by the hundreds. It was like a horde or howling spirits was lurking in that mist.

The constant propaganda had smashed a lot of things, but Dra-Pol folk wisdom was something that was nigh-indestructable. The soldier remembered the stories the old women would tell about demons and spirits, and the mist that would carry men away.

The soldier saw them come out of the smoke, tearing up the earth beneath them, engines growling as the shadowy hulking forms resolved themselves into hulking steel form. The first two came out of the mist, a pair of them about 20 meters from each other. Another pair was a hundred meters away, and another a hundred meters away from that.

As the first huge wave came out of the smoke, another followed behind them. Rank after rank came from behind the smokescreen, until the whole world seemed to be full of Kilean tanks.....
_____________________________________________________________

Infantry charge forwards behind curtain barrages, the Kilean Army Air corps surges into the skies over andong, accepting horrible losses to support the ground troops, and the Kilean army has joined in the battle for Andong.

Now, Anknecht waits.

A news confernence broadcast on QNN from The Central Government Tabernacle Building in Quinntonia's Capitol, The City of Peace.
A fairly handsome man in his late fifties is wheeled in on his wheelchair, his paralysation a result of a failed Dra-poel terrorist attack during the last Dra-pol war. He is flanked by gaurds in nice suits cayrrying sub-machineguns.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Prime Minister of Quinntonia, Protector of Quinntonian Dra-pol and Defender of the faith, Jesse son of Obed."
He moves towrds the stand, specially built with his physical limitations in mind, and begins.
"Friends from the press, and all those listening from abroad, i am going to make this short and sweet. At no time did Quinntonia, aid or in any way condone any actions by herself, her intillegence community or her allies, that would result in any attempt made upon any head of state or civilian authority except those that could not be avoided as the normal operations of any war effort. The men on the now-famous tape are dupes, and probably under the payroll of The Banat. I challenge the good Secretary to state what organisation the men would from that has such low standards as to allow tattoos on the faces of their operatives!
More likely, such obvious theatrics are an amatuerish way to try and piont the finger at a nation whose faith and people are largely Christian. I mean, what would be the sense of ACTUALLY TATTOOING A CROSS ON YOUR FACE WHEN YOU ARE IN DEEP COVER? (laughter) DOES THIS LOOK SILLY TO ANYONE ELSE? What would Hotan have us believe? That all of his operatives within The Banat walk around with huge Dra-poel flags to announce their identities?
Hotan, this is the real world, in it the good guys don't always wear white and the bad guys don't always wear black. Seriously, if we had wnated to do something like this, don't you think we could have found someone a little less conspicious?
And on a more serious note, I cannot believ that our friends, The promise of Joshuans, could have anything to do with this chardae either. Good try, Hotan. Good night, gentlemen.
WWJD
Amen.

Joshua City; Presidential Complex

*****************Promise News Network****************

Live with the President, Richard von Joshua:

Good evening. I am here before you to state for the record that neither our nation, nor anyone associated with our nation's various agencies and institutions had anything to do with the fraud being perpetrated upon the world media audiences by the Dra-pol government. While we mourn with the average Dra-pol citizen, we condemn the murder of a child, even a national leader, in the strongest possible terms. Our Direcktorate of Information will shortly uncover the media and/or journalistic fraud behind the recent announcement by Secretary Hotan and the outlaw Dra-pol government.

We call on Secretary Hotan to withdraw his forces from the ROK and hold elections to establish a legitimate governemnt in Dra-pol. With the last member of the family line now dead, the right of governance falls to the average everyday Dra-pol citizen. I will point out that the only one who will benefit from the murder of this child emporer is the Secretary himself should he not immediately end this war of occupation and aggression and hold open, monitored elections to establish a legitimate government that wishes to deal in peace.

The world community would no doubt respect the Dra-pol wishes to remain isolated as long as they do so in peace. Should Secretary Hotan not follow and sensible and rational path in the interest of the Dra-pol citizens, the we will continue to defend ourselves and our allies. To that end, I am pleased to announce that I will personally Christian the PJS CVN Joseph followed by the Daniel without the next six months. These are the initial ships of the new "Torah" class of CVN. A brief summary of these fine vessels follows:

The Torah Class Carrier is the largest currently offered for sale. With 125 aircraft at your disposal, this carrier is almost twice the size of others. This makes the Torah ideal for large scale operations in enemy waters with a battlegroup.

General Characteristics:

Power Plant: Four Nuclear Reactors, Six shafts, Eight propellers
Length overall: 1,420 feet
Flight Deck Width: 350 feet
Beam: 190 feet
Displacement Approx: 115,000 tons full load
Speed: 30+ knots
Aircraft: 125
Crew: 3,250 - Air Wing 2,680
Aircraft elevators: 6
Armament: Eight Mk 44 "Sea Sabre" Combination Anti-Missile Defense Systems, 6 CADS-N-6 CIWS Systems, 48 Cells VLS (ESSM), MK-41 Tactical Length Vertical Launch Missile Launcher (32 Cell), Mk-59 Vertical Launch Missile Launcher (48 Cell), PAAMS (Long Range Radar, Multi-Function Radar), GN-2E 3D radar


PJS CVN Joseph (http://www.kitsune.addr.com/Rifts/Rifts-Earth-Vehicles/Canadian_Magnificent_Light_Aircraft_Carrier-small.gif)
ooc: I will post naval and ground ic developments by Saturday afternoon.

The LRR government also makes a statement on the matter, in the form of a letter delivered to every constituancy in LRR from whatever pub the executive government happened to be meeting in. (Look for the rainbow MT-LB!)

"We would like to extend our sorrows at the death of director Kurosian, but we also take this oppourtunity to call on the Dra-pol government to withdraw north of the DMZ and end this imperialistic campaign which goes against the ideals of communism."

The Prime Minister (http://www.xmission.com/~legalize/who/tkaa/images/tkaa-064.jpg) (The best picture).

-Juwang Mountain-

2300 hours

"Sir! Wake up sir! The Drapol are moving again..." the corporal shook the lieutenant awake in a panic. The lieutenant woke up quickly but was still tired after only 3 hours of sleep in the past 2 days.

The lieutenant stared out from his dugout down towards the city. He could see Drapol troops moving confidently and without fear in the streets below the mountain... So far, the Hudecians had held their fire on moving Drapol, and in return, Drapol troops seemed content to leave the 5000 men on the mountain alone.

-North of Uiesong-

Skirmishes have become more and more frequent and it appears that Drapol will attempt to storm this city in a matter of days.

-Hwangno-bong Mt.-

2300 hours

Hudecian troops coninued to engage Drapol forces in heavy firefights trying to prevent the onslaught from reaching Pohang before an adequate defence could be made.

-Ottawa-

"How much do we know about the new leader of Drapol, this Hotan fellow?" Honatava asked nervously as her entourage hurried down the corridors.

"As much as we knew about the previous one..." the Minister of the Interior replied. "Next to nothing."

"We have already set our security to the highest level possible," the Defence Minister reported. "We would like permission to arm our nuclear weapons and institute a media blackout immediately."

"It's granted."

"What about those Spyran media people?" The Minister of the Interior asked nervously.

"Lock them in their hotel rooms, provide 24 hour 'protection' for them. Make up some excuse, a death threat, a terrorist threat, anything. Just make sure they don't leave their rooms." Honatava replied coldly, reminding herself to replace that weak-willed fool next cabinet shuffle.

Southern ROK

To the west things were still a mess. Secretary Hotan was revealing to officers the real plan. It wasn’t a retreat, obviously! The withdrawal from the southwest was slow, controlled, so far as it could be. Here and there small squads remained hidden in minimal earthwork and tunnel defences, armed with RPGs, SAMs, and sniper rifles. Reinforcement was only minimal, just enough to keep up a presence even if not to make tactical gain or even hold ground. The Drapoel in the southwest would have to live on the run, and many would die that way. “Many” being a relative term.

The Northern(ish) Front

In many parts of the advance there had been suffered heavy casualties. One might say significant, had the People’s Army only been slowed by their absorption.
Various Drapoel were expecting an enemy offensive in the near future, but until Kilean tanks rumbled out of smokescreens ahead of the 131st Assault Division no one knew where, when, or on what scale.

The division had over twenty thousand men in various stages of entrenchment and several dozen medium and main battle tanks down to what fuel they could carry in their own internal and external tanks. The 240th was supposed to roll through in the next two hours. Until then the foremost division was supposed to be securing a front against enemy land assault and a second line against same, there taking into account combined arms (the very front against which the Kileans first appeared was little concerned with air defence, as Hotan would not allow valuable SAMs to be placed so far forward before ground was already consolidated).
The appearance on such a narrow front of so much Kilean armour was quite a shock. Certainly the Drapoel had fought absurdly powerful tanks before, the Three Day War was characterised by the engagement not far inland of several massive Quinntonian tanks by a mass of local militiamen with Japanese bolt-action rifles, and PA tanks mounting 47,57, and 75mm guns. The People’s Army had come a long way since then. It’d grown six fold, and its tanks were no longer sixty year old Japanese relics based on eighty year old British technology. They were three-year-old Drapoel heaps based on forty-year-old Soviet technology, in the main. They were dispersed amongst the assault divisions, with almost two hundred men to each medium or main battle tank. God, how the officers wanted the Central Directorature to release more tanks from home soil- they had as many as a (for a year or two) defence budget bigger than the US GDP could churn out without bothering to pay its workers.
Hotan knew, however, that the Dra-pol fad had passed, those months of explosive export growth in all sectors, that one-off sympathy vote totalling billions in aid, that was all behind the Republic. The tanks it possessed had to last. Oh, more were rolling out, but not at the rate possible when East Islandian, Beth Gellen, Chinese, and Drapoel factories had combined on the effort. Not at the rate the Kileans were about to destroy them.

On the front Private Kim-Hiako froze for several seconds before dropping into his foxhole. Like many others he searched for his grenades, knee-mortar, satchel charge, RPG-69-I, whatever he happened to be issued. In the next hole another man squealed into a radioset, ordering tunnel E-27 exploded NOW.

Tunnel E-27 wasn’t even half way finished, the 131st was newly arrived at this point. A few miles back some other Assault Division had dug scores of little tunnels barely deep enough to survive a tank passing over head, and filled many of them with cheap explosives sufficient to collapse the earth under such a tank. Here though.. no such luck. The Kileans piled through, a few assorted grenades –thrown, stuck to hulls, launched, and rocket propelled- and a lot of small arms fire being their only opponents. The Drapoel weren’t inclined usually to retreat, and the fact that the enemy appeared right on top of them here made it even less likely to be considered. The 131st’s front lines stayed put until they were obliterated or rolled-by. It wasn’t until the Kileans were hundreds of yards into PA occupied territory that significant levels of command were properly informed, by which time Drapoel armour was in the fray.

PA medium and supplemental-main battle tanks were significantly outnumbered and surely heavily out-classed. The Drapoel tankers were little better trained than PAAF fighter pilots- they hadn’t fuel to engage in many large training events at home, and DaKhiem didn’t yet fully understand tank warfare. It wasn’t well practiced. They had some things going for them- the Drapoel tanks, though armed with 105mm and 115mm guns inferior to those used by the enemy, had some standing orders. They used the terrain, remaining always behind features until the enemy was close enough for their more modest arms to be effective. Usually this would probably be a very good means of reducing the range advantage of western armaments against their old Soviet and Chinese guns, but it relied on air superiority- on their being able to sit out half a battle behind a hill or a bush without anyone dropping bombs on them. This far forwards the Drapoel didn’t have heavy AA defences. If the enemy rolled their 1,800 tanks right in, near two hundred Drapoel tanks would pop out well inside 2,000m range and open fire. If the enemy chanced close air support, the eight or nine hundred Drapoel tankers would curse and man roof-mounted 14.5mm machineguns, for what good it’d do them. Men about would shoulder QW-2s, of course, but it wasnt’ the same as a battery of DRAR-19 or whatever else.

The enemy drove into PA lines, boring a significant hole through the 131st. Hotan ordered the 240th keep going- smash into them with its sixty thousand men and four or five hundred AVs. Forget the rest, forget the meal every day, just keep going until one side can’t any longer. Meanwhile another Assault Division was directed slightly west to improve the advance there, and the division dug-in behind the 131st was to up-sticks and move down the east, near the coast. This division was battle-weary from fighting the Hudecians and rested for less than 36 hours, only partially re-supplied, and moving without intensive pre-planning along a relatively flat space. Moving both this fallback division (to the east) and the formation meant to follow the 240th (to the west) meant that if the Kilean offensive broke the twenty thousand 131st ers and the sixty-odd thousand 240th they’d have a clear run half way to the border. Hotan’s prongs had better damn well fall-in effectively behind the eighteen hundred attacking tanks, and cut their line of supply, or the attack would be in trouble.

Near Uiesong

SAMs were starting to move up in force wherever Drapoel self-propelled and towed artillery was no longer coming under serious fire. The People’s Army was preparing an attacking position, a starting-block for the drive against the Hudecians ahead. Self propelled guns were venturing ever closer, but increasingly they found themselves lacking tank support (many Drapoel SPGs are howitzers, of little use against modern tanks, or 75mms, however high-velocity still unable to penetrate modern tank armour, only to shake-up infantry at little cost). PA armour was being diverted against the Kileans- even light tanks meant to cross rivers and cover APCs were being pulled out. It looked as if any attack on Hudecian lines at Uiesong would comprise artillery (protected by SAMs) and otherwise unsupported infantry.

(ooc: Please tell me if there’s something I’ve missed out, I think there is, but I’m a bit tipsy again (hey, it’s my b’day ..er.. in a ..couple of weeks.. or ..what date is it?) so I didn’t want to go on any longer in case it just got...silly..er. Don't worry, Hudecia, there are a few delicate negotiations going on in private.. I'm worried that it might just look like we're either going to sit and shoot forwards until one side is dead, or to launch "WMDs" all over the place.. but there's still politiking going on ;) As for Hotan? Some others can tell you a little about him IC.. he's been around since Quinntonia stumbled unwittingly into Dra-pol a few (IC) years ago.)

The Quinntonian Dra-pol evacuation effeorts were still rolling onward, and gaining speed all the time as one of the most massive civilian fleets ever put together was continually shuttling Dra-poel towards the southern islands, past the newly leased military domain of the Promise of Joshuans, past the largest concentration of military power at Quinntonian command, located on the most northern island, just north of the POJ HQ. The amount of people already moved was staggering, already 10 million, and that amount was growing exponentially. Sure, that left over 50 million souls still in Hamhung, but all was going according to plan.
On the Isle of Shilo, as the Northern Quinntonian Dra-pol Military Base was now being called, the bulk of the Quinntonian Dra-pol Army, Air Force and Navy was gathered, awaiting counter-attack orders. The gathered troops now numbered almost 10 million, and most of the rest of the armed forces were on 24 hrs. notice.
General Lee Gemby stared at his command room, thankfully cleared of buerocrats and Bishops, "God Bless Martial Law," he thought as he began to crunch the numbers, "We have over 1000 foriegn aircraft under Coalition command within Hamhung on scramble notice, as well as almost 3000 Joshua's (The main attack helicopter of the last war with Dra-pol, now pretty much cannon fodder, but ah, the days when we owned the air) that would be only as good as the jets that supported them. Most Quinntonian Dra-pol aircraft barring about 300 Horsemen Mark V's(our eguivilent to an F-18) had been withdrawn to Shilo for use in a counter-attack contingency plan. Those were supported by the Quinntonian Dra-pol Navy, and those numbers were impressive, with perhaps 15 Main Carrier Battle Groups within strike distance of Hamhung, and most of the rest at or around Shilo. That leaves The Westgaard Line, with enough artillary, both mobile and fixed, to make Hotan blush at our excess, and the most technologically advanced fortifications and countermeasures that money could buy, and the largest concentration of SAM batteries outside of Dra-pol itself. That, coupled with over 1.5 million foriegn troops under Coalition command and almost 8 million Quinntonian (Not to be confused with our Quinntonian Dra-pol counter-parts) troops manning the stations, and over 350,000 Prayer Warriors, whose sole occupation was to pray for the Line, Quinntonia, our troops and Dra-pol 24 hours a day, it was the most impressive fortification known to man.

And it was estimated to be able to hold out against a full Dra-poel attack for 6-8 weeks. However, Hamhung, the city it was supposed to defend would be destroyed in a matter of days, with almost 80% casualties expected after the first week. That translated into almost 40 million people dead. On his watch. Not gonna happen. Keep evacuating, that was his only option. We can't fight them and expect to win. Not alone. But, if the other allies were really this committed? No, it'de be Raysia all over again, damn them, ask them for help in a war and they act like they didn't expect to suffer casualties. Let's just wait and see."

OOC-Raysia, if you read this, it wasn't meant as a personal jab, just that particular charcters' feelings, sorry bud.
Just wanted to outline what I had sittin here, NO, THIS IS NOT A SHOW OF STRENGTH! Especially when you consider that Dra-pol could still easily crush this particular installation, yes, it would be costly, but what other natio involved can honestly say thhat they've spilled more Dra-poel blood than me, at about 2 million, eh Dra-pol? It's not a matter of commitment, it's a matter of reality.
WWJD
Amen.

"Dude. I want to fight some real tanks"

BLAM.

The auto-loader cycled, bringing another 125mm HEAT round into the bore of the Lion's main gun. There was a small whirring sound as the commanders scope rotated, picking out the next target.

BLAM.

The small Dra-Pol tank actually flipped over before slowly starting to burn. The turbine engined whirred as the tank sprang back into motion.

"I mean, think about it." The gunner, who had spoken earlier, was waxing philisophical. "Here we are, tankers. We kick ass on Dibujante, but it's not like I was expecting much in the way of tank battles. I can accept that those greasy commie bastards didn't have much in the way of armor."

"Gunner! RPG 20 degrees left, HE!" the commander interrupted.

BLAM.

The Gunner continued. "But it's like....first we re-equip with these totally badass Lions, and then we get shipped over here. This is Dra-Pol, you know? I was expecting hordes of T-62's charging at us like the bad guys in space invaders. It's just....I don't know." He paused and gave a mock-serious look at the commander "Sir, I just think I may be overqualified for this job."

The commander- never looking away from his scope- sort of mulled over what the gunner had said. "well, I sort of get you. I mean...those Hotan MBT"s just looked badass in the briefing. Those guys have a LOT of armor, it's just like....they don't seem to be using it right now. I dunno. It's kinda too good to be true, y'know?"

"Oh, hey" he seemed sorta suprised. "Gunner, probable T-62, hull-down in that stand of trees. Uuuh....I feel like giving it a Sabot."

BLAM.
_____________________________________________________________

The Dibujante war experience has become invaluble for the Kilean army in Korea. Tactics have been developed that are perfectly suited to dealing with poorly-equipped and well-motivated troops that outnumber the Kilean army by a huge margin and like using human wave tactics.

One result of this new fighting style is a reversal of 20th century armor doctrine. When fighting a huge mass of enemy, the KLM rapidly discovered that there was a huge morale effect of being part of a massive force. Encircling a huge force of hundreds of thousands of infantry was not a good idea. Instead of trying to envelop the enemy, the Kilean army has gone back to the napoleonic era. Drive a wedge into the enemy, using the advantage of your own internal lines of communication. Drive right into the enemy center and divide them.

The idea is to split up a large enemy force into two or three smaller ones. If you can divide the enemy army, the poor communication systems of the Dra-Pol or Dibujantean armies will make co-ordination of the two groups very difficult. "Divide and conquer" in a sense.

The huge tank force takes losses, yes, beacuse the Dra-Pol were ready for this sort of situation. RPG's, satchel charges, collapsing tunnels all take their toll on the Kilean armor, but the Panczers drive onwards.

This doesn't really come as any suprise to Anknecht. It does make him nervous- Dra-Pol has a HUGE number of tanks, and the fact that there are not hordes of them here means they are somewhere else, somewhere where Hotan is probably Up To Something with them.

The tanks will drive a salient into- and probably through- the Dra-Pol lines. That is not the descisive part of the battle. This offensive will live or die based on what happens in the flanks. The Dra-Pol were massing on the flanks of the Kilean armored thrust. It was going to be up to the 7 infantry divisions of 3rd army to hold the flanks of the armored advance. If the Dra-Pol counterattack could be held off, it would gain enough time for the 6 Panczer divisions to sort themselves out, resupply, and wheel around to finish off the Dra-Pol troops around Andong.

All along the lines, Kilean infantry dig in. In artillery parks, shells are stockpiled, guns dug in, ready for the nigh-constant firing that is sure to come. Infantry squads place claymores in front of their positions, and fix bayonets. With orders to resist human wave attacks, their tactics will hinge on keeping their deadly MG-87 machineguns in action.

If the salient can be defended, then the Kilean army has a real chance of dealing the Dra-Pol a major defeat.
_____________________________________________________________

The Kilean troop convoys continue to pour into Pusan, delivering heavy equipment and supplies as yet more units stream into Korea. It has become standard practice on the return leg of their journey to evaucate refugees Quninntonian Dra-Pol.

The Kilean rush to get troops to Korea has not slowed, and at this point, Heersgruppe Koree is slated to top out at 1.5 million soldiers- 3/4ths of the Kilean army. Kilean airways is bringing in most of the personell, and military sealift brings in the heavy equipment.

Of note is the fact that the paratrooper division that was first deployed to Pusan has been withdrawn and sent back to Kilean, and the KLM is being really shady when talking about why....
_____________________________________________________________

'Go!"

The shaped charge roared as it blew a hole in the armored gun slit. Two paratroopers darted forwards, throwing grenades into the smoking hole. They ducked to once side as the grenades went off.

"35 seconds! Not good enough! You are all dead!"

Dejected, the squad picked up their equipment and began the march back to the massive training facility in the cold mountain air of eastern Kilean.
_____________________________________________________________


In the mountains of the Kilean/Dibujante border, a huge and secret effort is underway. Using satillite pictures, Lunasat-1 radar scans, Quninntonian intelligence, and the results of several very risky photo-recon flights, the Kilean ISD has made pretty exact copies of Dra-Pol HARTS installations and defensive works in the rugged mountain terrain of east Kilean. Currently, all airborne troops in Kilean are training on assaulting the fortifcations, day in, day out. The whole effort is very secret, taking place in a remote location. The families of the 45,000 paratroopers involved don't even know the soldiers are in Kilean, thinking them to be overseas.

For the time being, nobody knows what is going on. Not even the paratroopers, although rumors are rampant.

OOC: Daylam has kind of settled down for now, and I was just wondering if Kilean, or any other allied nation like POJ or QD would like to RP discovery of Daylam's shipments (which will be stepped up from now on, and therefore more easily discovered)?

IC

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of equipment continues to flow through Shenyang, and Lt. Orghuz becomes visibly uncomfortable as the truck lines get larger and more conspicuous. However, the Daylam government slowly replaces the mercenary guards with trained Türük guards. They flank the trucks on their Kevlar-armored horses, with M-16s in hand, their eyes watching around them, waiting to kill something.

-Ottawa-

"The Kilean thrust has given our troops a much needed break... we should use it wisely and dig in," the Minister of Defence stated. "I believe that we can hold out at Uiesong and Pohang against any offensive they can throw at us."

"What about the troops on Juwang Mt?" Honatava asked tired. She had spent the last 24 hours awake in 'The Bunker' for safety.

"They can hold out, and we are constantly resupplying them with Chinooks."

-Uiesong-

M198 Howitzwers and some Paladins were setting up in positions behind sandbags and in dugouts. Self propelled guns took defensive positions in alleys and streets.

M1A2s and M-2A2s parked in parks and on sidewalks while the crews took much needed breaks.

Troops set up defensive positions throughout the city and the countryside preparing for the expected thrust.

The few remaining civilians were being shuffled out of the city as fast as they could. They would be transported by bus to Ulsan, where they would be boarding flights out of the country. Refugee camps were being set up in Hudecia to meet the expected rush.

-Ulsan-

Hudecian air force officials have agreed to allow empty troops planes returning to Hudecia to be used by Korean refugees. It is expected that 10 000 refugees will be allowed out of the country every 24 hours.

Hudecian General O'Neil insisted to Spyran and Korean media that this was not a last-ditch effort to evacuate, rather it was to making use planes which otherwise would be flying home without passengers.

OCC: Dra-pol, I have Jaguars attacking your bridges over the Andongho, and ships shelling and rocketing your troops near Yeongdeok.


IC:

Around Pohang, the 1st and 3rd AEFs dig themselves in with the Hudecians. Tanks and APCs are very well dug in, with their short, flat turrets protruding above the sandbagged shelters. CV-9040s, MBT-5A/Bs, and turreted AMVs look out over the front.

The troops dig into a line of trenches and foxholes in front and below the vehicles.

The AMOS mortars mounted on AMVs are zeroed in onto sectors of the front. The AMOS mortars give the AEFs very high firepower and the ability to do a lot of damage to attacking infantry, and they are a prized unit.

Aboard the PJS BB New Joshua City; entering the Yellow Sea through the Hudecian Fleet positions

Admiral, the Zebulun has joined this force and conformed to our movements. We are now in the center with the Zebulun and the transport LHAs and LPDs with our escorts. The remaining Carrier groups and escorts are to the Dra-pol side with the frigates intermixed. The submarine force has already departed for the coast.

The Zebulun reports its squadron of RF/A-X7 Raysian Forenzo fighters is performing admirably thus far in simulation exercises.

The Admiral seemed to ponder a moment, looking at the ships of his force through binoculars as the increased sound of aviation activity reached his ears. Speaking slowly, but clearly he began
Very well.... Cancel all simulations and Sound battle stations. Instruct the senior CAG to execute per plan and have the Senior Marine commander report to me from the transports.

Sir!

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

New Jericho City; An unauthorized news source that managed to transmit openly

We continue to be rebuffed by the government when we ask about the detainment and apparent of Direktor Stryker whose son, we understand, is deployed to the Dra-pol theatre as a Marine liason officer with the Hudicean forces on the ground. This combined with the enforced news blackout, which we will only be able to transmit against for another few moments before relocating, is beginning to have an effect here. The average citizen can see for themselves the large tanker, transport and bomber aircraft rising into the sky and hear the sounds of takeoffs from the nearby rebuilt Ai airbase. One wonders if the Dra-pol are really worth it...

South of "The Angle" and the 6th Mechanized Positions

The rumble of artillery fire increased to a roar as the massed fire of Self propelled(SP) 155mm "Long Toms" (Paladins) began. The ground around and in the positions of the Drapol, now almost totally encircled in the Southwest and around Gumi , turned to so much flying farm soil, split trees, houses, fence rails, sandbags, body parts and anything else that wasn't directly hit and incinerated. The sustained barrage by the massed 9th and 11th Corps artillery caused some nose and ear bleeds among the awaiting shock troops, who had by now burrowed almost a half foot deeper into their trenches than they thought humanly possible. The barrage went on for what seemed like days, but was in fact only a couple of hours; all that the ammunition replenishment people could resupply that quickly.

North of Gumi,Cutting across the Gumi/Taejong road
A similair arty bombardment was conducted NW of Gumi towards Taejon and Sangju. While it was in progress 400 carrier based Rf-11d Archangel aircraft began ground support bombing runs with Hellfire missiles, CBU 2000lb cluster bombs with anti personnel flechette clusters, and JDAM bunker buster type bombs. 160 EA-6B Prowler Aricraft went in with the Archangels to destroy any SAM sites or batteries, that tried to target POJ aircraft, with HARM missiles. 100 S3-b Viking multi purpose aircraft launch 2 Harpoon missiles each at bridges and major roadways outside Andong, Taejong, and Sangju. These are targeted at major concentrations of traffic that overhead spy planes "profile" as possible military targets.

Off Pohang
Offshore the BBs Raider and Padre begin bringing 18" firepower to bear on Dra-pol forces advancing on the Hudecians. this in done real time with comms on the ground by POJ liason Marines(already rped). (yes those 18" shells can actually hit Andong) Maximum firepower is bieng used here with incindiary shells as primary. Joining in is the New Jericho City Iowa Class BB with 16" guns. their escorts also launch a total 30 Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets as they are called in.

On the ground NW of Gumi; the Gumi Taejong road

Major General Carla Rogers now commanded from the lead Tank regiment as the iron door of her armored Corps slammed shut behind the Dra-pol defenders in the Gumi area. The artillary bombardment having taken its effect with air support bombings plus the missiles, The incoming helocopter strikes from the Corps Apache and Cobra helocopters along with all 42 of the AC130 Spectar Gunships had to seem like the unleashing of hell on the Dra-pol remaining between, on, and in the Taejong, Gumi and Sangju areas(especially along the Taejong/Gumi roadway). The almost 800 tanks and 40,000 shock troops of the 8th and 9th Armored Divisions, comprising the 9th Armored Corps, moved out amidst the din across the Taejong/Gumi road headed towards Sangju.

Using the 1st Guards Armored artillary in this area had been as excellent idea. Field Marshall Manstein knew enough to heavily support the assault troops. she thought as intial reports came in that resistance was heavy only in isolated pockets and that her divisions seemed to have broken into the Dra-pol rear area. the 2nd POJ Marines had been given the job of flank protection to the north of 9th Armored and moved across the roadway with their fire spitting Borden tanks and flamethrower equipped assault troops. They also joined with the eastern flank of 3rd Armored Corps now moving directly on Taejong.

south of Taejong

Major General Nathan Ben Gurion's 3rd Armored Corps was advancing on a narrow, almost 1 division wide front. His 4th Armored Dvision had taken the lead in the assault and at times could see the outskirts of Taejong. His remaining two divisions he knew would probably be eaten in what was going to assuredly be a bloody street fight in Taejong, assuming they made it that far. Major General Ben Gurion was not an optimist by nature. Too much experience with the Dra-pol had literally beaten that motion from him a long time ago.

On the ground at the Angle

The 11th Lite Armored Corps (with 1st Marine Division under command as well) rolled right over the positions of the decimated 6th Mechanized Infantry into the demoralized Dra-pol resistance remaining on the ground around Gumi. These soldiers were the most experienced, recent combat wise, in the POJ military having fought in the Dibujante War alongside the Kileans. A similair job was theirs now. they have to conform to the Kilean II Corps movements while maintaining a solid front and overrunning the last of the Dra-pol in the Gumi area and link up with 9th Armored. they were up to the task. The highly mobile and fast reacting 650 M1a2s, 1,000 Bradleys and 44,000 men of this Corps were simply the best in the right place and at the right time. Major General Banak's men had fought hard before and won and expected to again.

Field Headquarters of Field Marshall Manstein now South of Gumi

Field General Skornsky, your helocopters continue to prove themselves invaluable. The II Guards Army owes you and your flyers a debt. Are your parachute regiments ready

yes Field Marshall!

Field Marshall Anknecht commanding the Kilean armies is an old friend and proven ally. His III Corps has engaged in reinforcement of the Hudecians and LRR. Perhaps our forces can close the circle and meet with the outward flanks? his finger came to rest at a point on the map north of Andong.

-Uiesong-

A quick assault early in the morning by Drapol made a little headway towards the city but was quickly thrust back by Hudecian armour. Artillery pounded any major troop concentrations that tried to organize to assault, severly inhibiting the Drapol abilities to organize an offensive.

Hudecian troops took several hard knocks trying to cover the armour as they advanced and withdrew. Other than that, casualties were fairly light, on both sides despite the heavy concentrations of troops.

Casualties:
100 dead
300 wounded

-Pohang-

With allied forces, Hudecian troops became more and more confident about holding off any assault.

The arrival of A-15s and A-10s also excited high command and promised to help turn the tide.

-Ulsan-

Large lineups are reported as Koreans attempt to flee the country on the few Hudecian flights and transports leaving the peninsula. So far at least 40 000 Koreans were being loaded up onto transports and another 20 000 onto planes.

The mobs of refugees required the allotment of a whole corps to oversee the evacuation. V Army I Corps, newly arrived in Korea was assigned the job.

-Yellow Sea-

With a few of the lightly damaged frigates and destroyers back in action the Hudecian navy becomes a little more adventurous in its movements. Enforcing the blockade is their primary goal now but they are looking for chinks in the Drapol anti-shipping defenses to exploit.

Deep in Quinntonia's Capitol, The City of Peace, a group of black-clad very short men were stalking up to a spot in the defence grid of The Central Governemnt Tabernacle, made conspicious because of its apparant lack of security. They began the long process of breaking into the most secure building that money and fanatical religious zealots can buy.
All the while, the massive security grid, still in operation was being oversen and every movement was being watched by a mountain of a man, so large as to be almost comical, like a professional wrestler on way too many steroids, looking out past his crucifix tatto, apperant on his cheek, with eyes that seemed to be intent on boring through the pictures on the many screens and into the very hearts of the interlopers, and he said, "That's right, right there, be sure to keep them away from the sensative areas."
"Don't you think that they'll figure out that it is oo easy?"
"No, people tend to see what they want to."
WWJD
Amen.

Bishop Robert Schultz, revered head of the famed Diplomatic Corps. of Quinntonia, was looking over his dossier. "We need to make ourselves very clear. Obviously the Dayamese are a little dense. We cannot just make our intentions known with our special operatives. We are blowing up lots of their shipments, but our intellegence claims that they believe that hundreds of thousands of pounds of cargo are making it through. Though, that is EXTREMELY unlikely. (OOC-Hint, hint.) I will open diplomatic talks immediately, what authority do I have to work with, Mr. Prime Minister?"
The Prime Minister adjusted his paralytic frame in his high-tech wheelchair, and stated, matter-of factly, "You have full authority to use any and all means at Quinntonian disposal, including military ones. We cannot and will not involve our Colony and Protectorate Quinntonian Dra-pol, nor can we involve ourselves directly in the Dra-poel war as it it is currently, however, we can and will consider WAR as a REASONABLE OPTION when it comes to Daylam. They will stop supplying Dra-pol, or as a nation that was invaded by Russia in WWII was warned, "Listen, or nothing will be left of you but a tale of heroism." Praise God, and may He be with you, Bishop Schultz."

Bishop Robert Schultz V has his people make arrangenemts to have a phone conversation requesting a meeting with the head of state of Daylam.

OOC-Last chance to cooperate Daylam. Look at the comparitive sizes, and the fact that were are already mobolised, as shown in previous posts.
WWJD
Amen.

In New Jericho City

A man with an old looking flight jacket and even older looking face sat waiting on a park bench. Even though the city was newly built since the Terror Wars, an unsavory element had still survived and resumed their unnatural activities using the park as a meeting place.

no one in their right mind would come here for anything within decent society the old retired HBF Marine, and one time Secret Service agent, thought. which is why this makes the perfect place even if the more straightlaced types thought otherwise. Sometimes thinking outside the box could be a good thing, for example, information sharing didn't always need to be public, or traceable, even between allies he thought as a very short and stocky man with a hat and scarf came and sat beside him on the bench. As that happened, Ian Reid, a hero decorated by three different countries, quickly(quickly being a relative term here as the last quick movement he had made was on the balcony of the Quinntonian Presidential Complex years ago while exchanging fire with snipers) got up and moved away seemingly rejecting the other person's company, but leaving behind a shopping bag from a less than reputable retail shop.

Within the hour, the contents of the shopping bag, now in a different container, were in route to the City of Peace.
Pictures shot at altitude in low light.
Maps with times and routes indicated.
Some outstanding close range aerial photography of the markings of a transport plane that was obviously Daylam in original.
Pictures of trucks leaving a marked facility and roadway names and mile markers highlighted.
and other classified documents marked with headings like "Ai AF Base; Office of the Commander" and "Presidential Briefing" and "Ministry of Justice Memo; Office of Debra ONeal" all relating to some very beat up looking planes and trucks with a little shithole called "Shenyang" in common.

By the time Ian Reid gets home to heat up his tea, these documents are on the ground in Quinntonia.

Ian Reid had many thoughts after the operation.

Yes those new Raysian Forenzo fighters are proving to be worth it. Glad someone finally figured out a use for the UAV wingman option on those things. He smiled to himself, maybe the next thing the Daylam need is an introduction to the QUAAM-38 Air to air missile from range or a JSOW.

But, fortunately for the Daylam, that wasn't his call, yet.

ooc: it let me do another post, but not edit my last so that is why I did it this way.

OCC: Don't really have anything IC to say.....

BUMP

-Ottawa-

Honatava was getting some much needed sleep when the an intel oficer interrupted her sleep. "Excuse me, miss, but I think you should look at this." They got up and walked over to an interactive display map set up in the middle of the command room.

"As you know, we've been watching all traffic in and out of Drapol and all over the southern Korean peninsula. It is our opinion that there is no way that Drapol could have transported as many men so far overland without our knowledge." He continued.

"Well, they definately didn't do it by sea..." Honatava responded icily.

"Well, we came to the conclusion that at these points (he indicated on the map) Drapol troops seem to, literally come out of the ground." He went on trying to ignore her anger. "And we believe they are doing exactly that."

"What?!"

"They could be transporting their men in tunnels ma'am."

"That far? They'd have to have been building those tunnels for years! And how come no one noticed?"

"No one was looking for them... with your permission I'd like to authorize a dangerous mission... to fly a specially equiped fighter north of these points and perform an underground survey." He added cautiously.

"Have you run it by the Minister of Defence?"

"Yes... *cough*... he thought it was... ludicrous.."

"And so do I, but its the only explanation we have so far... very well... you have permission. But remember, if you are wrong... I'll skin you alive..." Honatava answered, still upset.

(ooc: Erm, oh dear, this has come along rather a long way without me. I went out to the pub with my brother last night and then the forums weren’t co-operating during the day. I could have sworn I had about three paragraphs written up here already, but I seem to have lost them. Ughh.
Ah, one thing I was going to bring up again, though.. we haven’t really advanced all that far since the outside world started getting involved.. so far as we had advanced we’d begun the emplacement of Qian Wei and DSJ-1 anti-shipping missiles, and then while enemy forces from abroad learned about the invasion and enacted deployments, and arrived off Korea and gathered intelligence we were reinforcing them, bringing more, placing AA defences about them. Battleships that want to shell troops miles in land are going to have to be showered with missiles on their approach, and are going to have to leave their escorts behind unless they want them to be sunk en masse. (That's theorising that a battleship may possibly survive missile hits to its armour belt- modern ships attached would not bear up so well.))

The Central Directorature, DaKhiem, The Choson People’s Republic of Dra-pol

The sheer absurdity of Drapoel economics and industry since the Three Day War continued to evidence itself in the Republic. The explosion of interest, sympathy, aid, investment, and hopeful attempts at exploitation had been carefully manipulated by the Kuro regime.
Consumers abroad had evidently clamoured for authentic hermit kingdom wares, Drapoel bicycles had been sold by the tens of thousands, the nation was a treasure-trove of, “I didn’t think they made these, anymore!” and, “hey! I got shot by one of these, when I was in Korea with the UN!” Investors had sunk money into Kosong and seen none of it returned.
Of course Dra-pol’s collectivised industry wasn’t well prepared for the soaring demand, having only so much leeway in-built for military emergency. The export sector exploded and kept rolling for a couple of years- the import sector experienced a brief jolt as military and industrial technologies and a few modest bulk-orders were completed, then it died down. DaKhiem was putting all of its new revenues into domestic projects, with a few exceptions. Keeping Beijing on-side was always important to the republic’s most travelled man, Director Kurosian I.
As Kanggye’s industrial capacity flew past that of all the old republic combined, of China, of Russia, the US, and more, and Dra-pol’s tunnels, bunkers, HARTS, missile batteries, military ranks, fuel and munitions stockpiles grew to monstrous proportions.
Then people began to starve as their efforts were directed to producing arms, industrial tools, and marketable goods for the outside world. The aid just came rolling in- the Drapoel were starving and we were riding their bikes!
The Kuro revolution just kept going.

“We must hold steady, did I not tell you so, little comrade?” Said Secretary Hotan as he looked down through the bars of the little cage. “ ‘The guilty consciences of the reactionaries outside shall feed us until the completion of this greatest Kuro struggle. The day shall soon come that sees Dra-pol’s industrial might sufficient to support both the People’s Army and the co-operatives that will feed us all. Come this day shall unbeknownst to the bourgeoisie, and though the realisation may prompt the paper tigers to balk and to withdraw their aid, to stifle our trade, the great work will be done!’”

Hotan laughed on completion of his recital. Koshiako recognised his father’s words but had evidently not previously fully understood them, and certainly had not seen them read from Hotan’s own work, Student Of The Kuro Revolution. The boy’s cage was rolled away and loaded on to a truck against his background shouts of, “Traitor!” and the like, directed against both Hotan and his own father.

Hotan idled to a “window”, actually more a fixed periscope fashioned to appear as if an aperture above ground. DaKhiem’s narrow streets were packed with the heaving fuel and passengers of industry and war, backed by distant anti-aircraft-artillery tubes and various missiles.

In the room’s lengthy silence an eventual tilt of Hotan’s head, his gaze still directed out to the streets, was sufficient to dismiss the uneasy Red Bamboo officers remaining after the spectacle of their Director’s caged removal by agents of the fanatically Kurosite Banat.

CPRD, the east coast

“Comrade Major! Local Direction from DaKhiem!” The young People’s Army Air Force recruit lowered his energetic salute on its professional return by Sho Il-Kurosian (no close relation) and extended in his hand a slip of paper, which the major read without expression.

“Launch the squadron. Sub-Lieutenant, find us a target southeast.”

Minutes later a quartet of Su-15D interceptors were airborne and looking for a Quinntonian aircraft to make an example of, hopefully something shipping supplies to the enemies of the revolution, but if it were part of the evacuation then so be it. Dra-pol wouldn’t be held accountable for aggressively defending its cause.

ROK, the ‘northern’ front

The 131st’s centre was crumpling under the weight of concentrated enemy action. It was considered enough that the weary Assault Division dealt some damage, killed a fair few Kileans and such others, knocked out a few tanks. They were probably barely slowing the enemy, just chipping bits off as they piled by. The 240th, a much larger and somewhat fresher unit would slow them, it was supposed.

At the front the PA was finding it very hard to do the job, however modest its aims. That “T-62”, a Type D-18 Koshiako, had just picked a target that would, the commander judged, if it held course, be at the perfect angle any second now... the 125mm Kilean sabot round touched on the storage racks meant to afford the turret some HEAT protection, punching a hole through a jerrycan and a stack of blankets before driving inside the turret. The commander and gunner were both dead inside a second, and after a brief delay two shaken crewmen, one bleeding from somewhere, perhaps everywhere, tried to drag themselves out of what remained.

Some few thousand men of the 240th Assault Division fell behind their units own advance, working on modest fall-back positions and identifying possible choke-points, killing zones, ambush points, and so on. They fed laser and otherwise acquired targeting information back to the third formation some miles behind. In future, assuming the enemy made it this far, point [name][letter][number] or point [you get the idea] could quickly become a focal point for artillery fire. These men also dispersed a few more anti-aircraft defences behind hills, in settlements, or wherever else seemed appropriate.
The main bulk of Drapoel forces in the area remained back, dug in deeper by the day, probably not all that far from bypassed Hudecian units. They were reinforced on a massive scale with artillery, heavy entrenching equipment, AAA, SAMs, armour, and plenty of supplies and manpower.

---

Across occupied or partially occupied land the People’s Army continued to take some losses from air assaults. Officers had lost track of how many times they’d had to call up new bridging units as Jaguars and other aircraft took out the little pre-fab crossings. Not to worry, there were tens of thousands more where that came from. It was an annoyance though, both for those concerned with the pace of advance or re-supply, and for those caught mid-river when rockets, bombs, and missiles came in.

Still, in truth enemy action had only done so much to the air defence capacity of the communist forces. The PAAF, for days grounded with damaged airstrips, fuel supply problems, stunned rookie pilots, and in all honesty a lack of good tactical doctrine, was finally finding a new role. SAM battalions were constantly rolling towards all parts of the front, hundreds were already in position, and dozens had been knocked out and replaced. Whenever enemy aircraft came in to attack a troop concentration, an airstrip, a major river crossing, or a supply column, they were met with massive AAA and SAM fire. Wherever the enemy succeeded in making a significant hole in the grid, either by chance of front’s changing shape, by knocking out batteries, or by disabling radar, the PAAF flew –assuming there was something worth protecting. They converged from across the northern ROK on whatever holes may appear, attempting either to discourage or damage the enemy, or to lure them, perhaps hopeful of finishing off the PAAF, towards better established air defences.

This still did not apply so much to the southwest, where the CPRD was now represented by little more than light infantry scattered about in an effort to cause some disruption at relatively little cost.

Taejon

South of here most major Drapoel assets had been withdrawn or destroyed, leaving those scattered light forces alone. The People’s Army withdrawn into the city had rigged many major buildings with explosives, and covered others with snipers and SAMs. Those civilians who hadn’t escaped in the few days following the first appearance of communist forces in the South certainly weren’t leaving town now.
Otherwise, forces mainly retreated into the hills, especially near the river, and laid low.

It appeared that the PA might make a fight of the area around Taejon, but further north the populations of many ROK towns and cities were on the brink of being pressed into service. If the enemy kept coming and Taejon fell apart, civilian casualties would sky-rocket and the roads would be filled with refugees. Refugees that the People’s Army would be quite happy to shoot from amongst or to drive tanks over, presumably unlike the forces here to protect the ROK.

The Yellow Sea

The Drapoel People’s Navy’s Yellow Sea Fleet remained intact. Six Houjian Class missile boats and one Hound Class D/E submarine hardly constituted a war winning commitment, but as they strolled through Chinese waters they finally began to... fly the flag. Hopping from port to port they were now officially touring China, comrade Admiral Li-Il shaking hands and making promises as they went.

Except that one sub was already striving ahead, looking for merchant shipping under the colours of, “any aggressor nation” close to but not inside the Chinese waters that should provide its retreat.

Of course the hope was to create an impression of greater capability than the Republic possessed to prosecute war on the high seas. To project an air of calm and confidence in spite of the war. Perhaps to fuel suspicions of Chinese involvement and to drive a wedge between Beijing and the capitalists that constituted much of Dra-pol’s opposition. To grab at least one headline for new offensive efforts. To distract from the Drapoel Yellow Sea coast itself. To reinforce the idea that every week the Drapoel, or Hotan, would create a new problem and that ultimately there was no point knocking down one nail only to drive another back up.

Admiral Li-Il was caught on camera saluting officials near Qingdao. After making a half-audible joke to the effect that religion was poison he spoke in vague and wildly exaggerated terms on the strength of the Drapoel People’s Navy and the fact that the stupid reactionaries couldn’t even find it. He went on in optimistic terms about the recovery of his nation’s economy, something on which he had to be taken at his word, since any analysts in the CPRD were dead, evacuated, or trapped in Kosong. “Our Kurosite great struggle owes much for its success to our great neighbour... perhaps, when Korea is unified, your region shall be amongst those to benefit most from our trade... rather than losing it all as the invaders would have it.”

After the first few Quinntonian bobers are brought down by the incoming Dra-poel aircraft over ROK, all Quinntonina flights were stopped into the fire zone.
OOC-I am assuming tat those would be the ones you would be most likely to go after, since, Hamhung is some of the most heavily protected airspace on Earth.
IC-What this means is that all Quinntonian supplies will be shipped either to POJ headquarters on their newly aquired island, or to Allied ships already at sea.
ONLY DRA-POL PLANES FLYING OVER HAMHUNG WILL BE SHOT AT, EVEN IF QUINNTONIAN AIRCRAFT ARE FIRED ON FIRST, THEY ARE UNDER ORDERS TO RETREAT AT FIRST SIGHTING OF ENEMY OPPOSITION!
WWJD
Amen.

Ah, one thing I was going to bring up again, though.. we haven’t really advanced all that far since the outside world started getting involved.. so far as we had advanced we’d begun the emplacement of Qian Wei and DSJ-1 anti-shipping missiles, and then while enemy forces from abroad learned about the invasion and enacted deployments, and arrived off Korea and gathered intelligence we were reinforcing them, bringing more, placing AA defences about them. Battleships that want to shell troops miles in land are going to have to be showered with missiles on their approach, and are going to have to leave their escorts behind unless they want them to be sunk en masse. (That's theorising that a battleship may possibly survive missile hits to its armour belt- modern ships attached would not bear up so well.))



ooc: I'm going to address this part now and the rest of the post later. Getting the missiles down to the Pohang and Andong areas initially is one thing. Reinforcing them and rolling out the batteries to fire is something else again. I say that because reinforcing transport columns(I doubt these kinds of things fit well thru tunnels) is going to expose your columns to air attack from many quarters (my land based and carrier based, Hudician, LRR, and Kilean aircraft depending on where the batteries roll out from) What I'm saying is that after initial salvo's, missile re-supply is going to become problematic. AA defenses have taken a toll, no doubt, but the emergeance of the EA-6b Prowler EW aircraft should have SAM or AA commanders thinking twice before firing at will (those that don't would probably have already had their units suffer significant loss from HARM missiles and follow on bomb runs by assault aircraft once the SAM or AA emplacement has revealed its postion by firing or using radar.

The crux of the problem would come on the assumption that a battleship force would leave escorts behind. That assumption is opposite of fact. Further I actually have posted previously that I have 2 carriers traveling with the battleships(now you know where aircraft dedicated to destroying anti-shipping sites and other "problem" areas are coming from and can react quickly (its their sole mission as their carrier home's survivial also depends on rapid reaction time free from other mission duties)

Now let me introduce you to the RL weapons systems that used not only on the battleships,but also on the Ticonderoga Crusiers, The Arleigh Burke Destroyers, the Spruance Class destroyers, and the OHPerry Class Frigates.

AEGIS (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/systems/aegis.htm) Present in the Battleships, Ticonderoga and Arleigh Burke escorts.
a brief quote from the link

The AEGIS weapon system is the most capable surface launched missile system the Navy has ever put to sea. It can defeat an extremely wide range of targets from wave top to directly overhead. AEGIS is extremely capable against anti-ship cruise missiles and manned aircraft flying in all speed ranges from subsonic to supersonic. The AEGIS system is effective in all environmental conditions having both all-weather capability and demonstrated outstanding abilities in chaff and jamming environments. AEGIS brings a revolutionary, multi-mission combat capability to the US Navy. AEGIS equipped ships are capable of engaging and defeating enemy aircraft, missiles, submarines and surface ships.

AEGIS equipped ships are key elements in modern carrier and battleship battle groups.

The surface Navy's AEGIS system provides area defense for the battle group as well as a clear air picture for more effective deployment of F-14 and F/A-18 aircraft. AEGIS enables fighter aircraft to concentrate more on the outer air battle while cruisers and destroyers assume a greater responsibility for battle group area defense. Technological advances in missile and computer battle management systems make it possible for AEGIS equipped ships to join carrier air assets in outer air defense. The highly accurate firing of AEGIS weapon systems results in minimizing the expenditure of assets.

The Aegis system was designed as a total weapon system, from detection to kill. The heart of the AEGIS systems is an advanced, automatic detect and track, multi-functional phased-array radar, the AN/SPY-1. This high-powered (four megawatt) radar is able to perform search, track and missile guidance functions simultaneously with a capability of over 100 targets.


Next is my personal favorite, the Sea Sparrow (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/rim-7.htm)anti air missile that works within the AEGIS system

this is present on every ship in the fleet, including the carriers.

but for close in work nothing beats the Phalanx CIWS (pronounced "cheesewiz" (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/systems/mk-15.htm air defense system). Present on all ships. the carriers usually have 4 of these. The battleships 3 or 4 of these, the crusiers have 2 and even the frigates have 1.

This is not to say that ships cannot be hit, they can and probably will but the percentages are probably not what you may expect and the numbers of intact replenishment missiles arriving from the North for your guys may be very much diminished based on the above. Frankly, I love this type of stuff and would like an opportunity to RP it so fire away as the battleship's shelling should be ongoing.

Be aware that in addition to the aerial response, the sea borne response will be substantial. If a proximity launch point can be determined(probably so with the AWACS, spy planes and other assets in the South) and fed into the AEGIS systems; than a Tomahawk or Harpoon (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/agm-84.htm)(preferred actually because it will get there faster and it harder to detect in rl and the range would certainly not be a factor here) (or possibly both) response back down the line at the launch point should make a shambles of something either at the missile battery or close enough to be of notice. These missiles are carried by the battelships and escorts (not the carriers)

This is of course all before the battleships change their firing points and begin to bring 18" and 16" retribution down on the Dra-pol "malafactors" when possible as your posts indicate that you protect these sites(logical of course).
I would of course have no qualms saturating the area with incindiary (and or HE) fire realizing that if the pinpoint was accurate I would probably hit something of need(and probably of higher budget) to your military regardless of whether the anti shipping battery got incinerated or not.
edit: with all of this, aren't the rl weapon systems much more fun to work with :?: :twisted:

-Qingdao-

The arrival of Drapoel vessels flying the Drapol flag did not go unnoticed. Agents working for the Hudecian government quickly reported to the Hudecian Foreign Ministry the arrival of the enemy fleet.

-Yellow Sea-

"They are in China?!" Admiral Smetka was shocked to say the least. "No wonder we couldn't find them..."

"Sir should we order an airstrike?"

"Heck no! Do we want to bring China into this?" Smetka chastized the junior officer. "Dispatch our L.A. class subs to shadow their fleet while I figure out what to do.... We'll work with our Chinese allies to figure out how to approach this situation."

-Juwang Mountain-

The Hudecian troops stuck on this mountain were becoming more and more edgy as rows of Drapoel troops and equipment filed past their positions.

"Keep reporting back what we see... maybe our HQ can make something out of all this.." The lieutenant slid back down into his foxhole.

OOC: How is it possible to flood almost hundreds of men into China to attack planes landing in the middle of a huge city? I gave permission to Taiwan to RP a discovery. POJ you can do it if Taiwan doesnt soon.

Taejon


If the enemy kept coming and Taejon fell apart, civilian casualties would sky-rocket and the roads would be filled with refugees. Refugees that the People’s Army would be quite happy to shoot from amongst or to drive tanks over, presumably unlike the forces here to protect the ROK.


ooc:
MAN..... I should actually be offended. What did I ever do to lead you to believe I was rping as a nice guy? Yesterday the POJ ranked like 7,000th on the most compassionate citizens scale (in the South Pac where there are like 7,001 nations :twisted: ) I think I was 112,900 in the world on that scale.
Oh......I got it. Its because you know that the POJ will never have a prisoner "abuse" scandel right? :twisted:

ic
Songtan; SW of Taegu and Gumi. 2nd Guards Army HQ; Awards Presentation

For their superb conduct in the stand of the 6th Mechanized Division at the Angle, we award the Promise of Joshua Medal of Valor with silver clusters to each member of Bravo Company, 7th Panzer Division of the Kilean II Corps. For their commander, Capt. Schumaker, We also award the gold clusters for the Medal of Valor. Capt. Schumaker led his company to the sound of the fighting and found one of the harder defensive struggles thus far seen by our arms. Sir, as commander 2nd Guards Army, I salute you this day on a job well done....

as Field Marshall von Manstein continued speaking, now Col. Wentz looked over his new command. The 6th Mechanized has been reconstituted using volunteers from the ROK and their training was nearing completion. The "Freedom Division" as it was now known had its TO&E raised to 30,000 men but the organizational structure was not at that point yet, and probably never would be. They were using M113 APCs in addition to the Bradleys that were left or could be repaired and had filled out their compliment of MBTs with M1a1's from the reserves and Merkava IIIs from an old ally to augment the M1a2s remaining. Major Son(the old farmer) was now his personnel officer, but most of the rest of the initial fighters who survived the angle were asked to join Major Wittmann of the POJ Naval Spec Ops group.

Most westerners would never understand why these men and women would join the POJ military as volunteers until they came to understand that the value system here was much different than in most western culture nations. The POJ military, with its revised post terror war structure and culture, offered something familiar to the no nonsense, deliberate mindset prevalent in the ROK.

ooc: this kind of acceptance of volunteers is now becoming standard in territory occupied by the POJ. It isn't consription and the volunteers are paid and equipped as comparably to POJ counterparts as possible. Applicants are screened by representatives of the ROK and/or local leaders as much possible. they are encouraged to spread the word so that when POJ forces overrun areas previously occupied by the Dra-pol, they are well met by the locals (much as the Baltic states civilians originally welcomed the Germans before the racial policies started in 1941 during operation Barbarossa) The POJ uses no such racial policies and in fact encourages the local population to participate in their liberation.


entering Taejon from the west

as the cart bounced along, Senior Lt. Li realized that she was almost on home soil. She doubted if she would ever see Dra-pol soil again, but this was a very good start. Half her team had been recruited as she had been during the war for Quinntonian Dra-pol's Existence and she had made a name for herself in the POJ spec ops community ever since. The other half of her team would probably be mistaken for African Commonwealth soliders if caught or killed and left behind. The trip up the river had been uneventful from the entry at Gasin-ri. Her team's mission, as Major Wittmann's near Inchon, was simple: Make contact with exsting resistance elements(mostly recruited by Quinntonia) and make arrangements for a number of possibilities including armed strikes behind enemy lines, but also including the provision of weapons among recruits and volunteers in the ROK population through drops and training on techniques of information transfer should they become conscripted; drop points, pass and pocket, non-obvious visual direction aids, that sort of thing. If the civilian population didn't rise up at the approach of the POJ liberators, than having concealed weapons among the population(fairly normal here actually) would be a good thing if the recruits knew when to produce the weapons and open up on retreating or hiding dra-pol as the POJ miltary struck. The river barge had actually brought in a very high number of Uzis and other very small automatic weapons for close range fighting in addition to thousands upon thousands of orange armbands which were to be distributed, but kept hidden until the appropriate time.

Yellow Sea; 2:31am Dra-pol time

The SSGN Oscar II class "Dina" moved slowly at 3 knots, 500 feet depth. The red backlighting reminding the watchstanders of the time that is was upstairs where the sun shown every so often.

Capt. on the Bridge came the nervous call from the quartermasters mate as he noticed Capt. Flessas approaching. The Capt. never came on watch this time of night and wasn't supposed to now.

At ease. Officer of the Watch, stand to for battle stations missile. Sonar give me a rundown on everything you hold around us. Helm make your depth 150 feet smartly please and send the security detail for the missile keys. As ALARM claxons sounded throughout the ship and sleeping me came to running to stations, the ship took on a slightly upward tilt as the helm reported the depth by 20 foot increments and sonar reported "no foreign contacts at this time". As the XO came half running/half stumbling onto the bridge, the Capt spoke

OK Mike this is what we talked about. The buoy downloaded the latest intel on the few air ops the Dra-pol have run since the last launch. We've been able to firm up several solid coordinates for major and minor military airfields and installations. Some jerkoff analyst at NAVINTDRADIV (=NAVal INTelligence DRApol DIVision) :D has put forward a position that the Dra-pol are using the cover of darkness to get most of their repair and resupply work done at their air aviation and other military facilities. Some retard with Admiral's bars bought it and now here we are. Lets see how this move perplexes the fine Dra-pol mond shall we

As the Capt. turns the missile key and the other preparations for launch are completed, the sequence begins and 6 of the big SS-N-19s launch for pre-set targets in the ROK and Dra-pol. This scene is repeated on the other 41 Oscar IIs in the area and 258 SS-N-19 missiles begin their targeting runs towards Dra-pol installations or what has been identified as same. Some of the missiles had been loaded aboard their subs after the conflict became public and a few had painted renderings on the bodies of the missiles like YO HOTAN I got YO' KURROSANN HANGIN BABE and HOT MISSILE FO HOTANS HONEY and other such artistic endeavors by the general missile loading population.

edit: ooc response to Daylam. I rped turning over our info to Quinntonia. Based on the history both he and I have with the Dra-pol and in the area, it is more realistic if he handles that end of it.

Also I'm not sure about the "hundreds of men" you are referring to in China. Dra-pol or Quinntonia? quite possibly. The rest of us? don't know.

OCC: I had assumed that Yeongdeok was currently not under the protection of ASMs, but if it is by Iowas will shell further south.

IC:

For now, the "Terrifying armored formations of LRR" would remain in their dug-in emplacments and wait, along with the infantry.

Along the Naktong, the 2nd AEF watches the far side of the river. Occasionally, an M113X-mounted 155mm howitzer would blast away at some sniper nest, accompanied by the 40mm cannons on the CV-9040s. nothing really was happening. They were holding the flank, though.

The war so far had not allowed the LRRA a chance to do what it did best. Always worried about massive armored formations invading LRR, the LRRA had built up quite a formidable anti-tank force. While the M113X-155 qualified as a tank destroyer, it was mostly a howitzer. The little Wiesels and big M113X-ATs would have to wait until Dra-pol made some good tanks before coming in to save the day.

On the decks of the five carriers, the plane handlers manouver the ever decreasing amount of Jaguar IINs back into their parked positions. Many are adorned with patches and other marks of combat from their previous sorties.

The number of operable Jaguars had decreased to a scant 39 airframes with the last sortie. Wherever the low-flying CAS jets went, they met insane amounts of AAA and shoulder-fired SAMs. The SAMs weren't too much of a problem, but the AAA was horrible. 11 aircraft had been lost in less than 8 sorties.

Within hours, the Jaguars were re-armed and ready for launch, to attack a Dra-pol division trying to halt the Kilean advance.

The 39 beat-up Jaguars launch from the carrier decks. The wing commander had died, the wing XO had died, his XO had died....the Jaguar wing is not in particularly good shape. (OCC: want to RP the capture/interrogation of a Jaguar pilot?)

They fly out towards the penninsula, just north of the Kilean armored advance.

They drop down to low altitude, and their radars pick up the files of Dra-pol troops.

Then, the AAA starts. Some of their cluster bombs are dropped then, with the hopes of hitting some of the AAA emplacments that they were flying over.

The Jaguars make a wide turn so they come at the convoys lengthwise. Braving the heavy AAA thrown up by the Dra-pol troops of the 240th assault division, the jaguars streak down the road, releasing their cluster bombs and folding fin rockets on the vehicles and troops below.

Lieutenant Sebastien Martin watches as a Jaguar flying next to him looses a wing. Garbled cries of "I'm Hit" dominate the radio as the Jaguars head towards the sea at full speed.

On the ground, LRRA artillery crews in G-6, Pzh-2000, and M113X-155 howitzers follow the Kilean advance, ready to ward off Dra-pol artillery attacks. They are followed by a chorus of artillery locating radars and ammunition carriers as they stay close behind the Kilean advance.

The rest of the two AEFs sit in their positions several miles outside the suburbs of Pohang. The 80,000 troops combined wait in their prepared positions for a Dra-pol counterattack. The 1st and 3rd AEF had never actually even seen combat, except from a distance being waged by Kilean armored divisions.

Meanwhile, the efforts of the 1st air assault are in full swing.

The Tiger PAH-3 and Mi-24Z attack helicopters of the 1st AA soar over the tops of Kilean tanks, waving their little stub wings at the Kilean tankers.

They target AT-16 missiles at Dra-pol troops, as well as cannon and folding-fin rockets.

Outside Pohang, the 1st AA infantry contingent sits around, waiting for deployment orders. They drive their little Wiesels and Land Rovers around the grass, and have quite a good time so doing.

In one of the many LRR field hospitals near the coast north of Ulsan, thousands of wounded LRR, Kilean, POJ, Hudecian, and Dra-pol troops are treated for their injuries by the superb LRRA medical staff. Some Dra-pol troops are brought back from their overrun positions by M113X ambulences, extremely capable vehicles in their amphibious ability.

Others are brought by Mi-8Ls.

Being brought to an LRRA-run field hospital usually means survival. The medical corps are never understocked, understaffed, or undertrained.

-Ottawa-

The government of Hudecia urges in the strongest language possible that all possible measures be taken to minimize civilian casualties. This includes curtailing military adventures, if necessary.

-Pohang-

"I've got to do what?!!" The pilot stood in shock at his orders.

"You'll have a lot of support and the entire wing will be flying diversionary measures... " The intel officer assured him.

ooc: this is a supplemental post for activities already underway at sea.

ic

Off Pohang

Pennets run up the CVN Joshua's mast at the same time as a radical course change seemed toprompt similair movements from the rest of the task force. the new course is generally South by Southwest and then a turn to the west.

Off Pusan

A similiar course change takes place among the ships of Battle group Peiper. As the ships clear the SW tip of the peninsula another course change takes place. This one places the afternoon setting sun off the port quarter as the lead vessels enter the southern Yellow Sea.
Admiral Peiper stayed on the bridge wing enjoying the late afternoon weather. His Prowler squadrons had done well against the enemy AA and SAM emplacements and the RF-11d's had shown remarkable resilence, but the F14ds were beginning to show some wear and the fact remained that RF-11d Archangels could be, and had been, shot down. The situation was not critical and he had Naval aviation assets both in Pusan and on Daeron Island to replenish his squadrons, but planes were expensive and experienced pilots almost irreplaceable. those concerns were beyond his control unless he wanted to do somethiing really drastic which he had been patently forbidden to do. He had to be the only commander who had written restrictions in his file concerning the 1st Directive. More immediate, but certainly not more pressing, concerns were at hand

We will soon have the Hudecian Fleet on our port quarter. Order the fleet to pass them close aboard in line formation and have all personnel not standing watch in full dress uniforms on the rail to prepared to render honors to their colors. They have suffered tremendous loss and deserve our respect.

Sir!!

edit: ooc: had a pic but haven't mastered putting pics on the web yet and pulling from other sites doesn't always work.

Yellow Sea; Battle Group Rauss

The Admiral did not seem worried to those watching, but he was. His course had generally been NE towards Inchon. His time for a decision to turn to the alternate course was fast approaching and he really wasn't sure what he was going to order. This was one time (not the first) when Fleet Admiral Rauss wished the 1st Directive didn't exist.

OOC: Excuse me for my previous actions. I had no idea of the extent of Quinntonia's infiltration of Manchuria, and as such I apologize. The below reflects that.
IC



Lt. Orguz's situation grew increasingly desperate. Quinntonian guerrillas and mercs had decimated his transport operation, and the national government seemed to have no idea what was going on. They just kept pouring resources into an unwinnable situation. Local guards had proved unreliable and Daylami troops could be not be lifted in with any numerical superiority because of security issues with the PRC. All in all, the entire Daylami aid to Dra-pol had become a losing business. Lt. Orguz had ventured more than once to the caliph to explain it, but the foolhardy religious "genius" had no idea what was going on around Shenyang.

Planes would touch down, load their cargo onto trucks, and be destroyed in hit-and-run attacks on the way to Dra-pol. A lucky few would make it, but it wasnt worth the cost of the expedition.

Lt. Orguz made his final trip to the new government, that of the Qaghan. The Qaghan was a military man and he finally understood the problem.

Unofficial aid was removed and replaced with official trade ties to Dra-pol, for now. Daylam was itching to begin a real war, and the Korean conflict might be the place to finally flex the muscles of the war machine which had been wasted fighting nomads and rebels.

What had intensely intrigued the Qaghan Kül Tigin II was the massive tunnel networks. These were a masterpiece of military tactics and the Qaghan was extremely interested.

For this reason, an embassy of around twenty top officials of Daylam's government has been announced to request an official visit of Dra-pol. Heading the party will be Lt. Orguz himself, if it is allowed. They realize the high confidentiality of Dra-pol as a whole and as such will simply request information and if it is denied, so be it. They are, above all, to keep the friendly relations between the TQD and CPRD.

(ooc:For the record, the PCBG is conducting hundreds of billions of dollars of trade with the CPRD across the Chinese border. There's no way it's getting dented by a few meddling capitalist Christians, and if it were, BG would enter the war and Dra-pol would win within weeks at most. This was going to be a lengthier IC post about diplomatic affairs, but, uh I got distracted (no, not by Eurovision, no!) so..it'll have to wait!)

The expected crushing counter-attack had not quite yet come. It seemed that the Dra-Pol were opting for digging in and forcing the Kilean army to pry them out of their positions rather than seeking an open battle.

Well, hell, they just weren't as dumb as the Dibujanteans.

aah, those were the days Anknecht was feeling wistful rank upon rank of Ejército de la Defensa Popular soldiers charging right into the maw of Kilean tanks firing flechette rounds, choking clouds of poison gas killing thousands and thousands of red militiamen right where they stood...

He shook off the daydream. It looked like things were- for the time being- going better than expected. His six massed Panczer divisions had reached their planned stop point, and were currently getting sorted back out and resupplied.

Anknecht gave the order, and his reserves went in. Two brigades of tanks were not a lot, granted, but they were damn good units, and they had Etronian Chasseurs. The units were light, yeah, but speedy as hell. They'd now be able to run wild in the Dra-Pol rear, through the crumbling 131st, and try to encircle the fresh Dra-Pol division pending a fresh assault.

Anknecht gave the orders to bring up his infantry divisions. The panczer assault had stopped the Dra-Pol and given him some momentum- now the infantry would close with the Dra-Pol and crush them.

Once his seven infantry divisions were engaged with the Dra-Pol units, he would dispatch his tanks (which should be reorganized by then) to break the encirclements of several Heudecian units. He made a mental note to start working more closely with the Heudecian commander.

Outside the HQ, the Chasseurs were moving out, their sensor masts twitching to the right or left.
_____________________________________________________________

In high orbit, the radar reached out through bedrock, and bounced back to the huge folding antenna. Lunasat-1 was slowly but surely mapping out major tunnels. It lacked the resolution to see the smaller tunnels, but the major ones that brought the Red Bamboo into the ROK were all plotted now. It looked as if a lot of new ones were being dug...
_____________________________________________________________

In Pusan, 7th army is battle-ready. The unit arrived along with 3rd army, but took a bit longer sorting out after transport. 7th army is not right away sent anywhere. For now, it remains at it's camp just north of Pusan.

Kilean troop numbers are growing exponentially, as the actual soldiers are now being flown in to man the equipment that has been arriving around-the-clock in the crammed port. In addition to 7th army, two more masive formations are nearing full stregnth:

4th army:
5 panczer divisions
8 infantry divisions
3 indep. tank brigades

5th Army:
4 panczer divisions
8 infantry divisions

There will soon be one million Kilean soldiers in the Korean theatre. The vast majority of them are milling around in airports, replacement depots, and unloading facilities waiting to be unloaded and organized. The Kilean quatermaster corps is stretched really thin, and Port of Pusan and other ROK civilian agencies are assisting with the effort.

The Kilean buildup is the sort of "rolling start" that the KLM vowed it would never allow to happen. These forces will not be comitted peacemeal. It's obvious that the Kilean high command is mostly counting on it's allies to check the Dra-Pol advance for now.

Anknecht isn't thinking of a counterattack. He's thinking of a counteroffensive. If Kilean put all it's effort into getting men on the front, we could have double the number of troops in combat we have now. Instead, a large percentage of the cargo ships have been bringing shells and fuel that now fills huge and heavily guarded supply depots in the (now) fortress city of Pusan.

Back on mainland Kilean, the fearsome total war machine is chugging along. Housewives get up every day, kiss the photos of their husband or son serving in occupied Dibujante (if they're lucky) or distant Korea, and go to work in munition factories while their kids sit in daycare learning how, well, the Dra-Pol aren't really people. Factories run 24 hour shifts. The Kilean shipyards are a booming industry, as cheap prefabricated "freedom ships" are sliding down the slips almost weekly.

The lack of skilled sailors has led to a huge community of foriegn contract merchant sailors, paid huge wages to sail the bought, leased, or chartered vessels to Korea. Heudecian, POJ, and a growing number of Kilean escort vessels guard the huge convoys that leve Ostendt on a weekly basis.

In boot camps, preperations are being made for the "third wave" of mobilization. The last civilian men are snatched up, and more workers are being replaced by women, allowing another 40 divisions to start forming.

A 5 milion man Kilean army has been authorized. Economic planners, technocrats, the uber-powerful industrial cartels, and the General staff are making sure this goal will eventually be reached.

Pilot training is another big issue. The factories are churning out a LOT of fighters, but the new crop of aviators was long in coming (we have high standards, you know). There wasn't anything that could be done about that, though.

One thing that was going on was the formation of more and more specialist units. The refugee camps that housed the displaced residents of Stahlsburg (destroyed in the Dibujante war) were being combed out for hikers and other mountaineers, and the miners of southwest Kilean were being drafted into special engineer units, trained for undergound tunnel fighting.

In the mountains, every airborne trooper in Kilean was taking part in their mysterious training.

The war machine now has a momentum of it's own. Premier Frosh knows that the most deadly Dra-Pol weapon is their will to fight, and he's going to try to match them.

The question that's on the minds of the more farsighted politicans is this: will Kilean still be the same old Kilean after this war? The powerful unions and social democrats have been promised just about everything to assure their total cooperation, and the Heimatsversammlung had been promised drastically increased power come wars end. As Anknecht worried about brigades and supply, the politicos worried about what would come after all this....



<OOC: I tried to post this this morning, but the forums were bad. I'm going to read what everybody has posted so far and catch up.<OOC>

From the lines in front of Pohang, the 1st AEF decides that it can spare some of its better tanks to help the Kilean advance.

A line of 100 MBT-5B Tecumseh tanks backs out of their positions and heads towards the Kilean units.

The 100 tanks in the 1st Armored Regiment, 1st AEF were not nearly up to the numbers which the Kileans had committed, but they would help continue the advance.

"This is A regiment, 1st AEF calling Kilean command, requesting battle orders, over."

Meanwhile, the newly-formed 5th AEF rolls ashore between Ulsan and Pohang. It is very different from the previous 4 AEFs deployed, in the fact that it is an accurate representation of what the LRRA actually is like, not all that wheeled high-tech stuff.

The M113X forms the bulk of the 5th AEF, made up of several surplus motor rifle divisions. The excellent APCs float ashore and head straight for Pohang. Some PT-91s are floated onto the beach with big orange airbags. The PT-91 and T-72 form about 50% of the LRRA tank force, in an effort to appease both the east and west during the cold war (half western tanks, half eastern tanks). Since just about all the MBT-5Bs were in Korea already, and the MBT-5As were too far inland to be called up in time, the PT-91s got pulled into the action.

The 5th AEF was not a light, "mobile fighting force" as the 1-4th AEFs are called. It was fully tracked except for a few XA-200 command vehicles, with close to 800 M113Xs and 200 combined PT-91s and CV-9040s. Every one of the 40,000 troops in the 5th AEF is based in an armored vehicle. A long train of ZIL and Ural trucks carries the AEF's supplies. The ZILs are no lightweights either. They could withstand up to 14.5mm MG fire, and could crush anything.

This armored convoy makes a quick pace towards the Kilean advance. Hopefully, 40,000 fresh troops would help renew the counteroffensive.

http://kasper50.webpark.pl/pt-91twardy.jpg

A PT-91 of the 5th AEF. The commander can be seen saluting as the tank passes a defensive position on its way north.

There'd been much debate over such specific matters as where the big four engine Marathon diplomatic transport should land. Many favoured a final touch-down in the PR China and a rail or road journey into the CPRD, but the Commonwealth Consul assigned to the mission, comrade Montague Farmer, would have none of it. He insisted upon a crew willing to fly him to Pyongyang, via China and over the land border if required.

And so it was done. The Marathon rumbled into Drapoel air space at well over three hundred knots, passing under the protection of the CS-400 systems delivered from The People's Commonwealth to the People's Republic some years earlier, before landing at Pyongyang.

This was a visible sign of Beth Gellen weariness with the Korean conflict's indecisive slanging match. Pressure in the Senates was mounting by the day, especially since Beth Gellen merchants returned home and began to complain of extreme boredom, and concerned economists of financial concerns related to the naval blockade. A huge ammount of Commonwealth-Drapoel trade travelled over land through China, a nation that engaged in similarly great trade with the PCBG, but it was only natural that an awful lot also went by sea. That was despite the CPRD's lack of merchant navy... Beth Gellert certainly had a lot of ships, many now with nowhere to go.

"Fit them with CIWS and fill them with revolutionaries!" Graeme Igo had said at The Village.

Comrade Farmer though was a little more restrained than the energetic Igo, at least a touch more diplomatic. Thus he came to be in Dra-pol to observe first hand the much speculated-over progress accelerated by Hotan. His work, Student Of The Kuro Revolution, was in big demand in The Commonwealth, and Farmer hoped to obtain a copy for re-release in Beth Gellert. If the most excitable revolutionary optomists were vindicated by Farmer's findings, it would be difficult to imagine a Final Senate meeting finding against Commonwealth assisstance for that Kuro Revolution.

(ooc: It is true that many Beth Gellens are... too civilised to stomach the hard Drapoel way of life, or the brutality of the fighting in South Korea, but then they aren't here... and with over 2.3bln people, The Commonwealth has a lot of opinions, and, being a democracy, a lot of argument... the 'Stalinist' era is over, but many millions who are all but Stalinist remain part of the population, and are generally likely to be amongst the most politically motivated (recent UN reports brought to my attention huge political apathy in BG's general population) as such the noble open Senate system is increasingly flooded by hard-line anti-capitalist views... it's increasingly easy for Beth Gellens, all the way in the southern Indian Ocean, to see Dra-pol's war as one against the poison of religion and the capitalism that looms over their heads today (bad timing, in a way- our old uber-capitalist nemesis, Andaman and Nicobar, has just initiated something of a cold war in the region- Beth Gellens want to see headlines talk of left's vitality and right's defeat) [/ramble on the political situation motivating increased BG-sympathy for Dra-pol])

[code:1:49c754daa3] Transmission to PCBG and CPRD: Would it be possible for Daylam's aid to Dra-pol to contine, attaching our own smaller convoys to the much larger Beth Gellen ones? Despite being a tiny country myself Daylam has actually committed a sizable portion towards aiding Dra-pol (and gaining an ally in East Asia) and we would do alot to keep that.[/code:1:49c754daa3]

Joshua City; Justice Ministry

Do What!!!!

The Beth Gellens have an interest in the region that cynics would call economic and politicians would call realistic. No offense Mr. President!

None taken. I was a Marine before I became President. President Richard von Joshua shifted in his chair at the meeting that he had in fact called at the Ministry.

The Beth Gellen's need to understand that our involvement has become, for some of us, personal. Our worst military defeat took place on Dra-pol soil and then the Dra-pol dug up the bodies of our Marines and CRUCIFIED THEIR REMAINS ON WOODEN CROSSES FOR THE EVENING NEWS!!!!!

THAT The President's voice was shaking will be avenged by any means at our disposal if needed!!!!!!!

The President sat back down. He had not realized the depth of his own feelings on the issue.

take the tapes and our records of other Dra-pol atrocities. Take them to the Beth Gellens and explain that our armed forces will henceforth destroy all transport columns on land or sea that supply these Dra-pol criminals who are, right now, the agressor invaders on foreign soil abusing the population of the native inhabitants

Also take properly edited reports from our ground commanders showing our advance and the fact that our armored recon elements are within 100kil of Seoul. We will throw the Dra-pol from the ROK and have overwhelming support of the natives in our so doing. Include a statistical makeup of the "Freedom" division; and other native formations as well. The native ROK population have filled the ranks of the 6th Mechanized "Freedom Division" to almost 30,000 volunteers. That force will soon play an integral role in the destruction of the Dra-pol South of the demarcation line.

Should the Beth Gellen's join the war, at least two other nations will join on our side?

Yes Mr. President.

Very well. Explain to the Beth Gellens that 2 on 7 is far from the necessary requirements for garunteed victory. If they wish to engage in diplomacy or concern for the innocent then they need to motivate their "allies" the Dra-pol, to withdraw and cease their war of agression and occupation! If they question, replay the tape of the dra-pol actrocities and ask how that would play on their news networks.

Mr. President, whom do we send? Bishop Christension is the Minister of State but....

Yes I understand, the BG aversion to religon. Very well. Minister O'Neal, you will deliver these messages and negotiate with the Beth Gellans. Explain that this is not religon or politics

Very well Mr. President! Debra O'Neal, (Minstr of Justice, and rumored mistress of the President) concluded the meeting which both she and the President knew would end this way. Her flight would be in the morning with full diplomatic protection. She wondered if the Beth Gellen diplomats ever concerned themselves with the possibility of violations of diplomatic protocol the way Promise of Joshua diplomats worried when going to nations of the like of the Dra-pol.

-Ottawa-

"Madam President... we have the results from the recon mission in the ROK..." the intel officer began slowly. "Kilean sources have confirmed the existence of several large tunnel networks extending for many miles underground."

"Can we strike them?" Honatava shot back immediately.

"We have a modified 'Bunker Buster' bomb that should do the trick, but should we expose our knowledge so soon?" Genereal O'Neil interjected over the satelite line.

"Alright so we wait... what about all the Beth Gallert and Daylam trade going through into Drapol?"

"Our naval blockade is air-tight.. but overland from China is porous at best. It seems that some anti-Drapol actions are in progress but not enough to stop them all..." the Defence Minister reported. "Then there is the situation with the Drapol fleet touring China.."

"Once they get into international waters we can blow them sky-high... we have several LA class subs trailing their fleet." Admiral Smetka spoke haltingly through the poor satellite line.

-Uiesong-

Dashing through the abandoned streets of Uisong, First Sergeant Liu led her detachment towards the front line. The sound of artillery resonated off buildings and the screams of the dead and dying grew louder. Her unit took up location at an abandoned apartment complex on the edge of town and watched and waited. Above, A-10s attempting to knock out the SAM and artillery sites took several casualties and were forced to withdraw.

Artillery were trading shells as fast as they could get re-supplied. Hudecian Abrams, which were being held in reserve, plunged forward in another counter-thrust pushing back the Drapol lines further. Drapol troops, without any armour protection, were sitting ducks.

From vantage points on buildings in Uiesong, Hudecian snipers and machine gun nests harried the Drapol troops. Casualties were heavy even before the two sides closed.

General Lee looked out over the armor park, somewhere slightly west of Gumi. Type 88 tanks were being crawled over by mechanics, engines were being changed out, and shells loaded. The men looked ragged. These were the professionals who had retreated all the way from the DMZ.

Lee was troubled, although the stocky, tough man never let it show. Foriegners were running all around the ROK, and it was like he was getting overlooked in the process. General Lee did not stand for things like that.

"So the Joshuans are getting together a bunch of Korean volunteers?"

"that's about the size of it, sir." the aide had just come back from a meeting with the POJ commanders. Aside from the folder stamped TOP SECRET, he'd brought news of the 6th "freedom" division.

General Lee nodded. "It's the same thing we did with the UN troops back in the 50's- putting our soldiers in foriegn units to fill them out. This, however, is not 1950. Tell the Joshuan commander that the 6th is going to operate under my command."

"Yessir." The aide made a note in his book.

Lee took one last look over the armor park, turned up the collar of his overcoat, and started walking back to his HQ.

"How are the new divisions coming along?"

The aide looked at his clipboard. "Well, we've converted two of the homeland defense divisions to actual infantry units, but their equipment is so-so. They can fight if supported. The counter-infiltration brigades- well, more like regiments, now- are mopping up in the Gumi area. Our air force is out of spare parts and low on jets, but we have a lot of pilots. The Kileans have few pilots and a hell of a lot of spare jets, so I think the Falkon is going to be the ROKAF workhorse from now on."

Lee nodded. "The POJ plan?"

"well, sir, you've read it. we shouldn't be talking about it in the open."

Lee nodded. "in any case, I want us to act to support it."
_____________________________________________________________

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/rok/images/hogugy-logo.gif

The ROK army is expanding rapidly as second-line militia and civil defense units are brought up to combat standards by Kilean, Heudecian, Promise of Joshuan, and LRR personell.
_____________________________________________________________

General Lee's troops are on the move. His four divisions- one armor, one mechanized, and two infantry- plus a smattering of smaller units begin to move. The infantry divisions begin a cautious advance. Any pockets of Dra-Pol holdouts they encounter is bypassed and marked for pounding by corps artillery.

The free ROK troops are on the move, westwards. Moving from Gumi, it is clear that they are going to attempt to break out onto the flat coastal plain. The fact that the armor division is being kept to the rear only points to an intent for a rapid armor assault in the near future.

A westwards advance from gumi will also pocket the whole southwest of the country, and the four battered counter-infiltration brigades are helicoptering in to clean up the starving Dra-Pol occupation troops.
___________________________________________________________

General Lee calls out to all allied countries, and asks them to follow the Joshuan's lead. There are huge numbers of men with recent military training in the ROK, and General Lee wants them all trained and formed into fighting units by the allied powers. Naturally, these units would be under ROK command.

<OOC: General Lee is a bit of a DuGaulle figure- arrogant, short-tempered, but a very good commander.<OOC>

2nd Guards Army Advanced HQ

Field Marshall, Col. Wentz of 6th Mechanized Freedom Division reporting as ordered.

Yes Col. Wentz. Your division has been assigned to be taken under command by the ROK Army structure of General Lee. You will report accordingly. Your division is assembled yes?

Yes Sir. We have almost 30,000men under command. A little over half are ROK soldier and civilian recruits. For vehicles we have our full artillary component of 155mm SP Paladins, 150 M1a2 Abrams MBTs, 200 Merkava IIIs being offloaded as we speak, and about 50 older M60s. We have about 300 Bradleys remaining with a like number of M113 APCs filling out our vehicle TO&E.

Very Good Col. Wentz. For what may be obvious reasons, your outward and stated rank will remain that of Colonel even though you exercise divisional command. It would be poor form indeed for a Joshuan divisional commander to be referred to be the same rank as his ROK commander.

Something I have been able to do is effect administrative change to your pay grade, benefits, and the privledges accorded your family back home. All of these will now reflect that of Command Brigidier General. Something that will be officially finalized upon completion of this war.

Tell me about these Merkavas. I understand they also can double as APCs carrying perhaps 6 infantrymen under armored cover?

Yes Sir

MERKAVA (Chariot in the biblical language)
During the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israeli armor suffered heavy losses from Egyptian and Syrian wire-guided anti-tank missiles. The high casualty rate spurred the IDF, which had previously depended on US-made Patton and Sherman tanks and British Centurion tanks, to develop the Merkava, considered one of the world's most effective and safest battle tanks.

Development of the Merkava was headed by Gen. Israel Tal, a former Armored Corps commander. Tal's team sought to design a tank that provided maximum protection to the tanks crew. One element of that defense is the placement of the tank's engine at the front of the vehicle, where it serves as a shield for the personnel compartment. This in turn provided more space in the vehicle's rear, which can be used to carry up to six extra soldiers. In addition, a special "canopy" protects the commander from indirect fire; the turret and the hull are fitted with a modular armor system that can be changed in the field; and the forward section of the turret is fitted with additional blocks of armor that provide extra protection against the latest generation of anti-tank missiles. A "skirt" of chains with ball weights is attached to the lower half of the turret, causing incoming projectiles to detonate on impact with the chains instead of penetrating the turret ring.

The primary design criteria was crew survivability. Every part of the overall design is expected to contribute to helping the crew survive. The engine is in the front to provide protection to the crew. There is a special protective umbrella for the tank commander to enable protection from indirect fire with the hatches open. Special "spaced armor" is in use along with protected fuel and ammo compartments. Rear ammunition stowage is combined with a rear entrance and exit. Since the rounds are stowed in containers that can be removed from the vehicle whenever necessary, this space can accommodate tank crewmen who have been forced to abandon their vehicles, or, if thought to be appropriate, even infantrymen. Rear ammunition stowage allows replenishment much more easily than if rounds have to be replaced in a carousel in the hull center, as in typical Russian vehicles.

Tank soldiers have long admired Merkava's rear entrance and exit, recognizing that it would allow them to mount and dismount unobserved by the enemy and would provide an excellent alternative escape route.

The Merkava can also carry a small Infantry squad internally under complete armored protection.

Specifications
Weight (kg) 62,000
Length 8.78 m
Width 3.7 m
Height 9'6"
Forward speed 55 kph
Reverse speed 25 kph
Engine 1200 hp TCM AVDS 1790-9AR diesel
Vertical obstacle climb 1 m
Maximum width ditch 3.5 m
Fording Depth 1.4 m
Main Gun 120mm smooth-bore cannon
Coaxial machinegun 7.62mm
Anti-personnel machinegun 2 x 7.62mm
Commander's machinegun 12.7 mm
Light Mortar Internal 60 mm

Merkava III on the Pusan beach after unloading (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/images/merkava001.jpg)

ooc: The above was shamelessly copied and pasted from the global security website by me.

(ooc: The supply lines in the northern half of the ROK are as yet doing all right. Ah well, I suppose we’ll just have to set up a new big battle over the naval incursions and north eastern supply lanes. (And you’re right, it’s mainly people that can get through the tunnels- some of them are three metres wide (and well over 100m down) but they don’t just turn upwards and exit in a great honking subway fashion- that’d have been rather hard to hide from Seoul :) There’s dozens of ...manhole-like exits along the length of each tunnel. Heavy equipment is still trundling over land, usually off-road, which is why it’s taking so long to smash artillery and thousands of AVs into the enemy)
Anyway, yeah, it did cross my mind that, “well, maybe POJ isn’t here to save the ROK...” but then I thought, most parties probably are, and won’t ..at least their populations won’t take well the news of spiralling civilian casualties in the country they’re supposed to be saving. I did consider having DaKhiem start eradicating the South Koreans until the ‘coalition’ (not sure how else to group you all :) ) backed down, but then it’d be pretty much impossible for the other side to make any gains, and maybe a bit of a noobish way out.)

ROK- Northeastern-ish front

The People’s Army 131st Assault Division was all but cut in two as the Kilean-spearhead thrust into its ranks. The eastern side couldn’t help feeling as if it were pushed towards the sea, something the Drapoel had never much liked, as was reflected by their coastguard-like navy and utter lack of a merchant fleet (which goes some way to accounting for how little trade has been lost and how far from keen Beijing may be to cease trade with Dra-pol- it does an awful lot of it).

Of course hope even in these isolated and essentially sacrificial ranks was far from extinguished by one little armoured thrust and a measure of confusion.
“We must attack!” Insisted one Lieutenant, apparently in the absence of any better ideas, such as retreat. He got his way, of course, being far from the only one to have been struck by the bayonet-fixing masterstroke. 4,807 soldiers were caught on this side, most with less than two days rations (that works out to roughly one sandwich with dried duck meat and one handful of rice). Barely had they (by enlarge- some were completely lost) begun their flanking manoeuvre, which could hardly have come as a surprise to the enemy purposefully driving into the division’s centre anyway, when two score enemy aircraft flew over head. They attracted some futile 14.5mm fire and a QW-2 that probably fared little better. The Jaguars caused something of a scattering amongst the troops, delaying the rabble’s counter-attack as radio transmissions warned the 240th of incoming aircraft... in completely the wrong place.

The 240th began shifting SAM defences from one slope face to another and put up a pre-emptive screen of flak over a mile out of position, a mistake that was only realised with hundreds of casualties. The Jaguars faced (relatively) little serious resistance on this sortie.

On the ground, however, elements of the confused and confusing 131st pushed east of the enemy assault came upon one of the Jaguar pilots less fortunate in a previous sortie. He appeared rather exhausted or perhaps shocked, and was lucky (perhaps) to be narrowly missed by the two 8mm rounds squeezed off by the sub-machinegun wielding teenage soldier that spotted him. A second volley was moments away from being guided to its mark when a Red Bamboo Sub-Lieutenant Gaesomun, who’d taken charge of the stragglers he encountered after the line broke, intervened. He’d decided that an extra pair of legs could transport extra supplies, allowing the men to pack that much harder punch when they came up against a foe worth killing.

The Sub-Lt. began shouting at the stricken pilot from a couple of dozen yards away, brandishing his cheap bullpup AK clone in a fairly threatening manner as the young soldier knelt beside him, cheaper PPK-clone shouldered.


DaKhiem

The city-wide tannoy again crackled into life as the Central Directorature’s video screen blacked out in the middle of a standard propaganda film, only to flicker on again in display of comrade Secretary Hotan’s face. The Secretary spoke slowly... in English, Drapoel subtitles being provided for the city’s populace. Transmissions intended for the Chinese and Beth Gellen media omitted the transcription, leaving viewers around the world to make do with the Secretary’s gradual spoken address.

“...our...war...against the...counterrevolutionary...reactionaries in...South...Korea...goes on. Our troops...and theirs...are locked in...mortal combat. This is...how it must be. However...the...enemies of the...revolution...are not content...with their...misguided right...to resist. Their...devil ships...look to...attack our shores...from...afar. Now we say...to them...move your ships...reply to this...signalling your...intent to...withdraw. Withdraw or...we shall...attack your ships...again...and before we drive...your men into the empty sea...the treacherous city...of Hamhung...and...the...decedent...city of Seoul...will be...destroyed.”

The Secretary didn’t bother to offer a timeframe for withdrawal, but without a clause for an X-Year Plan the Drapoel mindset tended to be geared to the short term. Hotan was replaced on screen by a Banat Major. He described the shooting down of Quinntonian planes, the good-will tour by the Yellow Sea fleet, the good progress of the Kuro revolution and its industrialisation, and the intent of DaKhiem to receive Beth Gellen consuls.

100th Assault Division field command post, northern ROK

“Why don’t we move? Why do we sit back as if cripples? The enemy advances, all reports indicate it!”

“Do not concern yourself, comrade.” Crackled the unusually deep voice of General Hozaro as the almost stocky man set down his 8mm automatic and retrieved a dry biscuit from a crate on the desk at the tent’s centre. “The People’s Army will bend the outsiders on the anvil of its own body before their twisted remains are cast aside. Let them break their backs over us and see that our men are well prepared for the ultimate drive to victory.”

-Ulsan-

The Hudecian reply to the Drapol demands came in the form of a televised conference held by Gen. O'Neil.

"The Hudecian government refuses to be blackmailed by the government of Drapol and now issue our own ultimatum."

"For the entirety of this conflict the Hudecian government has been careful to avoid causing civilian casualties on the Drapol side. No Hudecian missiles have struck in Drapol... no Hudecian fighters have bombed Drapol cities."

"If Drapol wishes to continue this... arrangement.. then they will not target former-ROK civilians. If Seoul or any other South Korean city becomes the target of indiscriminate Drapol bombardment, all Drapol cities will be considered targets. Don't try us. This is not a bluff."

The Commonwealth Final Senate, The Village, The Island, Portmeirion, The People’s Commonwealth of Beth Gellert

The Final Senate was less open than the countless local and regional affairs that dotted the PCBG, but still it was not hard for interested parties, even foreign, to obtain day passes to the balcony over looking the crowded stock-market of a senate floor. Of course GSIC provided professional security against physical threats, but that was about all.

“Obviously fabricated propaganda!”
“Ah, the, ah, CPCS’s professional opinion is to the contrary.”

“But...” Said CC comrade Nicolas Kezo. “Context is everything!”

“Mh, true, true, but everything in moderation- these are abuses of the highest order!”

“Aye, aye... but did my own son not condemn hundreds to death for crimes less than invading our homeland?” Graeme Igo chipped in, supporting the case put by a skeletal Kezo.

“And same!” Cried one voice, referencing the Iansislian servicemen imprisoned and in some cases killed or, “re-educated.”

Kezo continued his address to those assembled at the Final Senate in Portmeirion.

“These men” He said, holding up a picture of crucified persons on Drapoel borders. “Would not be here pictured had they not taken up arms and assaulted a nation that was, in point of fact, guilty only of rejecting capitalism and Christianity. What if the Joshuans and others like them had been around to attack Beth Gellert when the Victoria Salvadorians, Havertonians, and Iansislians were aligned against our Igovian revolution? Would we have won, then? Or would we all be poisoned now by religion and at gunpoint party to a lottery of prosperity or subservience?”

Kezo wasn’t doing a bad job of, “putting the images in context” and in fact almost seemed to be striking chords enough to make this a victory for the pro-Drapoel lobby. He hadn’t even got to the sense of urgency, yet- the forces involved with dragging Dra-pol out of two generations of peaceful isolation were now within 100km of Seoul!

Iskra! aired images of crucifixion in Dra-pol while Kezo’s words played, but montages began to run parallel with his references to the Three Day and Crusader wars, depicting those events intermingled with the Salvadorian War and the Beth Gellen revolutions. Igovian re-education camps were shown next to crucified soldiers, and then images of The People’s Commonwealth in all its comfortable glory jostled with scenes of suffering and injustice in the theistic and capitalist world.

“Revolution is nothing more than an extension of evolution, and like bourgeois capitalism, authoritarian socialism is a necessary evil along the way to enlightenment, a savage ape swinging towards The People’s University of New Dresden! These archaic, reactionary religious theists and capitalists represent the backwards reptiles and cats that would snatch the ape in their bloodthirsty jaws should he be unfortunate enough to stumble, as we so nearly did at Salvador!

“If we do not help the revolution in Korea we only put off the inevitable!” (Something most Beth Gellens understood to be pure communism) “We condemn the south to further stagnation and to instability and manipulation, and we put ourselves above our Drapoel comrades as if their revolution is not worth nurturing so long as our own keeps us well fed and happy!

“The global revolution desperately requires our guidance and protection much as did we during our most uncertain days not so very long ago. Now we can see the truth of this war, the Drapoel concerned only with revolution and unity, the bourgeois and their ilk prepared to attack our trade because it does not suit them! It is inarguable, we must at the very least be prepared for the dying elite to lash out against us.”

The trade routes from China into Dra-pol would be maintained, especially as pertained to food, medicine, and fuel. As yet there was no consensus on whether munitions or even new arms ought to be made available- opinions ran from, “no, never!” to “of course, freely!” calling at, “yes, at as trade rather than aid” and “perhaps if the coalition begins attacking the CPRD itself, again”.

The Commonwealth would shoulder the economic weight of assigning greater Chinese protection to the region, on the assumption that Beijing would not desire a significant Beth Gellen military presence inside its borders.
Both practical reality and local political opposition continued to forestall direct Commonwealth military involvement, but the continuation of trade was evidently not at issue. Officially, Portmeirion supported the revolution and believed that one day all Korea would find its way to pure communism- perhaps Hotan would be the peninsula’s Sopworth, the last link in the chain.

CC comrade Farmer conveyed his nation's opinions direct to Drapoel authorities.

Islandian ships aid in the evacuation of Korean citizens from the peninsula, should they wish it so.

Two divisions of volunteers, mainly nationalistic Korean Islandians with experience in the Islandian military, are shipped to Korea under heavy escort. They will arrive in two weeks.

A division of Korean Islandian fighter pilots (300 planes) are shipped to South Korea. They fly J37X9s, as well as J10XS8 fighters, similar in appearance to the ones that Dra-pol fields, or fielded.

All volunteer forces are under Hudecian command.


Five hundred EMP missiles and three hundred thousand tons of Spidersteel quik-fab bunkers are also transported to Korea from bases in China.

(Since it's related (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=145494) )

To: Beth Gellert
From: Hudecian Foreign Ministry

The government of Hudecia strongly deplores the fuel trade which Beth Gellert is currently allowing to occur with Drapol. While our government understands the Drapol needs for food and medical supplies, we fear that the fuel which you are providing will be used to help kill our troops.

Hudecia entered this war to protect the people of ROK from an unwanted occupation and oppression. If the people of the former ROK did not wish our presence, we would be willing to leave immediately. However, the people of the former ROK back our presence whole-heartedly.

As the most recent Drapol response shows, Drapol is not interested in the safety of the people of Seoul and other major centers. They are using them as hostages and are threatening their lives. As long as this occurs, Hudecia will not back down.

We understand that on this issue there may be considerable differences in our opinions. We hope that a bilateral meeting may help aleviate any tensions and would help us resolve contentious issues.

Dr. M. Matsuda
Foreign Minister of Hudecia

South-Eastern North Yaman:
Akira Jong-Il watched the first trucks roll out of the wooden fortress ringing one of North Yaman's first oil derricks. Put in charge of the Natural Reserves Program of the SFD, Akira had spearheaded the independant project. The oil reserves were to be totally under the control of NY, unlike the gold mines in the north, which had to be barter away to Dawi Grung for lucrative agricultural deals for the starving country.

"Sir, the Spearguard Command is requesting whether the operation has begun."

Turning to the Houseguard soldier, Akira thought once again how quickly NY was changing. The Houseguard police, the Spearguard troops, the elite Arrowguard spreading SFD influence from the skies. And now this, going behind the backs of the Lyong treaty and the Asian Alliance. Luckily, the plan was foolproof, the trucks were inconspicious and their drivers knew nothing, they only had their orders.

"Tell them the first shipment is away. They will reach the Kaioken border, then receive permission to move through Tagan, to the Russian border."

"And they have the bribe money for the Russians?"

"It is all in order. Tell them that..."

The trucks rumbled away on the rough roads, carrying with them the resource most needed to sustain a war.

damnit. had a very long post which I will now have to rewrite

In the Yellow Sea

A meeting of sorts occurred between Battle Groups Rauss heading north-northwest and Peiper and the battleship force heading north. The groups remained somewhat separated but continued on a north by northwest course together.

High above the Yellow Sea bordering on Chinese/Dra-pol airspace during the dra-pol transmission

Coordinates of transmission confirmed. Requesting authorization.

(a older voice with an authoritative tone) you have authorization to kill the bastards….I mean launch the weapons.

“Weapons are away”

The two F117/A Nighthawk advanced stealth fighter banked away as the 4 2000lb GBU-27 Paveway IIIs air dropped towards the target. 2 were equipped with BLU-109 bunker buster warheads and 2 with Mrk 84 HE warheads. As the warheads followed their internal GPS coordinates to the source of the transmissions, their internal homing systems kicked in and the boosters drove the 4 missiles towards their target and massive explosions were heard.

Later, deep in the basement complex of the Presidential Complex in Joshua City the sounds of music could be heard be the Marine Presidential Detail. Songs by Rick James and the Clash were heard amidst sounds of celebration coming from the Presidential command center.



Pusan area

The 12th Armored Division had to wait to unload its tanks and Bradleys as the equipment and Merkava IIIs of the 6th Mechanized freedom division had a higher priority. 10th Guards Armored had deployed immediately to the front which left 12th Armored with 15th and 17th Armored and 14th Guards Mechanized to form the new 14th Armored Corps.

Combined HQ of 2nd Guards Army/1st Guards Armored Corps just south of Taejon

Comms were active today. Field Marshall Manstein’s command APC had a all-weather command tent extended from its side with the sides of the tent itself rolled up to allow for a breeze of sorts as the heavens seemed to dump cooling rainwater on the hot winds of war. Field Marshall Manstein paused in his conversion with 1st Guards Armored commander Field General (and former training officer of the Joshuan Tank Corps school) Paul Hausser as an aide ran underneath the tent.

General Banak is in Sangju! General Banak is in Sangu!! General Banak reports, General Banak begs to report sir that his lead elements are northwest of Andong at Jeomchon and approaching the Taejon/Taebaeck road from the south!! 10th Guards Armored has joined his 11th Corps and is providing flank protection with the 1st Marines at the river by maintaining contact with the advancing Kilean II Corps.

“Very good. Very good indeed!” the Field Marshall replied as yet another aide dashed underneath the tarp

Sir! Reports from the 9th Armored. Major General Rogers reports her forces have taken Sanggok and now advancing on both sides of the Taejon/Taebaeck road towards Mungyeong and Goesan Sir, she suggestes all units advance with mine detectors and engineers at the front as her lead elements report serious losses from mines and traps, especially near the roadway and overrun enemy positions. General Rogers also reports that that with the detachment of the 2nd Marines, her only combat effective units are now the 8th and 9th Armored Divisions.

Also Sir, General Ben Gurion of 3rd Armored Corps reports being north of Taejon at Cheonju and that his lead elements are approaching Cheonan. I also have reports of naval fire control liason and ROK personnel traveling with his lead elements? I confirmed these reports 3 times sir. I don’t understand as Taejon hasn’t fallen?

Friedrick, you’ve done well. The reports are accurate son. General Ben Gurion has bypassed Taejon on the roadways east and west of the city at Gonju and Okcheon continued northward with his Blitz. 2nd Marines from 9th Corps has sealed Taejon from the north and we have sealed it here with 1st Guards Armored Corps. No one goes in or out.

But sir, the civilians and the dra-pol? Won’t they starve?

The civilians will not as an uprising has begun with help from our special forces and weapons supplied by us. We will have a corridor open soon enough to supply the resistance, and by extension, the civilians in the city.

If the dra-pol survive against the citizen’s resistance long enough then the dra-pol can eat each other.

In Taejon

here! Subgun, five clips, canteen, and ration pack. Go! Next. Every 10th person gets a grenade as well. Make sure our preselected people get pulled out of line for the few M249s and RPGs. We need experience on those triggers and we cannot lose what few we have.

Her own spec ops people were using Dra-pol knee mortars and had had time to develop that skill in the African Commonwealth. Lt. Li doubted that she had slept 2 hours since arriving in Taejon. The sounds of fighting around her had died down like the dra-pol but that only meant that the dra-pol were being driven away from the western edge of the city where her fighters had already opened a corridor to the Gonju road. She expected the first Joshuan relief convoy soon enough. Rumors were swirling that a ranking ROK commander may be leading a combined ROK/Joshuan assault element into the city in what was certain to be a high profile media event(thank God for John J Stryker she thought). She would rather have more heavy weapons, ammo, food, water and above all medicine. The dra-pol had treated these people horribly and that had touched things off a little early. A group of dra-pol rounding up civilians had suddenly had the civilians turn on them with subguns and anything else at point blank range with surprise on their side. Well, if there was an ROK commander coming for recruits, this would be the place. The survivors of this fight would certainly have lots of CQB(close quarters battle) experience and more reason to hate the dra-pol than most. They would probably also appreciate a uniform other than the orange armbands that the resistance fighters were now wearing. The local civilian leadership was being very careful about who they let Lt Li arm and with good reason. It was a very quick screening process. You were either known and came out with a gun; or not and dragged out with a gunshot. The locals swore that they could tell the difference by physical characteristics, but they had not spotted her as a dra-pol native yet. Lt. Li had defected during the so called Crusader war with the help of the “warriors of the crucifixion”(ooc:the men with the cross tattoos under their right eye in case anyone doesn’t know the reference. They aren’t mine, I am just drawing on some RP history from prior conflicts here) and never looked back after her family had been butchered by the dra-pol.

Sub-Lt. Mitchell Juarez looks at the Red Bamboo officer with shock. His ejection seat lay only feet away from his position, the big orange parachute caught in the trees.

Unable to speak Korean, Juarez has no idea of what is going on. He put his hands in the air and did not make any sudden motions. The two SMG bullets had just barely missed his head.

Meanwhile, a heavily armed Land Rover drives up to the allied CP in (wherever it is).

Three LRRA officers climb off, and the Rover drives away.

They enter the CP and find the congregation of commanding generals.

"Message from General Meher."

It reads:

The LRRA can assemble 160,000 troops in relatively short order to make an amphibious landing near the Dra-pol rear along the Sea of Japan. What do you think of this idea?

OCC:

Don't forget, the 5th AEF is waiting to be contacted via radio by the Kilean commander, and an artillery group is also waiting for orders from the Kileans.

-Juwang Mt-

The group of trapped Hudecians began their second week of isolation amid relative calm. They had seen several LLR planes fly overhead and even one be shot down. Their orders had been to hold out on the mountain and not to leave it, but they couldn't just leave an ally out there.

Lt. Jung and a group of ten volunteers left their mountain redoubt and moved out to help find the LLR pilots.

In the middle fo the night, they stealthily skipped across major roads and moved towards the position of the downed LLR fighter.

The Central Directorature, DaKhiem, the CPRD

“...the most significant item being these missile strikes north. A, ah, Kim collective, 14-7, lost, ‘several items of livestock’ and one of the collective seniors, a retired over-seer, was wounded.”

Hotan raised an impatient eyebrow, inviting elaboration.

“The supposition is that the Joshuans attempted to strike at the source of a transmission on the frequency-hopping system. Quite arbitrary, Information asssures.”

Northern ROK

Miles and miles of South Korea were now essential... Dra-pol. The Banat was administering a massive upheaval of remaining populations outside a few of the very largest cities, which were either too big a task to take on right now, or else too valuable a hostage. Just as they had in the CPRD, the Banat uprooted entire communities and assigned them new roles. Roles for which the South Koreans were by enlarge not prepared. In just a few weeks of concerted Kuroism, fatalities were already beginning to mount as South Koreans collapsed under the strain of Drapoel life, and the shock suffered by being wrenched from their old lives and cast into this new one.
Partisans were being quite effectively rooted out in the midst of this, though of course the process itself created reinforcements for rebellious factions. A couple of PA soldiers were being killed each day even beyond the reach of enemy artillery and under heavy air-defence coverage, thanks to these few resistance fighters. It was testimony to Secretary Hotan’s will and influence that reprisals were rare, and that even captured partisans were more likely to live than to be executed- something that would never have been the case under any of Dra-pol’s four Directors... or even its pre-communist autocrats.
Mr.Park was caught with a recently fired hunting rifle less than a kilometre from the scene of a People’s Army infantryman’s assassination. He could now be found in a re-education camp –likely inspired by that mysterious westerner, ‘Father’- learning about the inevitability of what was happening. Under Sulo he’d have been beheaded, under KI shot, under either junior Kurosian probably crucified. Before the revolution he’d likely have been skinned and/or fed to dogs.

Of course the outside knew little of this, and it was probably hardly noticed by the South Koreans who found it hard enough to stay alive even without considering the possibility of execution.

Not far from the scene of Mr.Park’s crime, a full-fledged Drapoel HARTS elevated its 190mm battery for the first time. It was in the proper fashion connected by a tunnel to another HARTS a few hundred metres away on the rear face of the next hill. Hardly a network of so many hundred batteries as seen at the border, but proof that the Drapoel needed only a couple of weeks to build a near half mile wide fort. A radar mast was momentarily raised above a ridge close to the first site, before being retracted back under the earth’s surface. Nothing for the near by SAM batteries to shoot at just now.

Fortification was becoming fairly heavy as far south as the Han.

ROK- the eastern front

Sub-Lt. Mitchell Juarez would be perhaps the first none-Korean to benefit in some degree from the CPRD’s modified approach to prisoners. He was helped down and searched, prodded rather a lot with gun muzzles, and certainly regarded with some trepidation, but he was not killed. Of course, the unit that’d captured him was essentially cut-off from the main structures of command, and he could not be evacuated from the front. Of course Dra-pol hadn’t signed any conventions that’d suggest he ought to have been, anyway. No, he’d have to march, or be dragged on a stretcher, depending on his condition, as the rag-tag assortment of Drapoel troops wandered around near the east coast, looking for something to shoot or salute.

ROK- the western front

Foreign media was, it appeared, beginning to portray the harried western prong of the PA advance into the Republic of Korea as being in a state of near rout. The POJ-lead offensive seemed ready to bring its full weight across the Kum-gang, and the reactionary forces breached cities and towns in the area.

But no one in their right mind could possibly have believed that the Drapoel People’s Army had been finished by a couple of weeks fighting carried out by a few Assault Divisions. No no, the Assault Divisions had come in, crippled the ROKA, captured a number of major objectives, and sent the nation spiralling into chaos. Now, after those weeks behind the Assault Division-created lines, the regular People’s Army was ready.

In and around Taejon, encircled Drapoel forces didn’t sit for long. What were they supposed to be, Hudecian? No, they upped and threw what they had into the eastern prong that’d bypassed them. This seemed perhaps a little odd, after all, the bulk of the People’s Army in the area would find it easier to approach from the west rather than east... and that they did. The massive force held by the People’s Army was unleashed from the west and north west, crashing a relentless human wave towards the Joshuan drive west of Taejon while the encircled Drapoel, far from trying to escape west, pressed on east. Evidently the idea was to have whatever POJ forces that’d bypassed Taejon be cut off at the neck, leaving their head encircled north of the city.

It’d be a hard slog for the Drapoel. The drive from the north and west enjoyed reasonable mechanisation and SAM coverage, but those already in Taejon would be headed west almost blindly and on foot, banking as much on surprise as anything else. It was hoped that the enemy wouldn’t expect a break-out attempt to drive away from other Drapoel forces.

Over all, the picture was fairly clear. DaKhiem was launching a second phase assault in the west- this was a multi-divisional operation, and the general push against enemy advance was carried out by fairly well rested troops* with plenty of equipment and ammunition, reasonable levels of mechanisation and tank support, and with SAM coverage.

*Had these been other than Drapoel troops one might have expected them to fight in the far south when the front collapsed there, in a holding action or certainly at least to allow their comrades to escape. Of course Dra-pol left its southern most Assault Division to the wolves and made no attempt to break them out, meaning that while the enemy fought through that division, the rest of our troops sat about, pushing South Korean civilians around.
Similar is true of the strength of support- Dra-pol has deliberately played the poor failed communist card, limiting air force sorties, opposing the enemy with limited armour and air defence (especially in the far south west where we utterly collapsed), and so on. In truth we’ve of course been preparing this for years at massive expense, and hey, we’ve an awful lot of bullets left to fire and fuel left to burn. Millions of tons of both. And now you’re getting it, after some effort on our part to cultivate an image of collapse and despair, and a regime likely to hide behind civilians.
Pfft, to quote Spike of Transformers fame, “Oh shit! It isn’t even dented!”

II Corps and the ROK troops continued to drive westwards. The veteran troops of II corps whirled their formation northwards as they re-aligned themselves for the drive northwards. To the west of them was Taejon, to the east was the yellow sea, and to the north....

...the Peoples Army. The combined ROK/Kilean troops halt. They will not attack just yet. The Lunasat radar passes and new intelligence info has shown that the Dra-Pol are not quite as weak as they seem to be. Large metal objects are present in a number of large underground caverns that should be empty by now, and commercial satillities used for oil exploration were showing that the Dra-Pol still had large fuel depots left.

Field Marshal Anknecht will not attack in the west until he knows he has sufficent resources to do so.

Units coming on-line in Korea:

7th army-

3 panczer divisions
4 cavalry divisions (mech cavalry)
5 infantry divisions
2 mountain bde.

4th army:
5 panczer divisions
8 infantry divisions
3 indep. tank brigades

5th Army:
4 panczer divisions
8 infantry divisions

The Kilean buildup has been a constant full-throttle effort since the first day of the war. The heavy equipment and supplies for these units were being shipped in right from the start, but the units went un-formed as a deception ploy. Now, Kilean Airways jets are flying in the troops. The equipment and troops have been there, but the units have never been formed, and Kilean has never said which units are in Korea.

But the paperwork is filed, the standards are unfurled, and now, Kilean has over 50 divisions in Korea.

<OOC: this is NOT a "I have all these troops, dood" move. From the first page of the first thread, Kilean has been moving heaven and earth to get men to Korea, but we haven't used them until now. We've been trying to hide the troop buildup by never actually forming up the units we've sent. Up until now, we've been fighting a holding action. Gumi and the action in and around Andong have stopped the Dra-Pol advance long enough for us to mass the forces in theatre to acceptable levels. We don't like commiting troops picemeal, and in this situation, anything less than an army group is piecemeal.<OOC>
_____________________________________________________________

Field Marshal Anknecht finally has an army group to play with. The buildup is complete. He has a plan for the three huge armies that are now ready to move in Pusan.

But now? He has more pressing concerns. The Dra-Pol forces near Andong are continuing to resist, and his armor units are just getting back together and ready to move.

He gives the orders. The LRR armored force will be thrown into action along with the now recovered Kilean armor. This will be the last big push of the Andong offensive. The allied forces- with the 5th AEF at point- will pounce and crush the Dra-Pol assault divisions. Then the infantry will move up, dig in, and assume a defensive posture.

The goal is now to re-create Gumi. Trash the attacking forces, and dig in to secure the territory that has been gained.
_____________________________________________________________

Karl had been through it all. He'd been among the first over the santander, he'd fought in agrenida, at the santander pocket, and now here he was. Near Andong, running behind an LRR tank as they advanced on the heels of a rolling barrage.

The low howling of jet engines passed by overhead. Karl checked his equipment one last time.

just another day at the office...
_____________________________________________________________

The 7th, 4th, and 5th armies all form up outside of Pusan, but they aren't moving just yet. At the fortress island of Jeju-Do, 3 naval infantry brigades and their enkranoplan transports are activated, and more and more transfer flights of KAF jets are arriving.

Kilean airpower is undergoing a huge buildup, as the savage losses in army air corps craft are replaced, and the Air Force gets many more "wild weasel" and Gryphon squadrons. Kilean aircraft numbers will soon break 2,000 in-theatre. In Kilean itself, strategic bomber squadrons, tankers, and long-range transports are massing at airfields.

In areospace factories across Kilean, warhead switch-outs and last minute modifications are made.

An energy is present among the Kilean forces in Korea. The panic and despair of the first weeks is gone, but replaced with something else. Gumi and the fighting at Andong have removed the threat of impending doom. Now, the huge buildup is making it clear that something is going to happen, and soon.

The question is: what?

Pohang-Yeongdeok road

Hudecian units had been taking advantage of the recently acquired calm and had been preparing themselves for movement.

At least four Hudecian corps, supported by naval guns and almost 1000 fighters including everything from A-10s to Arrow IIs, out of Pohang and Ulsan made a drive up the coastal road towards Yeongdeok. The heavy armour led the movement followed up by the lighter armoured vehicles.

With their right flank to the sea, along their left flank armoured divisions would routinely stop to take defensive perimeters to prevent them from being cut off.

If they ran into heavy fighting, either heavy artillery from Hyangno-bong would try to displace them. If that failed, air and naval support would combine to force the Drapol back.

The 5th AEF drives towards Andong at a relentless speed, the formations led by up-gunned, up-armored PT-91s and MBT-5Cs, the newest model available. behind them come the ranks of M113Xs, capable little APCs who's anscestors had served the LRRA since the late 60's.

Major Robert Van Hallen kneels by the side of his APC's 14.5mm turret as the gunner fires away at any Dra-pol troops he sees, along with the rest of the armored force. Some APCs get knocked out by close-range RPGs, and several can be seen burning. While there are many injuries, deaths are few in number and the advance plows towards Andong at the heels of a massive barrage.

The troops in one of Van Hallen's squads, carried by the APC, also fire at Dra-pol troop concentrations from the open firing hatches.

The 35,000 (give or take) infantrymen carried by the APCs wait until they get close to Andong to get out of their vehicles, which had so far afforded excellent protection and fire support.

Colonel Donely's PT-91 was literally at the head of the assault. The big MBT rolls overthe ground at maximum speed, the gunner flinging 120mm rounds at everything. The flanking PT-91s and MBT-5Cs also speed along behind Donely's tank, firing at similar targets. The Dra-pol tanks don't stand much of a chance against the superior LRRA firepower. As if the APCs and tanks were not enough, a flock of attack helicopters and heavily armed Griffons and Mi-8Ls covers the advance from above.

The LRRA regular mechanized troops had never before seen combat, but so far they were doing a good job.

Meanwhile, Juarez lies in a makeshift stretcher being toted by Dra-pol troops on the Andong front. His nasty leg fracture made it impossible for him to walk, and unless he got medical attention within the next few days, the break could become much worse.

He hears the sound of gunfire and the beating of rotor blades in the distance. However, he knew that he wasn't in much danger from deliberate fire because the LRRA wouldn't shoot at a stretcher on purpose.

He of course expected the worst, having bombed their fellow soldiers and all. But so far, aside from being constantly at the mercey of itchy trigger fingers on automatic weapons, he was being treated well.

The Hudecian troops from Juwang mountain find the wreck of a Jaguar IIN, and a treed ejection seat not far away.

The LRRA had also seen the crash, and a squad of paratroops from the 1st airborne brigade was out looking for a pilot.

Captain Taylor motions for the squad to take cover as he sees a group of troops not far away.

Realizing they are Hudecian, he takes his L1A1 in his right hand and raises it up in the air, hoping to attract their attention.

ooc: quick note. As the transmission by Hotan went to several foreign and international news services, it would be logical, with a International Media Center established in Lusaka, that a few a reverse query could produce results and that multiple queries from different reception point might lead to a good solution via process of triangulation and elimination(based also on past and possible current contacts). (stress on might as I'm not sure on the engineering end of this) Where I'm going is that it is remotely possible to have hit something other than a sheep farm. :wink:

ic

In Taejon and points east

the dra-pol trying to break contact with the resistance in the city were finding it harder going than might be expected. Total air supremecy over the city plus a small, but semmingly growing, military or commando presence(Lt. Li's team) in the city with communications to the encircling forces made surprise difficult to achieve. Still the survivors managed to form two full waves to throw at the eastern perimeter of the encircling Joshuan forces and in one of the mysteries of war, it was the 2nd assault that caught the marines off guard, not the first.

By fateful coincidence, the 2nd Marine Division charged with defending the Northern NW and NE parts of the perimeter was the same 2nd Marine Division who had lost so many of its people on a beach outside Hamhung and whose comrades remains still decorated wooden crosses throughout the dra-pol. This was not to be another Hamhung. These Marines were ready, well positioned, and amply armed for precisely the kind of human wave assault coming at them.

Sir their getting closer Sgt Brock shouted above the chatter of the M249 SAWs, the heavy machine guns, the vehicle mounted automatic weapons plus the cannon and howizter fire that had joined in.
NOW!!! The shouted command from Capt Stryker prompted the Borden Medium tanks positioned among and behind the Marine lines to let loose their terrible main weapon of heavy flame throwers with which they had been equipped. Squad level heavy weapons personnel also powered jets of sticky flame directly into the oncoming waves of dra-pol and nothing works to make one flinch quite like a 20ft long jet of napalm coming from a flamenwerfer that requires a bipod for the length of the barrel or from a larger version of same mounted on a tank.

It was after the first wave broke and the second wave began that helocopters coming from the south flew into the city and began lowering Joshuan Paratroops into the city to join the resistance. the dra-pol second wave would have no place to return to if they failed and they were caught between Joshuan Marines and elite paratroopers coming on line with the resistance fighters.

The 2nd wave coming through the stench and smoke from the remains of the 1st waves caught the Marine defenders by surprise at first as they thought the dra-pol had thrown everything at once. Many, in fact most, of the dra-pol died trying but several groups reached the perimeter and got through in some of the vilest hand to hand combat yet seen with no quarter asked or given by either side. When it was over, some of the dra-pol had manged to sneak through singly or in very small groups and head northeast to home. Fewer still would arrive in their homeland.

Cheonan; 80km from Seoul

The advancing elements of 4th Armored division found that hell did exist. Hell was the blunt edge of the descending Dra-pol assault divisions that met the lead recon elements of the 4th slightly N of Cheonan. The recon people wisely gave ground, sounding the alarm all the way back into Cheonan and out the other side. The Joshuan armored columns and mechanized infantry of the 4th Armored advancing into Cheonan decided to stand and fight where they were. The northern edge of the city of Cheonan rapidly became a charnel house with the tactical commanders on both sides refusing to yield ground.

3rd Armored Corps HQ at Teonui; south of Cheonan and Yesan

Sir. 4th Armored reports dra-pol in at least divisional strength on the attack in and around Cheonan. 4th Armored's advance has halted and they have already begun to incur losses in the city itself. Sir initial reports placed the 4th north of the city. It seems they were pushed into the city by the dra-pol advance with heavy losses.

Major General Ben Gurion looked hard at the aide before responding.
Inform General Howard of the 4th that he will hold Cheonan. We have been advancing on a 1 division front since bypassing Taejon. Move the 3rd Guards Mechanized into Asan and Yesan at once, move 16th Armored to our position here and get me Field Marshall Manstain.

General Gurion looked at the map again and then reached for a Sat Phone, the number to his Naval liason officer already in his mind.

Offshore in the Yellow Sea

they are in range and advancing in strength. Cheonan is less than 70km from the coast. Our main guns can hit them.

Do we have coordinates?

yes. Liason and fire control officers have been traveling with the 3rd Armored for a little over a week now. We are .....wait yes we are getting confirmations of postions now by Sat phone.

then commence firing.

ooc: with the previously posted meeting of the Rauss, peiper and battleship groups there are 4 battleships able to pile in on this. 2 with 18" main guns

ic

The dra-pol moving directly behind the main advance lines heard something akin to a fast moving train before shells the size of volkswagons began exploding in their midst with either HE or incindiary warheads causing havoc wherever they hit.

Meanwhile, Joshuan pilots all over the theatre raced to their planes and helocopters as orders flashed across the wires.

ooc: sorry this is so rough. done in a hurry. Am on my way out and not due back until Thursday or so as we are going house hunting for a move we will be making at the end of June. I'll catch up then and if needed, Kilean has command of my forces.

Lt. Jung waved back at the LLR troops. From their appearence it was obvious that they were not Drapol, so they must have been allies.

He and his group carefully crossed the ground separating them, instructing his men to secure a perimeter around the downed LLR fighter.

"Am I glad to see you!" He said when he reached the LLR troops. "We've been hold up out here for almost a week. How about you?"

"We arrived from Bedford Mallard last night. I'm captain Taylor. I used to be a company commander in the 2nd airborne batallion, 56th Uhlans. Until we lost around 900 men at the battle around Gumi, it was a nice job. What are you out here for?"


From their lines along the western front of the Pusan-Daegu-Ulsan perimeter, the 2nd AEF braces for the Dra-pol attack. While the bulk of the counterattacking force was falling on the POJ lines, the 2nd AEF was stretched relatively thin along the bank of the Naktong.

However, they were now under the cover of a formidable artillery umbrella including AMOS mortar systems, Pzh-2000 howitzers, and Grad artillery rockets.

The LRRA artillery force begins firing 155mm howitzer rounds, 120mm AMOS shells, and BM-21 rockets at the advancing Dra-pol ranks.

The infantry and tankers along the line dig themselves in. The CV-90 APCs in back of the infantry positions aim their 40mm cannons in the direction of the Dra-pol advance. With the reasonable level of mechanized forces to be encountered, the 40mm armor-piercing cannons woild be put to good use.

The CV-90s (armed to the point where they are for all intents and purposes light tanks) also arm their two AT-16s each, for long-range engagment of the Dra-pol armor.

Overhead, the 38 remaining Jaguar IINs prepare for a strike on the enemy advance from Daejon.

Sighting the tanks and armored vehicles employed in the advance, the Jaguars dive down towards their target, bombs and rockets ready.

At the many LRRA field hospitals, the question of what to do with the treated enemy troops was being encountered. Either let them sit around and recover, or put them in prison camps.

This is scary.....no posts for two days!

Please don't let this thing die!

BUMP!!!!!!

This is scary.....no posts for two days!

Please don't let this thing die!

BUMP!!!!!!

This is scary.....no posts for two days!

Please don't let this thing die!

BUMP!!!!!!

This is scary.....no posts for two days!

Please don't let this thing die!

BUMP!!!!!!

Well, things have been kind of busy over here on my end of things. Don't worry, though-

Kilean troops throughout Korea are massing, as are POJ troops under their command. The tension is growing ever higher and higher among the Kilean armies as rumours of special transport flights and secret troop movements spread.

Something is coming. Something big.


<OOC:> something big this weekend, probably<OOC>

ooc: Sorry, I've been suddenly quite distracted, and it looks set to continue for a couple more days, but most probably my life will die down again by next week at least and I'll have nothing else to do but post here. Ugh.
Don't worry, Dra-pol will never stop causing trouble,

(ooc: Oh, POJ, I wasn’t sure what transmission exactly you were firing at, but anyway, Hotan’s addresses are rarely live, and even where they are live in DaKhiem, they’re not sent abroad directly, so they still wouldn’t get Hotan.
A general point of record to all using helicopters in close support or to insert troops- even regular Drapoel army infantry have several QW-2 SAMs to a company- in the assault divisions it’s not uncommon to find every platoon carrying one, so helicopters will...you know, be eaten alive. I can’t really over-state how many man-portable SAMs we have, and they’re not unreliable old SA-7s or anything, they can take out cruise missiles and fixed wing aircraft up to four or more thousand metres, too.)


Western front

Command was frustrated. General Wonil had insisted that serious evidence of a Drapoel offensive in the west would effect the east, too. The enemy may not try to turn away, for it would be impractical, but they will hesitate to commit reserves to the east while the west is in danger of collapse, he said.
There didn’t seem to be enough time to let the theory run its course, however. The Korean peninsula simply wasn’t big enough for this kind of warfare where DaKhiem sent down specific points that were beyond contention, certain gains that could not be lost even for a short time. The People’s Army was having some flexibility problems.

There was no more time; north of Chonan lay a plain that stretched to near Suwon on a wide scale, and far beyond in a more narrow manifestation. No one wanted the enemy charging across that. The People’s Army was happy to advance across its relatively wide berth, though.

Advancing towards Chonan-

Several major roads in the area were still largely intact and certainly passable here. Drapoel forces racing down them ran a corridor of barrels and missiles pointed skywards- several SAM batteries in each kilometre of their progress kept the way open, many dug into fairly serious earthwork defences. It was true at least that the Drapoel didn’t like this relative lack of highland- some never got to see this far unless they lived on the coast or near the summit of one of Dra-pol’s larger mountains. There weren’t enough hills to pull their radar back down behind when under attack in the usual Drapoel manner. Any elevation in the area was pretty sure to have a mobile acquisition radar unit sat atop it, likely with a channel dug into more than one face down which the core components could drive come missile strikes. Targeting/guidance radar remained apart from such units, inactive until time came to fire and as such that much harder to find until it was too late.

Scores of armoured vehicles rolled south, hundreds of guns were towed to reinforce the few surviving batteries even now opening up on the Christians near Chonan. This drive by the POJ 4th Armoured represented a potential problem for the People’s Army across the area- elements west across Chungchong-Namdo trying to keep up the fight around Taejon. It wouldn’t stand, and nor would any efforts to support it, these battleships were a cause for some significant offence. Drapoel by enlarge hated the seas, they weren’t exactly part of either Suloist or Kuro thinking.

To get within range of their intended targets the battleships had to all but come in land, South Korea’s western coastline being no straight line. Even if this were not the case, Dra-pol’s anti-shipping missiles could attack far out to sea even when surface launched.

There was no initial resistance as the ships moved towards their firing positions, but the fight was to start before they had the reach to join it. From the south across Chungchong-Namdo several batteries became active, launching one or two Drapoel/Penglai sea-skimming Qian Wei missiles each before equipment began an effort to slightly relocate, withdraw, or hide. Some came in on different angles from across a wide front, making use of their 130km range. Moments later, perhaps after aircraft launches against the sources of attack, extra air search radar went on line in the area and command radar operators elsewhere waited by their frequency-hopping radios for any word on targets before lighting up their own systems and launching missiles.

With initial missiles inbound from one side, the larger concentrations east, enjoying much better cover and reliable re-supply, began modest early salvos that would intensify should the enemy continue in its naval advance.

Near Seoul

“Comrade General! The foreigners have ignored DaKhiem’s warning- ships remain, advancing. Direction- Level 3 deterrent authorised.” The Sub-Lieutenant dropped his salute and replaced it with the offering of a paper confirming his statements.

“Very well. Withdraw forwards observation posts, alert air defence batteries.” Said Wonil, looking both to the Sub-Lieutenant and to the young woman tasked with making official transcripts of his orders, in the model of that handed to him by the junior officer.

Those forward positions had scarcely begun to carry out Wonil’s directions when the whistle of shells was heard- 150 and 190mms from inside the CPRD itself. These soon began to fall on Seoul’s already weary and malnourished millions, some carrying high explosives, others anti-personnel shot and sub-munitions, still others incendiary warheads. Laser designators guided some to take out anything that’d drawn Hotan’s eye in the past. That shopping mall had to go, whether anyone was in it or not, so too that which appeared to be a church. Some efforts were made to spare areas of industrial interest to DaKhiem, though it was anyone’s guess how long this restraint would last.

The barrage was serious, big guns were used and several batteries were involved in the shelling, but it was a tiny fraction of what the CPRD could have thrown at the ROK capital.

It was enough to convince some in heavily effected areas that it was best to attempt escape. Wonil’s forces were in place to forcibly prevent this, throwing grenades and mortar shells at large concentrations of would-be escapees and allowing those green recruits unlucky enough not to have been snipers or other huntsmen for their collective the chance for practice against moving targets where individuals were concerned.

(ooc: Note, this is a somewhat (/very) rushed post to assure folk that I’ve not abandoned the thread, I’m just not fully available. I’d ask that you not post any major follow-ups to areas I’ve not addressed yet if they still require my attention, though you may remind me of them if you’re really bored :) In the east the 4,800-odd detached soldiers with the LRR pilot are getting all excited about being piled over by Hudecians, and that’s about it. Hotan’s very systematic.
Anyhoo, I’d best get to bed, I’ve to be up and then tomorrow night I’m rather obliged to watch a friend’s band, so I might not get back to you then either, and if I do, I might be tipsy, so excuse me if I nook joo.)

OCC: ok. Don't forget about the armored force advancing north at breathtaking speed.

IC:

The 5th AEF continues its fast advance to Andong, destroying everything Dra-pol in its path. The wide plains with their scattered hills are somewhat like LRR, (except for the fact that LRR is more like scotland) and the mechanized troops cope well.

Soon, the Dra-pol light tanks would come in contact with their LRRA "equivalent." The LT-7 light tank will probably be used by any LRRA airborne units being dropped in to speed up the advance. It is based on the Swedish Ikv-91, but the LT-7 is more heavily armored, and up-gunned. OMFG IT COULD3 PWN3D ANYTHIN!!!!!!!!!!!! :wink:

ooc: I'm back and will wait to respond until Sunday late or early Monday to let everything get caught up.

Aboard RBS U-24, now in the Yellow Sea.

"Herr Captain, we have a visual on some battleships. Dra-pol, we believe."

"BAttleships? Drapol? This goes against intel!"

"Should we engage?"

"I doubt it... we'd best not. By the way, will you turn off that damned light up there? Its hard enough to get any rest.

"That's the sun, sir."

"God damnit! We're surfaced and there are Dra-pol battleships just nearby?"

The communications officer rushed in. "A message sir. It says 'Identify yourselves. Your are tresspassing on a warzone. Leave or we will engage.'"

"Dive god damnit! Torpedo those damned battleships and get the hell outa here!"

The alarm to dive went off, and the sailors swarmed over. The hatch was closed, and the submarine dove below the waves. The captain went over the intercom. "All men to your battlestations! All men to your battlestations! We have contacted 2 hostile battleships bearing 060 degrees at a range of about 1 kilometer. It is my intention to destroy both with a salvo of Mk84 general purpose torpedos, and then leave the combat area."

The men hauled torpedoes and fired. The sub drifted away.

ooc: Bonstock, several problems with your post.

1. This is a closed rp with Dra-pol calling the shots

2. Dra-pol has no battleships

3. If you are firing at me, the rp will not go quite the way you think. In reading the thread, you will discover that there are actually 3 merged battlegroups in the surface force whose composition I will post below.

4. There is an in place blockade seaward of this force manned by Hudecian ships and submarines from numerous nations (including mine) Slipping by that would prove to be interesting to say the least as the subs on the blockade line need only drift or maintain headway with 1-3 knots and let oncoming forces be detected first. Many of these subs are diseals and are very quiet when not moving much.

Combined Battleship, Rauss, and Peiper Battlegroups

21 Nimitz Class CVNs: Joshua, Judah, Reuben, Midian, Simeon, Nathan, Zebulun, Asher, Levi, Solomon, Hezekiah, Jehu, Jericho, Elisha, Elijah, Rahab, Jordan, Saul, Ruth, Gehrig, Mantle,
1 Kitty Hawk CV: Campanella
2 Iowa Class AEGIS Battleships: New Joshua*, Jericho City
2 Padre Class (Yamato) AEGIS Class Battleships: Padre, Raider

24 Seawolf Class SSNs
4 Virginia Class SSNs
10 LA(i) Class SSNs


24 LHA Assault Craft
24 LPD Amphibious Dock ships
2 RT-s10 Ampibious Assault Ships
20 Watson Class LMSR Transports
12 Sacremento AOE Fleet Supply Ships
6 AS-39 Sub Tenders
12 MHC-51 Minesweepers

76 Ticonderoga Class CGs
104 Areligh Burke DDGs
12 Spruance Class DDs
58 OH Perry Class FFGs

This is seperate from the sub blockade force which is:
36 Kilo Diseal Attack subs
12 Virginia Class SSNs
10 LA Class SSNs
24 LA(i) Class SSNs
12 Seawolf Class SSNs

There are also subs deployed for missile use that are spread out with attack subs as listening "doorkeepers":
42 Oscar II SSGNs
OHIO Class SSBN "Benjamin"
Typhoon II Class SSBN "Agamemnon"

38 Virginia Class SSNs
6 LA Class SSNs

all of the above is posted either here or the OOC thread listed on page 1 of this thread.

It wouldn’t stand, and nor would any efforts to support it, these battleships were a cause for some significant offence. Drapoel by enlarge hated the seas, they weren’t exactly part of either Suloist or Kuro thinking.

ooc: Oh wait... Sorry...

But I'm mostly conducting reconaissence. I'm non-combatant. I just sent in a submarine to scout the thread out. In a sense, I just said "Tag" in a really fancy way.

Your battleships were out of range of my torpedoes anyway. Your sailors might have some concerns, and my sub is on silent running trying to get the hell outa there.

ic: "Herr Captain, none of our torpedoes seem to have hit."

"Just keep going. Make a course for Maropian Coast. This mission is over."

"Aye, sir."

Well, here you go: my big offensive. I hope this can put some new life in this thread. Allies TG me for supporting actions. POJ: I hope you don't mind what I'm doing with your marines. Sorry for the friggin' novel, but hey, Operation Drumroll is my baby....

____________________________________________________________

The bunker was silent. All the generals and staff officers were stunned by the footage ROK intelligence had smuggled out of Seoul. Whole city blocks leveled, with skinny, malnourished people rooting through the rubble, listlessly searching for survivors. While Field Marshal Anknecht looked perturbed, General Lee was silently enraged, his jaw clenched, his closed fists quivering.

Meekly, the ISD briefer quietly spoke.

“What we see here is just a small fraction of what the Dra-Pol are capable of. In a half hour of firing they would be able to…”
“That is quite enough.” Field Marshal Anknecht leaned forwards, and picked up the phone before him. He have a questioning look to General Lee.

The stocky Korean man nodded, and Anknecht spoke.

“Commence Operation Drumroll”

______________________________________________________________

Kilean 7th Army west of Taejon:

It was like a thunderclap that never ended. The corps artillery in the rear was firing as fast as it possibly could, and the literally thousands of artillery pieces in Heersgruppe Koree were doing the same. Jochaim was awestruck, and more than a little bit frightened by the sheer scale of the bombardment. Near his unit a multiple-rocket artillery battery went into action, their projectiles screeching away into the pre-dawn darkness.

Jochaim was jolted as his squad’s APC jerked into motion. Outside, the artillery fire rose to a climax, a roaring so loud and ongoing that Jochaim felt himself to be on the verge of panic. The hideous crashing and roaring simply would not end.

In his panic, he lost all sense of time, and it seemed like an eternity (or did it just seem like seconds?) until the APC ground to a halt. The rear door came down, and Jochaim bolted out onto a hellish moonscape of pounded Dra-Pol positions. With a low howling he could feel in his gut, two Army Air Corps ground-attack Jaguars swept overhead, cannon chattering as they hit the Dra-Pol that survived the hours-long bombardment.

Jochaim darted forwards with the rest of his squad. There were still reds in those trenches, and his men had to get them out.
_______________________________________________________________

Operation Drumroll is not a counter-attack. It is not a holding action. Operation Drumroll is a counteroffensive. Three Kilean field armies plus II Corps, A reinforced ROK corps, and a dozen POJ divisions and three POJ corps are taking part in the southernmost phase of Operation Drumroll.

In the weeks of buildup, II Corps, along with 7th, 4th, and 5th armies, have taken up position on the western Korean coastal plain, roughly alongside the POJ troops fighting around Daejon.

Just before dawn, over one million men and 8,000 panczers begin to move on the heels of a four-hour artillery barrage. Dra-Pol frontline positions get the worst of the bombardment, with emphasis placed on stunning the troops that could quickly react to any allied breakthrough.

Leading the charge is II Corps, and this elite formation has not quite had it’s fill of kicking ass. They move with one objective: advance. They bypass any serious Dra-Pol opposition, having but one goal: get as far north as fast as you possibly can.
The Heersgruppe Koree advance moves in three echelons: II Corps, and 4th army, dash northwards as soon as they possibly can, bypassing and pocketing less mobile Dra-Pol forces and trying to do a minimum of fighting. The second echelon (5th and 7th armies) moves behind them, crushing the bypassed Dra-Pol forces. The ROK troops, and a good number of the Kilean infantry divisions, are in reserve for the time being. This third echelon secures lines of communication, yet is being very much under-utilized…..

The advance is yet another one of Anknecht’s trademark risky moves. II Corps and 4th army are basically leaving huge numbers of Dra-Pol to run around in their rear areas as they charge forwards, trusting to 5th and 7th armies to take care of the pocketed Dra-Pol troops.

This is a counter-attack. This is an offensive the likes of which the Dra-Pol have not yet seen. It’s objective, although obvious, is unstated:

Get to Seoul as fast as they possibly can.

Their reason for this will become clear in the hours right after the men of Army Group Korea advance……

____________________________________________________________________________

That same morning, the skies over Korea go nuts.

The KAF and KLL take off along with hundreds of POJ naval aircraft. POJ Tomcats and KAF Ravens engage Dra-Pol fighters from long range while ROK F-16’s and Kilean Falkons dart in to dogfight and attack ground positions.

Well over 800 Allied fighter aircraft swarm over west-central Korea.

For the men of Army Group Korea, five air brigades- 480 ground attack craft- provide close air support to their advance.

The vast bulk of Kilean air power is not, however, deployed on the front.
_____________________________________________________________________________


The KNS Ostendt pitches in the waters of the yellow sea. For the second time in the war, the Kilean navy is moving up near Seoul. A kirov-class BCGN, along with it’s five escorting destroyers and one escorting anti-aircraft missile cruiser, plus four heudecian-built destroyers, have moved within missile range of Inchon. The missile magazines are readied and radars are warmed up for what promises to be one hell of an air-sea battle that is unfolding over Seoul.
_________________________________________________________________________________


From Jeju-Do, dozens of Gryphon strike jets and their electronic warfare “basilisk” variant take to the skies. They meet up with Army Air Corps A-4’s and Visgoth low-level strategic bombers from Kilean itself.

In the course of three hours, over 500 aircraft will make their suicidal attack runs. Screaming in low over the water at supersonic speeds, the A-4’s, Gryphons, Visgoths and Basilisks will impale themselves on Dra-Pol SAM’s and AA sites in the greater Seoul area. ECM pods screeching, and behind great coulds of chaff, they cross over Dra-Pol, and the furious battle of bunker-busters, anti-radar missiles, ECM, and guidance radars begins.

As the wild weasels attack Dra-Pol ground-based AA sites, the POJ and KAF jets in the air, directed by airborne control planes over the yellow sea, do their damnedest to make the skies over Seoul allied-control airspace, at least for a while.

A while is all they need.
____________________________________________________________________________

The enkranoplan was shaking as it half-hovered-half-flew over the water at 300 miles an hour. Dozens of the ground-effect craft had set out from Jeju-Do late in the night, and now the ground-effect craft were nearing their objectives. They carried three brigades of Kilean naval infantry- the specialized landing troops that passed for marines in Kilean. The huge flock of GEV’s broke up off the west coast of Korea, and scurried to their objectives.

The pilots of this particular enkranoplan were starting to get really nervous as they rushed up to the shoreline near Inchon. They were attacking under air superiority, yeah, and at night…..

….but that didn’t stop the Dra-Pol shore defense gunners. The enkranoplan next to them caught a 122mm round on one pseudo-wing, and broke up in a dramatic, tumbing crash that was half splash and half fireball. Over 200 Kilean Naval Infantry died on that GEV alone, and many would meet death before they even got to the beach.

But the enkranoplans were fast, and sand soon ground against their hulls as Kilean naval infantrymen hit the beach. They were specialist troops, trained to take beaches and not a hell of a lot else.

Of the three brigades, one (5,000 men) lands near Inchon in the pre-dawn hours, securing a beachead. The other two brigades split off into two or three enkranoplan flights, and land at dozens of locations among the tiny islands and rocky inlets of Koreas west coast. As dawn breaks on the first day of Operation Drumroll, dozens of savage battalion and company sized actions are being fought by Kilean Naval Infantry against Dra-Pol units guarding coastal fixed gun emplacements and anti-ship missile launchers. The bulk of the Kilean marine assault- 10,000 men- is directed at taking out Dra-Pol anti-ship missile launchers and other coastal defenses.

____________________________________________________________________________

The seas and skies around Seoul are erupting into chaos. In addition to the KNS Ostendt battle group’s movements and the Enkranoplan landings, ROK missile boats attack the Dra-Pol in littoral waters, inserting special forces and generall screwing with the Dra-Pol troops on the coast.

As a million Kilean soldiers grind forwards, as massive warships begin to fire the first SAM’s and anti-missile CIWS rounds, as thousands of jets contort in a huge dogfight over west Korea, the most important phase of Operation Drumroll begins.

As the air battle rages, a huge stream of massive aircraft drones over the Tsushima strait, and then turns north. They are about to carry out the largest hostage-rescue operation in history.
____________________________________________________________________________

Operation Drumroll main phase

The human body is at it’s most sleepy and least alert right before dawn. The Dra-Pol guards around the HARTS weren’t exactly prefect specimens, either. Poor nutrition- all food was needed for the great fatherland anti-imperialist liberation unity struggle taking place in the south- and lack of sleep combined with lots of gawking and finger pointing at the huge air battle that was raging made the guards not very aware of the silent whooshing sound in the night.

The loud crashing noise and the sound of snapping tree branches got their attention, too.

That same crashing sound did something bad to the neck of General Slama. He was getting too old for this crap. Glancing to one side, he saw that the nose of the glider had sheared away, as had one wing. The pilot was dead, and several equipment containers had burst open. Just about everybody in the glider was messed up by the crash in some way. General Slama reached for the quick release handle.

His hands found it, yanked it, and the rear of the composite and fiberglass glider fell off. The General picked up his folding-stock paratrooper model G-21 and climbed out into the night. He was the rest of the headquarters squad silently getting their gear together and forming up outside the glider.

good thought the General we’ve only been training for this for months.

The General looked around, and couldn’t recognize where the hell he was. Or where the other glider carrying the HQ unit was. He shook his head. They’d trained for months, they’d even gone on a new sleep cycle, sleeping during the day and training at night, so they’d be well-rested for this attack.

Well, this was just how airborne operations went. A small noise grabbed the generals attention. A Dra-Pol militia woman froze like a rabbit in the headlights. General Slama put a burst into her.

Dibujante had basically worn away any moral outrage he had at killing underage commie militia. Another 15 year old girl wasted, another day spent fighting the heartless bastards who put people like that into combat.

Around him a firefight was developing. He hit dirt and began firing at what looked like Dra-Pol area defense troops. It looked like somebody had got their drop zone right, because a platoon of Kilean airborne engineers was assaulting the HARTS that General Slama had landed right on top of. With the clockwork efficiency that bespoke of weeks of rehearsal, a pair of Kilean paratroopers darted up to the firing slit of one of the big 203mm guns and placed a shaped charge. Under the cover of their comrades they scuttled away before the charge burst.

Dashing in on the heels of the explosion, two more paratroopers in CBW gear- each holding one end of a cansiter- ran up and pushed the cylinder they were carrying through the hole and into the HARTS.

A muffled “pop” was heard, and the firing from inside the HARTS stopped soon thereafter.

Slama nervously checked for his gas mask. It was there, along with the rest of his suit. The Kilean army knew history, and knew what happened to paratroopers who dropped onto objectives Dra-Pol didn’t want to give up.

Of course, that stuff the engineers were using in the HARTS was pretty nasty, too. Donning his chem gear, Slama led his squad into the Dra-Pol trenches, taking out the last few MG nests with grenades. Once the battle died down, he walked over to the Kilean platoon that had stormed the HARTS.

Time to find out what the hell was going on.
__________________________________________________________________________________

As wild weasel squadrons engage SAM sites, and PAAF jets are kept busy, the huge stream of transport jets moves over Seoul. The first wave of the Albatros transports are towing gliders, carrying an entire Kilean airborne division. The radar-transparent, silent gliders are used to in one of the first big glider assaults since WW2. After training for months in the rugged mountains of Kilean, the glider transports are used to landing on horrible terrain at night, although hundreds of paratroopers do die in bad drops or crashed gliders. The first wave of the airborne assault lands its gliders among the HARTS to the north of Seoul. The gliders carry heavy equipment, crew-served weapons, and demolition gear as well as supplies for the second wave.

The Albatros transports fly overland, and two whole airborne divisions jump out into the night.

Two more divisions land among the bunker systems and artillery emplacements of the Dra-Pol HARTS network around Seoul. Three airborne divisions- about 45,000 men in total- are linking up, finding their equipment canisters or gliders, and carrying out what they have practiced for so long. Using shaped charges and an as-yet unknown chemical* (that is only used inside the HARTS themselves) they move to take out the Dra-Pol guns around Seoul. A thousand tiny, hard-fought battles break out as Kilean paratroopers with satchel charges rush Dra-Pol defensive couplas, or as AA militia units fight close-quarters actions with Kilean units. The Kilean action is a gamble, and a huge one. They are fighting to save Seoul. They’ve trained constantly on HARTS replicas, and are some of the best soldiers Kilean has. Operation Drumroll’s ultimate success or failure now is on the shoulders of feldwebels and unterleutnants as they try to sort out the confused airdrop and destroy the guns ready to rain death on Seoul.
______________________________________________________________________________

The wind was snatching the words away from the priest on the early-morning day, but the POJ marine captain still caught a word or two.

thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven….

The Captain touched the cross hanging around his neck, and looked at the distant Inchon shore, where the sounds of shelling and gunfire told of the Kilean naval infantry landing.

The Captains men filed down to the well deck and boarded the landing craft. The Kilean units were going to be crushed without backup, and POJ marines were that backup. The captain looked at his men, and realized just how few of them would live through this.
________________________________________________________________________________

As the positions around Seoul wake up to Kilean paratroopers, the HARTS around the DMZ get their own nasty surprise.

Fired from Kilean some 35 minutes before H-hour, 60 SM-08 Seraphim ICBM’s fall out of low orbit like the fist of an angry pagan god. The missiles have been the long-rumored replacement for the obsolete Riverbed ICBM’s, and this is the first time they have been shown to the world. The missiles, however, do not carry the nuclear MIRV’s they were intended to.

Kilean has sacrificed a large chunk of it’s deterrence capability by converting the cutting-edge ICBM’s into conventional weapons. With a CEP of 10 meters, and a huge terminal velocity, the multimillion thaler missiles make a very good and very expensive weapon when used against hardened underground targets. The 60 largest HARTS emplacements don’t know what hit them, as tungsten-cored earth penetrators moving at reentry velocities slam into their gun mounts.

Among the Albatros transport planes, the lumbering Donner heavy bombers break formation. 68 of them- the entire remaining Kilean force- are carrying the Longbow-A air-launched supersonic cruise missile. 136 of the missiles drop from their wing hard points and fly twards the DMZ. The Longbow-A carries a “bunker-buster” warhead, and their plunging attack profile allows them to more or less igonore the reverse-slope positioning of most of the HARTS guns. Although an attack under normal circumstances would be foolish in the extreme, the supression of Dra-Pol AA weaponry by the KAF and KLL make this an attack that actually stands a chance.

On the heels of the bomber and ICBM attacks, hundreds of KLL aircraft sweep in with earth-penetrating weapons to follow up with a huge series of air strikes on the HARTS, losses be damned.
____________________________________________________________________________

The might of the Kilean army grinds against the Dra-Pol on the western coast, and tens of thousands of Kilean paratroopers and naval infantrymen fight for their lives around Seoul. Field Marshal Anknecht has had good luck in this campaign, and now, he wishes only for his luck to hold out just this one last time….

bump for Dra-pol.

Meanwhile, the 5th AEF presses northward, continuing the attack on Dra-pol forces in and around Andong, with the support of attack helicopters and fighter cover provided by the LRRN squadrons on the carriers.

Meanwhile, from LRR, MiG-21 2000 CAS jets are flown in to bolster the LRR air contingent.

I've actually got a follow-on that I'm writing now

Near Seoul

Muzzle flashes, explosions, and tracer rounds flickered in the night, many obscured to comrade Hul Jing by hills and mountains about. He couldn’t help thinking back to that murky day, years since, when mist rather than night had so reduced visibility and the outsiders stormed from the ether. The cries of his big sister, Yasuki, were recalled tonight as a young corporal alerted the Kaesong 2nd Brigade Kuro Student Defence League to the airborne assault on nearby HARTS. That explained the flashes on the ridge. The enemy must be attempting to surmount the near-by ridge to get down at the HARTS behind, and were running into 14.5mm air defence guns.

Other outsiders were reportedly already grounded on this side and as such behind the large regular forces on the forward face. Until the regulars could be sure that no offensive was to be made on that face they couldn’t be released. It was up to the mobilised reserve units to bear the weight of action for now, and they went forward.

KSDL fighters carrying 8mm sub-machineguns and 6.5mm bolt-action rifles with spike bayonets jogged forwards in some sectors near local schools to where they’d been quickly rallied as loud speakers bellowed through the night. They went about as fast as their thirteen to sixteen year old legs would carry them, often less than a metre apart shoulder to shoulder, and several ranks deep across fronts hundreds of metres wide.

Between these formations were large gaps in the KSDL lines, of course, as many youngsters were too far to have been woken by the speakers and would have to be roused by the distant sounds of fighting or by runners (and cyclists) already dispatched.
In the CPRD-proper the KSDL would have been better supported by huge militia units, but here it had proved harder to dislodge working populations than school children, meaning that little existed between regular People’s Army and KSDL levels of defence. There should have been at least one if not two more semi-military organisations to fill in.

The HARTS themselves had by enlarge withdrawn guns and closed blast doors against the attackers, but around Seoul the defences are largely far from the standard seen in the CPRD. The attackers breached several batteries forcing gun crews to fight it out at close quarters. Losses were significant, and the response drastic, amplified by the number of threats faced by the Drapoel and by the use of ballistic weapons against the Choson People’s Republic. Drumroll would be remembered as the bloodiest episode in Korean history and, if participants were not very careful, perhaps the last.

General Wonil’s artillery, most being apart from the HARTS, was turning its attention west to the battle near Inchon. Hundreds of guns erupted against the coast, showering landing foreign troops and the several thousand Drapoel positioned to delay their incursion.

The islands off shore were part of the fight, gun and missile batteries largely deployed by helicopter and some few captured vessels firing against incoming vessels and SAMs disrupting incoming aircraft launched against HARTS and more serious mainland defences. The skies were crawling with aircraft from both sides, PAAF units falling faster but going up just as quickly from here and across the border. The main concern of PAAF fighters was the disruption of ground attack runs, and fighters were focused largely against these, rushing in with small groups at over Mach 2, before peeling off for a second group’s dash. Many would be knocked-down by Tomcats and Ravens, but their targeting would be answered by scores of FC-1 and J-10 as well as more SU-15-D racing to engage those fighters. Where the ground attack aircraft were left to their own devices they’d be swamped with interceptors as well as ground-fire.

The battle at the coast was fierce even before aircraft and Drapoel artillery became involved, the attackers clearly having much technology that was superior and having long prepared their plan. The People’s Army however had been preparing for fifty years, and wasn’t about to be MacArthured again, not without a serious resistance. This time they had the manpower and industrial muscle to mount a serious defence despite their advance, which had two generations ago drained too many resources. Artillery inside the CPRD too was able to join in shelling near Inchon, pounding the coast just north while the units around Seoul fired across the southern extent of enemy landings. This did mean that while Hotan wanted to flatten Seoul in retaliation, he thought it wiser to divert all surviving guns within range against the enemy assaults.

The assault on Inchon was, despite what may have been hoped, no surprise, and the People’s Army had several contingency plans that it did not really expect to need.


Southern Dra-pol

The missile strikes against the CPRD were a different matter to the half-expected Inchon assault. CS-400 in three sites around Dra-pol responded with two dozen B missiles, taking down eighteen, but hadn’t time enough to co-ordinate a second strike before the missiles dived upon their targets. By the time these forty two missiles smashed into southern Dra-pol, knocking out several score of the network’s thousands of artillery tubes and killing perhaps hundreds of Drapoel, the Central Directorature was co-ordinating a response.


Western theatre, southern front

The enemy assault was clearly serious, and many would lament the ‘tactical delay’, however short it may have been. Still, even if it was not so much a result of the half-baked plan as of separate enemy thinking, the result was as desired. DaKhiem wanted the war broken in two, wanted two fronts. It was judged a greater pain for the enemy to support two separated, protracted, large operations across the mountains and over the seas than for the Unified People’s Army (as it was now being called) to step across the border at whichever point or points it desired.

The airborne attacks around Seoul were a little unexpected, but the enemy was dropping into a frying pan, and the army was by enlarge rather peckish. Wonil was fairly confident of achieving either a victory of propaganda and attrition in destroying the attackers, or something greater still in capturing them. The Inchon assault, he felt like most others, was a grasp at a long withered straw, so the only means for the extraction of the airborne element was victory for the enemy in their offensive south. That’d mean getting through a huge portion of the UPA, as Wonil relayed information to the CD and called for the release of the massive, massive reserves just across the border. That meant potentially millions of men, and tens of thousands of AVs and battle tanks. The hundreds of thousands of men already engaging to the south would presumably be enough to slow the attackers long enough for that to happen, even if they were losing the fight. No one told them that they didn't have to win it outright.

They were fighting as if the war hung on this one huge battle between a million Kilean troops, the Joshuans, and the few hundred thousand Drapoel previously facing just the latter. It was difficult for the man under fire to appreciate the scale of the offensive moving against he and his comrades, though he’d seen already a number of them felled by shell fire and air assault. Likewise he’d seen the truly phenomenal concentration of SAMs, AAA, and interceptors on hand drop a large number of unfamiliar foreign aircraft from their wing. Often ground attack aircraft would appear as dots racing past a man’s position in the distance to attack a more serious concentration, only to be engulfed in the flak of a thousand guns from all sides. Countless guns and launchers had been targeted and destroyed, but the countryside was no less littered with active defences than with burning hulks.

Most units kept up their advance just as did the enemy, though in this case the People’s Army would engage any targets it came upon as the front lines, with the enemy skipping fights here and there, became tangled with pockets, bulges, and units entwined.

Eastern front

News of the ICBM launches against the CPRD had not yet reached the front here, but reports indicating the beginnings of the massive western offensive against the People’s Army were available. It was more important than ever that the operation continue- that shortness of time was more evident than ever.
It was still believed that the enemy would not risk a serious drive from west to east across the mountains that divided the country, especially relatively far north, but it was clearly best that the People’s Army ensure the area remained impassable. Tens of thousands of men were diverted into the hills west, tasked with remaining intact and credible as a defensive force, and with nothing more than that.
Meanwhile the real fighting was to commence. No, the PA commanders in the field did not consider the enemy’s eastern offensive towards and by Andong a real fight and, with what was reported to be happening in the west, nor did the enemy.

Two good Assault Divisions had been all but lost, the 131st dismantled, but the bulk of the People’s Army was all but untouched, and relatively little mechanisation had yet been cast into the static defensive action. Now though, with the enemy’s armoured spearhead having fought its way through the better part of eighty thousand men, the People’s Army lifted its head and drew back a fist.

More than two hundred FROG 7-B launchers began to heave high explosive, bomblet, and chemical disruption upon the enemy’s rear, launching warheads up to seventy kilometres south. Drapoel artillery opened up with ferocity against the enemy attack as it had been considered to have drawn quite close enough. It was time at last to resist, and the spearhead was concentrated upon by hundreds of tubes in all calibres, fire not relenting until the enemy reached far enough that there could be no further refrain. Then the mechanised forces finally moved, supported by only hundreds rather than thousands of jets as in the west, but enjoying thousands of tanks, including 105mm gunned medium and 115mm gunned main battle tanks on top of the formerly seen light tanks. Seventy five MT-3 “Hotan” main battle tanks joined the offensive and received exceptional support, which was not so much for their protection but because the Drapoel supposed them to make tempting targets beyond proportion, and hoped to take a toll on whatever was sent to dispatch them.
This new push would eventually feel the weight of several million Drapoel soldiers –Hotan said ten million would march, though no one was clear off hand on the time-scale he had in mind. The People’s Army was certainly trying to make it a reality, it was a slow process, but seemingly inevitable.

The plan had been for a central push against the enemy’s strong centre, with artillery and rocketry covering the flanks for some miles while FROGs assailed the enemy’s supply area. In truth the size of the PA couldn’t be accommodated without using the flanks as part of the main offensive. Tunnels worked dangerously fast, hundreds of helicopters meant to be combat aircraft were reverted to their original transport and utility roles, and literally millions of Drapoel walked supplies to hastily arranged depots down the eastern ROK, passing them along from point to point.

It wasn’t fast like the enemy drives, but it wasn’t about to run out of steam, either. Drapoel commanders simply don’t care how fast the enemy is moving or how advanced are his tanks, the People’s Army will let him cut through and go where he likes. Soon his lines of supply if not obliterated and hanging with the smell of geraniums or of rotten onions should be over run. Of course the PA would, by its toleration, risk similar, but with the enemy’s objective deemed to be rapid penetration, it was not a seriously held concern. After all, even if advance enemy units did manage to disrupt some supply their own would soon dry-up and the problem would fix itself.

Hopefully.

Hamhung District, opposite the Westgaard Line

Radio activity spiked as DaKhiem’s Directions went forth along with an official demand for the return of Hamhung to the Choson People’s Republic.

“Reunification is upon us, the revolutionary spirit of Kuro can no longer brook the containment of your demeaning cage, the visibly divisive line drawn against the people. The puppet government of Quinntonian Dra-pol will signal its surrender of the Westguaard Line and allow the passing of the Unified People’s Army into Hamhung. This will be done without delay, and in return for complicity in the reunification process, the Choson People’s Republic shall allow the continuation, post-occupation, of your efforts to evacuate those unwilling to embrace Kuro.

“Until such time as the Central Directorature receives confirmation of your compliance, the Quinntonian occupation of Drapoel soil will continue to be viewed as hostile and a detriment to the security of the Republic.”

So went the message from comrade Secretary Hotan as it was dispatched to Quinntonian authorities in the early hours of the morning. Moments later Republican loyalists in Hamhung and Hungnam burst into action, many surfacing and tasting fresh air for the first time in months or even years after residing in safe houses and basements. Snipers took shots at local dignitaries and security forces, grenades were thrown into police stations, fire stations were attacked, car-bombs detonated near specifically chosen targets, and ambushes were set for responding security and emergency service units.

Below the city, several devices –some containing harmful chemical agents- were detonated in sewers by operatives knowing the authorities to be mindful of such underground places. These attacks were hurriedly executed with only secondary concern given to the escape of culprits. They too were ambushes with relatively large cells keen to draw security forces into the sewers, where they would variously attempt to surround, ambush, bomb, and gas them at pre-chosen points picked for their above-ground defencibility. Bombers would hope to flee under pursuit, drawing authorities -both in the sewers and above ground while pre-occupied with the chase below- into killing zones. Here snipers covered the narrow streets and operatives waited to hurl grenades down drains and manholes, or to suddenly turn and fight with sub-machineguns and hand grenades.

As yet less dramatic but much more sinister were the actions of a few special operatives hidden away, perhaps in plain view, designating targets for precision artillery attack. These actions hadn’t yielded any result, but it was only a matter of time if the Quinntonians failed to co-operate with DaKhiem.

The operatives were not alone even now. D/E submarines of the reclusive People’s Navy attempted to lay mines in the harbour mouth and near-by sea-lanes at Hungnam, and were even prepared to make torpedo attacks on targets of opportunity. Their captains were operating with assurances of air and missile cover should ASW missions be launched against them.

The Choson People’s Republic of Dra-pol

Ballistic missiles were inbound, apparently set to fall on the homeland herself. On top of that, the westerners were attacking Inchon, again. That struck nerves with both the military and government (if they were different entities). Either way it appeared as the missiles closed that the stops were out.

The Direction went out for ROKA prisoners to be disposed of so as to free-up their guards for other duties, and northern towns from Hwachon to Kansong experienced huge explosions and gas attacks in still populated districts. Many people had already experienced forced ruralisation, but trouble spots were now being shutdown from beneath.

In Dra-pol silos opened their multiple blast doors to loose IRBMs laden with various conventional, chemical, and nuclear ordinance. Their targets included Pusan, Ulsan, Taegu, Jeju-Do, and the foreign fleets in both the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan. Most of the ballistic missiles fired were of the sort tested several years ago to a range of just a couple of thousand kilometres. The more recent 3,000 and 5,000 mile plus range missiles remained too precious to be launched while there was any hope of reconciliation by less than total nuclear war. Still, some forty IRBMs were airborne, eight carrying boosted fission nuclear warheads.
The PAAF’s reaction was, as Directed, the deployment of KJ-1 with low-yield nuclear weapons. They were bound for the fighting south of Seoul, instructed to break the enemy advance at whatever cost.
Twelve of the hundreds of involved aircraft carried these nuclear payloads, much more damaging would be the even smaller devices and chemical munitions waiting in storage below 190mm artillery positions across the DMZ’s length. If the enemy advance continued much further, it was at this point presumed by DaKhiem –ignorant as yet of the conventional payloads carried by the ICBMs fired at their country- that there was nothing to lose by showering the last thirty miles before the border on a saturation level.

Of course this would make the planned deployment of millions more soldiers to take captive the entirety of enemy forces rather redundant, so it would be well that communications remained open between the CD and the DMZ. Whether or not the Republic’s communication network was reliable and rapid enough to avert the KJ-1 nuclear attacks when it was discovered that the ICBMs were non-nuclear was anyone’s guess.
Around Seoul and Inchon speakers and radios called for the attackers to surrender while they still could. Not only was the entire weight of the people’s army prepared to fall upon them and kill them to a man, but the survival of the populations of South Korea, Hamhung, and their own comrades further south hung in the balance.


(OOC: Long story short, firing intercontinental ballistic missiles at an ultra paranoid isolationist state newly possessed of its own similar weapons and perceiving itself under siege... not a delicate touch, more nuclear-bomb-on-the-oil-fire.
On the bright side, we’re now in two minds about whether to march the equivalent manpower to the ROK’s pre-war population down to Pusan or to blow-up the whole country, so a few lucky so and sos may just have time to construct a raft and paddle for Japan.)

Premier Frosh was white as the news poured into the room.

The ISD Director-General just stammered "I.....I don't.....I don't understand. We fired conventional ICBM's at Kosong.....t-they....."

Frosh Stared blankly.

"Get me Anknecht"

Field Marshal Inkernmann spoke up

"Anknecht is dead. We think he was caught above-ground in Pusan."

Frosh nodded. "Who is in charge over there?" The man looked sick.

"General Thalmann" Said Inkermann after glancing at the papers before him.

Frosh nodded. "Let the record show that I am giving Thalmann the PAL codes for 12 nuclear warheads from the 5th Theatre Missile brigade on Jeju-Do."

Frosh looked at Inkermann "they did survive, yes?"

Inkermann nodded, biting on his cigar. "Oh, hell yes, sir. Our boys did a damn good job tunnelling that place out. But, uuh....lets just say that it ain't gonna be such a popular vacation destination anymore."

"Alright, then." Frosh composed himself. "Tell him to excecute TNWPLAN-K-01- and get me on the phone with General Ndebele. I want to get on the backchannel to Hotan."
________________________________________________________

Jeju-Do

The KAF personell moved quickly, the training blocking out all thoughts of what it was they were going to do. The mobile launchers rolled out of their undergound shelters, and beneath the dispersing mushroom cloud of the Dra-Pol strike, the black RAM-clad shapes of Longsword strategic cruise missiles sprang from their containers.

Three of the missiles are DAY fused for 26kt- hiroshima-sized weapons- they skim over the yellow sea before turning to burst over pyongyang, bracketing the city with airbursts.

Four other missiles are fused for the lowest setting- 15kt. They sail over the largest pockets of Dra-Pol troops on the western plain, and explode.

Three more head off twards the counter-attack on Andong. Fused to 15 kt, they'll do all sorts of nasty things to the tank force massing there.

The last two, fused to 26kt but equipped with earth-penetrator warheads slam into the HARTS installations north of the DMZ.
_____________________________________________________________

Routing through the African Commonwealth, the phone on Hotan's desk rings. Premier Frosh speaks.

"This is insanity, Hotan. Think about what is happening. We must stop this, or there will be nothing left to fight over. Consider this a cease-fire, Hotan. We- you and I- stop the fighting before it turns into armageddon."
_____________________________________________________________

Jochaim looked at the rising fireball dozens of miles away through the goggles of his CBW suit.

This wasn't war. This wasn't two armies. The war had become bigger than them all, it had become a living breathing thing, an animal that had to consume and consume and consume.

Jochaim stood in the centre of the maelstrom. One man in a chemial suit with a metal-and-composite rifle. He didn't know what he thought or felt. He didn't know if he felt alive or dead, afraid or triumphant.

He started at that mushroom cloud, rising into the korean sky.

_____________________________________________________________

TO ALL ALLIED FORCES: CONSIDER THE NUCLEAR RETALIATION DONE. DO NOT- REPEAT- DO NOT USE ANY MORE NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGAINST DRA-POL.

Southern CPRD

The HARTS were across most of the line locked-down and prepared for NBC warfare, only in the battered west did a few batteries remain open to the elements in a hopefull attempt to lend fire-support to the Inchon conflict. Most of them were damaged or destroyed by the blast that few locals would survive.

The state of alert that'd closed blast doors below ground and scattered some high value assets also drew many militia fighters from their homes and towards the border. Here and there they got the word, the war was being fought on a scale beyond them, their rifles, and their aged-old gas-masks. They should go home and wait until it changed. Elsewhere they were just informed enough to realise that the first strikes had been conventional, but not that the CPRD had in a panic stuck back so massively. Thousands covered the hillside against which one of the missiles impacted.

Pyongyang "The PAAF City"

Patroling L2D4 aircraft just over the coast spotted incoming missiles, and reported probable precision weapons, perhaps bunker busters. At Pyongyang a few aircraft were scattered into the sky before refueling, on the assumption that they could return minutes later when the attack was over. Others were sent on an attempt to intercept the incoming missiles.

Radio chatter seemed to report one success attributed to a cannon and AA-6 Acrid/R-40RD weilding SU-15D, the transmission cut short as the scores of flight crew ceased their hurrying about the airbase.

Much of the complex remained dozens of metres below ground but, owing to the recent increase in air combat to the south, an unusually high number of aircraft were sat on runways.

The little prefabricated buildings that provide fair (political) weather homes for the servicemen and their families... well, to describe the scene would be a cliché too far.

ROK

Sub-Lieutenant Kim Kudo-U shook his head and, squinting heavily, passed the field glasses back to a discouraged comrade. From their position in the central highlands no magnification was needed. Huge blasts were occuring over the regions recently agreed by the young soldiers to have represented People's Army and foreign positions.

Several Kilean missiles had reached their targets in the west at about the same moment as a wing of KJ-1, two aircraft light after crossing the path of some unidentified enemy fighter, had released their own pair of 10kt+ devices on the opposite forces. Koreans, Drapoel, Joshuans, Kilean, "Attention!"

"What's that? Incoming!"

A split second burst of 14.5mm fire, the throwing of arms across faces, and the missile passed by, looping over the mountains.
The streaks of heat-seaking SAMs could presently be seen as evidence of further efforts to disable the sneaky weapon as it headed east.

(ooc: Not knowing much about these missiles, I haven't decided whether any flak, or IR-guided SAMs loosed by the hundreds of thousands of shoulders over which they fly, might take down one bound for the Andong front before it arrives, not that stopping one makes being... nuked by the rest a flea bite...)


The Central Directorature, DaKhiem

Comrade Secretary Hotan carefully replaced his writing apparel upon the desk and took hold of the receiver, automatically calling to a halt the recording of Reunification Rainbow ( ;) ) that'd assaulted Frosh during his wait for connection to Hotan's current location.

Hotan listened, blinking a few times but otherwise not moving so much as a twitch.

"Yes." He said. "We must settle... this matter. I fear, though, it may be... too late to... prevent initial... field... retaliation." Hotan explained, waving a hand to one of the Banat administrators stood across the room in an eventually understood effort to arrange initial field retaliation while it might still be excused. The Secretary's English was still a distraction for him, his study negated rather in recent weeks as other concerns took precidence.

In the field the conflicting Directions received by an already somewhat overwhelmed command structure were carried out in a rather uneaven manner by shattered and reeling units. A few chemical warheads were loosed on both fronts and into several ROK cities, but after the first KJ-1 waves no further nuclear attack was forthcoming. Hotan realised that missile launches would be hard to pass off as local affairs or impossible to avert, and the destruction experienced at Pyongyang and at strips near the DMZ and south of Seoul put paid to hopes of a second KJ-1 nuclear wave being slipped amongst already airborne combat aircraft.

This round was apparently winding down.

ooc; this post has been modifed several times due to changing events

Aboard the New Joshua

Fleet Admiral Rauss picked himself up from the wreckage thrown around the CIC area covered in blood and limping badly.

Our threatre area defense missiles fired yes?

Theatre area defense missiles carried by AEGIS vessels to conteract nuclear strikes (http://www.globalsecurity.org/space/systems/sm2.htm)

Yes sir, while several were not nuclear, at least some were and no chances could be taken. The haze makes it difficult to see the rest of the fleet if it remains. At least one blast has effected us. (ooc note: what follows isn't necessarily realistic in terms of information finding but I'm doing it to account for forces without changes "scenes" too much as it were)

I imagine many of the smaller escort vessels and support ships.....

yes......... I understand


Further out to Sea aboard the Judah bridge wing

SIR THE BATTLESHIP FORCE IS GONE!! MOST OF OUR FLEET EITHER UNACCOUNTED FOR OR HIDDEN IN THE SMOKE AND HAZE WITH SYSTEMS OFFLINE!!!!!!!!!

Not the Saul. It is accounted for

Rear Admiral Joachin Peiper (ooc: Dra-pol if you are wondering where that name came from, think WWII, 1st SS Panzer Leibstandarte Adolph Hitler Division, Battle of the Bulge, Malmady) spoke in a very low and quiet voice that was belied by his clenched white fists and offset by the sudden flush of red in his face as he watched the flaming wreck that had once been a CVN under his command slip beneath the waves.......

He looked around at the flipped hulls of capsized vessels and saw other fires in the distance visible through the haze.

the casualty reports for the 5 ships hit in the initial strke was well over 1100 dead and wounded correct

"yes Sir?" The aide was still in shock but puzzled by the refernce to the previous anti ship missile attack that now paled by comparision.

Menawhile Admiral Peiper wasn't thinking of additional casualities in terms of adding. The counts would jump geometrically and by large factors. Men HIS men and women..........................

Get me a VLF line to the Benjamin and Armeggeddon as well as the Oscars still in threatre. I will issue the necessary orders from the flag planning center.........THIS WILL NOT STAND!!!!!

"Sir!.....Admiral..." the aide hurried after in a shock induced dedication to finish his report. On shore sir, the 3rd and 9th Armored Corps are offline as are the 2nd Marines. Our missiles were able to reach 100 kilometers so there may be ground units that survived the blasts. The 5th and 9th Marines at Inchon seem to still be transmitting. F14 tomcat intercepters reported contact with incoming bombers before the blasts and that they were sucessfull at engaging many of those dra-pol aircraft at 75km range with Phoenix missiles. those planes are now unaccounted for. Field Marhall Manstein's HQ is offline and his comand group is....unaccounted for as well.

further out to sea and submerged

58 missile keys turned in key locks within moments of each other and 252 SS-N-19 missiles began climbing into the air from various points on the compass as 18 Oscar II submarines went deep and headed for home without missiles remaining (24 Oscars are still around). 192 Tomahawks started rising into the air about the same time as 10 LA(i) Class SSNs and 6 Virginia Class SSNs went deep and headed home without missiles as well.
Tomahawk launch (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/images/tomahawk.mpeg)

Every missile launched started for the shore where launched and then all turned north and coverged on the same area. The SS-N-19s each carry a 750kg convential HE warhead and the Tomahawks carry the new 2000lb
WDU-36 warhead w/ PBXN-107 explosive & FMU-148 fuze system carrying multi-purpose bomblets (anti personnel)

The target city is Kosong, the industrial center of Dra-pol and this attack is targeted at obliterating the city with convential warheads with an eye towards anti-personnel explosions from the Tomahawks and major industrial building and centers with the SS-N-19s. Information provided by spy satellites and spy planes tracking Daylam and other shipments into Dra-pol was used for the presets on these weapons to identify targets of interest that may not be on the surface.

Joshua City; Presidential complex

when President Richard von Joshua had composed himself following the flood of reports from Dra-pol he had a call placed to Hotan via backchannel efforts from Lusaka and the AC.

Are you mad? I just personally canceled orders for a nuclear response against your country. Said orders were issued by an officer who had the authority and more than enough justification to do so. I believe our response should make things very clear to you. I will not hesitate to revoke my countermand and allow for total nuclear destruction of your nation if this continues but I beleive neither one of us wants that.
Pull whats left of your soldiers and administrative structure back over the border and whats left of our ground forces will not follow. it needs to end now.

Over Seoul and Inchon

Every available transport had been put together and now flew from Daeron to the Seoul/Inchon battleground. When the initial shelling of the city had begun by the dra-pol various structures used by the dra-pol and strongpoints also exploded. Explosives hidden in uncollected refuse and garbage and other types of explosives concealment had made things easier for Col. Wittmann and his team with their recruits. As the landing started many civilains engaged Dra-pol in the streets at point blank range using smuggled weapons. they were quickly joined by hundreds of volunteers when it became obvious that the dra-pol wanted them to die in the shelling. orange armband clad irregulars started engagements in the close quarters of the huge city and directly engaged the dra-pol trying to keep them in.

Outside the city between Incon and Seoul several small hidden beacons switched on and began transmitting as the aircraft approached on a roundabout route to avoid the areas of nuclear strikes and General Franz Peiper led his 2nd Guards airborne division in the first mass paratroop drop of his division. Once on the ground, field commanders used Prussian hunting horns to assemble their men and begin to move against Seoul and the roads leading into and out of the city.

30 RT2207 Raysian NVTOL Super chariots homed in on the beacons and landed in presited fields. 10 of them offloaded 4 Merkava III MBTs each (40 tanks) and the other 20 each offloaded a 300 man company of assault troops.

Rt2207 Super Chariots

Just in time to make up for the cancellation of the SuperZeppelins, it's Raysia's second NVTOL! However, this one is MUCH larger, able to carry up to 400 tons! Whether you're hauling tanks into action, or just giving your troops a lift from one battlefront to the other, the RT-2207 SuperChariot NVTOL is your ultimate military transport! As you may know, NVTOL stands for "Nearly Vertical Take-Off and Landing, which means that the plane can land at an angle and stop on a dime. However, this thing is just unstable enough to not be able to take-off straight up vertically.
RT-2207 In-Flight

This is a very large-scale NVTOL, capable of carrying and deploying some of Raysia's newest heavy ground vehicles, such as the Behemoth or the Monster.
Length: 180 feet
Wingspan: 192 feet
Fuselage Height: 29 ft
Dry Weight: 250,000 lbs
Max Takeoff Weight: 1,050,000 lbs
Max Payload: 400 tons (Or 4 Monsters, or 1 Behemoth and 1 Monster)
Cargo Doors: Rear-Loading (ventral-bay style on some models, used for quick drop deployment of heavy vehicles, like the Behemoth)
Engines: 6 Raysian Electric PJ-1300 Fully Vectorable Jet Turbofans (2 on each wing, 2 as lift jets with intakes on dorsal and exhaust near the front), rated at 200,000 lbs of force each. Thrust can be directed downwards on all 6 engines.
Max Speed: 520 mph (Mach 0.7)
Range: 3000 miles
Note: If converted into troop carrier, holds up to 300 troops.


This consisted the bulk of the 1st Airlanding Regiment of the 2nd Division(3,000men) and an assault regiment from the Freedom Division composed of veteran ROK troops and resistance fighters(3,000men).


The ROK troops with half the tanks immediately began a move on Seoul to help break the dra-pol encirclement and link up with the resistance within the city.

the Joshuan paratroops held the drop zones with a battalion and 10 tanks and moved 2,000 men towards inchon with 10 tanks. The next drop would be in 18 hours.

Army Group Korea HQ

"Well" the words were muffled by the gas mask "we got them worse than they got us....I think. Maybe." The suited form of General Thalmann shook his head.

The communications people were trying to get something other than static, but even now the picture did not look good. The fighting had wound down, but that really wasn't due to the cease-fire. About the same time the last wave of field-launched Dra-Pol tactical nukes hit, local Kilean commanders hit the Dra-Pol with just about all the VX they could fire off. If you were on the front, you were either puking your guts out before nerve agents shredded your brain, or getting microwaved and suffering radiation burns.

The chemical warfare experience of the Dibujante war was serving the KLM well, but that was like piddling on a firestorm.

As far as General Thalmann could tell, Heersgruppe Koree didn't really exist. Troop losses were in the low hundred thousands, but that wasn't what harmed them most. The army group was no longer a machine. It was a bunch of brigades and battalions. As an organization it was shattered.

As for the ROK troops, well, hell nobody even knew where General Lee was or if he was even alive.

Needless to say, the Dra-Pol were dead by the millions, due to shoddy chemical warfare gear or bad communications systems leading to units bunching up, but that was really besides the point.

Thalmann took some condolence in the fact that neither side could violate the cease-fire beacuse neither side was really capable of operating on the war fronts anymore.

His attention turned to his reserves- the ROK corps and bits of 5th army- he could whip them back into fighting shape (sort of) soon enough. After a moment, he brushed the thought aside. No. His role as a soldier was done in this war. What happened next would either be peace or armageddon.

Now, now he was an undertaker. The million of dead bodies all across Korea had to be gathered and buried before disease could start spreading. There were more burn victims, radiation poisoning cases, internal chemical burn victims then there were hostpital beds in the whole world. Chemical contamination meant that most burn and radiation victims would die horrible deaths from persistent chemicals. Any rescue effort was pointless.

It was decided- the living would re-organize themselves, the severly wounded would be mercifully killed, and the dead would be gathered and buried as fast as possible to prevent disease from spreading.

Korean civil defense and the Kilean army were essentially writing off everywhere that was hit (with the exception of pusan) to save the rest of the country.

Pusan

The city was wrecked, the harbor clogged with burning ships, a firestorm raging in the former hyundai shipyards. The replacement depots for the Kilean army are full of burnt corpses, the vehicle parks with slagged tanks.

The supply of allied forces in Korea will simply no longer be possible. Some optimists point out, however, that with casualties sustained from the nuke strikes, the troop numbers are much smaller now.

Jeju-Do

Possibly the best off of anywhere that was hit. A very burned General Lee was recently evacuated here, to this fortress island that is tunneled out to an extent the Dra-Pol would envy. The aifields are messed up, but hardened aircraft shelters have made combat operations still possible. The island is famed for its beauty and wild horses. Those......well, don't ask about those anymore. The island is now in reality and in character a fortress.

At Sea

The KNS Ostendt battlegroup is in bad shape. The Ostendt itself has had it's electronics fried and it's antennas snapped by shockwave. Of it's escorts, only a single Sovremmny class destroyer remains. Reactors shut down, the Ostendt limps away on auxillary power.

Andong

Third army was holding its position nervously. One of the missiles sent against the Dra-Pol force here had been taken down, but the other had gone off with an unearthly white flash.

Wether the cease-fire would hold in the east remained to be seen.

Aboard the Judah; Flag Command Center

Admiral Peiper had calmed down enough after realizing his response orders had been countermanded to come to some conclusions and issue appropriate orders. what was left of the fleet had begun moving closer to Inchon (to the utter surprise of his staff). Admrial Peiper realized that there was a good chance that he and his brother Franz were now the senior officers in command in theatre. His forces would support the airdrops and the marines and Kilean naval perosnnel still fighting for ground in the Inchon/ Seoul area. A nose count by his staff revealed the following:

Pusan

1st Guards Airborne totally destroyed and Field General Skornsky listed among the missing/presumed dead. 4th Seabee Regiment, gone. AC130 Spectar Gunships , AWACs and F14s and RF-11ds - those aloft may have made it to Daeron. The rest ..............well

Taejon

2nd Marines and the rest of 1st Guards airborne with the support elements of 3rd Armored Corps and 1st Guards Armored Corps -Gone-


Cheonan
3rd Guards, 9th, and 12th Armored Corps remained unaccounted for in the mess that was the combined Kilean and Joshuan advance on the West. Several of the westernmost units seem to have been spared by the threatre area defense missiles fired by the offshore naval vessels. it was at Cheonan and some points immediately east that the worst damage had been done.

Gojugok; southwest of Yeongju
The 11th Armored Corps under General Banak seemed to still be intact as they were the easternmost of the deployed Joshuan forces. the 1st Guards armored corps had their support elements reduced to a shambles and Field Marshall Manstein was probably dead, but Feild General Paul Hausser was very much alive and the forward elements of his corps were positioned next to the 11th armored corps and the 1st marines.

To speak in terms of Corps, or even divisions, was a joke at this point. the remaining ground forces would be undertakers and grave diggers for much of the forseeable future. The chem war gear was first rate and had been maintained among the units that had fought alongside the Kileans in the dibujante war. Most of the other units gear was kept in good shape by virtue of discipline but it didn't matter in some cases because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.


The fleet was a shambles: CVNs Hezekiah, Jehu, Jericho, Asher, Rahab, and Saul were sunk along with the CV Campanella.

The transports near Inchon and their escorts had made out fairly well.

The battleship Raider was gone and the other three, while still on the surface, were not in prime shape. Admiral Rauss aboard the Joshua City was still alive but his ship's condition did not allow him to assume overall command. The battleship force was headed towards Inchon but may be turning for home pending damage.

6 Sub tenders gone
9 fleet Supply ships gone
15 Crusiers had been sunk. A little less than half of the rest weren't battleworthy.
Over 50 destroyers were gone
25 frigates were destroyed as the rest were deployed with the transports.

OOC: WHOA!!! :shock: :shock: I left you guys alone for a weekend and already you have a nuclear war going on?! Well, at least my Arrow IIs will shoot most of them down. On other fronts... Hudecia is not going to become involved in this.. actually I'm tempted to launch nukes in retaliation but instead I'm just going to withdraw from this conflict. Don't worry I'll try to do it in a realistic fashion.

IC:

-Ulsan-

Arrow IIs certainly had their hands full shooting down the incoming IRBM and ICBMs headed towards Ulsan. Fortunately, although Ulsan was the base of operations for the Hudecian Army. Pohang had developed a much higher concencentration of soldiers. Even as the missiles fell on Ulsan, killing Gen. O'Neil, his last order was to prepare to evacuate. Off the coast, the AAS ships and AOR transports began loading up the tens of thousands of Hudecian troops.

-Daegu, Uiesong, and all other locations of Hudecian troops-

Hudecian troops began withdrawing under heavy anti-NBC cover to evacuation sites.

-Yellow Sea-

The Hudecian fleet suffered indirect hits by at least two missiles. Casualties were heavy but most of the fleet was still managed to slip further away thanks to its inability to take part in the recent offensive by Hudecia's allies. It moves into position to withdraw its surviving troops from the peninsula.

To: Drapol
From: Hudecian Foreign Ministry

Hudecian troops have been killed and maimed in a massive NBC offensive launched by your government.

Under normal circumstances it would be expected that the response of any nation would be to fire back. This will not be the case unless your government continues to attack Hudecian troops. All 200 000 of our troops will withdraw from the peninsula within 72 hours. Should an NBC attack prevent their withdrawl, it would be most unfortunate for your nation.

Dr. M. Matsuda
Hudecian Foreign Minister

We understand the Heudecian measure, and wish them the best luck in getting their men out alive.


Through the same backchannels as earlier, the Kilean government proposes armistice talks and a "general cease-fire" on the penninsula.

Of coures, the fighting around Inchon and Seoul keeps going, as the Kilean airborne units frantically link up and slash through the Dra-Pol militia, desperatly trying to reach Seoul, and percieved safety. Considering the elite status of the remaining airborne troops and the fact that the Dra-Pol are only trying to protect the HARTS, the NBC environment does more to hamper the Kilean retreat than the (now mostly nerve gassed) area defense militia.

On the beacheads, the Kilean naval infanty don't quite have their backs to the surf, but they are getting there.

-Ottawa-

A grim silence surrounded the entire city. The silence was most deadly up on Parliament Hill where the government of M. Maetova was holding an emergency session of Cabinet.

"Alright... now... someone .. tell me... HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN!!!!?!" Maetova shouted at the tops of her lungs, her voice cracking towards the end. "We have over 200 000 troops in the country and suddendly there is a nuclear apocalypse upon them."

"Apparently our Kilean allies fired a conventional ICBM at Drapol.... Drapol must have thought it was a nuclear-armed one and decided to fire back before the ICBMs hit." Gen Ananais said shamefaced and quite taken aback by the entire situation.

"We are withdrawing our troops from the peninsula as we speak.... most will be held in Japan for radiation treatment for at least a month." Admiral Colots added softly.

Inchon Area

With the arrival of the fleet, the remaining Sruance DDs, Arleigh Burke DDGs, and Ticonderoga Class Crusiers plus the three battleships remaining begin direct launches of their Tomahawk cruise missiles at the HART and other Dra-pol artillary installations identified by the Kilean airborne elements. These 131 cruise missiles BLU-109 equipped for deep penatration of targets(bunker busters) before explosion and 31 contain VX nerve gas. (yes its overkill at almost point blank range for Tomahawks at very well identified targets, but I think its appropriate)

The remaining 34 OHPerry FFGs launch harpoons in support of the 5th and 9th Marine Divisions ashore at Inchon and the Kilean naval infantry. The roughly 36,000 Marines with 660 borden medium battle tanks (more than half are flame equipped) begin to fight their way off the beach and into Inchon as the 2,000 men from 201st Airlanding Regiment of the 2nd Gaurds Airborne with 10 Merkava III Main Battle Tanks assault the Dra-pol defenders at Inchon from the rear in an attempt to link up with the Marines and Kileans.

The escort vessels also continue direct fire support with their deck guns in areas where the fighting is still close to the beach. (note: thats 3 battleships; one with 18" and 2 with 16" main gun batteries) 128 Crusiers and destroyers, and 34 frigates.

Seoul Area

elements of the 1st and 2nd Parachute Regiments that dropped into the Seoul area have formed up and begun operations that result in a few link ups with the Kilean falshirmjeagers fighting their way from the east and they continue to establish defensive postions on the major routes into and out of Seoul from the east and south(assuming the Kileans are coming from the NE)

Meanwhile the 3,000 men of the 61st Assault Regiment of the Freedom Division (formerly 6th Mechanized) crack into the western portions of the city of Seoul with the assistance of 30 Markava III MBTs and begin link ups with the citizens resistance fighting there.

Offshore aboard the CVN Judah

Rear Admiral Peiper watched the departure of the airstrike with some satisfaction. They had lost many planes in the blast as he had planes aloft when the blasts hit. they had also lost aircraft on the sunk carriers. He still had a sizeable strike force but morale wasn't the best and they needed a good operation. Supporting the Kilean falshirmjeagers and naval infantry ashore fighting alongside the Joshuan Marines, airborne and the ROK Assault Regiment would be good.

The 3 Sh-60 helocopters heading inshore with the strike (they had left 30 minutes prior) were heading to 3 different points secured by the Airlanding for the Super Chariots. One of them carried a very high ranking ROK officer who wanted to join the 61st Assault Regiment as it fought its way into Seoul.

as the strike moves over Inchon and Seoul

The remianing Dra-pol SAM gunners saw the initial wave of Joshuan naval aircraft had 50 EA-6B Prowlers…….at least that was what their radar systems told them. The 25 RF/A-X7 Raysian Forzando Fighters from the CVN Zebulun had been working with their UCAVs since their initial deployment and the radar transponders mocking a EA-6b Prowler were easy enough to add. Controlling their “wingmen” from out to sea had been all to easy and the Forzando pilots were not really concerned what happened to the UCAVs after they were lit up by dra-pol radar and they actually hoped the dra-pol would launch against the unmanned UCAV “wingmen”(details for the Forzando and their UCAVs follow)

The difference wasn’t obvious until after the SAM radar systems had already lit up the UCAV faux prowlers and the 150 REAL SAM hunting EA-6Bs swept in behind the UCAV wingmen firing HARM missiles at the now lit up and exposed SAM positions like they were firing shotguns at a bird hunt.

The Raysian Aerospace RF/A-X7 "Forzando"

Specifications:

Role: Heavy Dogfighter/Attacker
Brother-System Interactive
Deployment: Short Take-Off/Landing (STOL)
Crew: 1
Wing Span: 14m
Length: 20m
Height: 5.5m
Weight: 29,000 lbs absolutely dry, 55,200 lbm standard (including standard built-in payload and fuel) / 77,500 lbm max take off
Powerplant: 2 Vectored-Thrust REPH-1100 Pulse-Det Hybrids
Max Normal thrust: 25,000 lbf each
Max plus afterburner: 30,000 lbf each
Pulse Detonation: adds 7,500 lbf each
Aux Power: Two Raysian Aero Mk III Aux. Pulse-Det "Blaster" pods, outputting an additional 15,000 lbf of force (for STO and quick accelleration)
Performance:
Maximum speed (with only QAAMs onboard, full fuel, and all engines at full, and flying at 30,000 feet): Mach 1.56 supercruise, mach 2.4 afterburn, Mach 3.1 with post-combustion detonation (pulse engines) over the Jets, Mach 3.9 with all engines on (The shear total force of 105,000 overcomes the resistance of the wings)
g limits: +15, -10 (So be careful!) Automatic safeties prevent the plane from pulling unsafe g-forces and harming the pilot.
Airframe can stand up to 19gs
Fuel: 2440 gallon Fuel tank in fuselage 15,000 lbm total
Range: (Normal load) (internal fuel tanks) (no blasters): 2500 miles (4000 km)
Service Ceiling: 65,000 ft
Armament: 1 VMT M91A1 Rainstorm 30mm Precision Guided Cannon (In a stealthy concealed hatch), 2 QAAM reloaders (with 6 QAAM-38s in each, for standard load), plus up to 20,000 lbs of payload over 8 concealable hardpoints, and 4 internal hardpoints.

Unique Features: The turret mounted Flak Cannon with 35 ammo, 3D thrust vectoring, "Blaster" pods for STO ability, and all are Carrier capable.
Is coated in radar-absorbing materials, as well as a low-feature airframe, giving it good stealth ability against long-range radar, equivelant to an F-22.
Also has Super-maneuverability greater than the F-22 (when Blasters are not factored in).
Has built in reconnaissance equipment such as a multi-functional digital Camera bank.
The engines have enough power to climb vertically nearly immediately after take-off, and keep going until ceiling.
The tails are able to fully rotate on all axis. It works as a rudder, or a stabilizer, or an elevator, or works especially well as large airbrake (preferably when landing)

Computers: Advanced Autopilot to automatically land the plane on a carrier or runway in case the pilot gets knocked out or any other emergency like that, may be engaged by C&C or a wingman. The HUD is used in tandem with the "VisorScreens," which is a display projected onto the Visor of the Pilot's helmet, and uses a sort of compass in tandem with the computer that can allow him to see highlighted targets in any direction, even what used to be a blind spot beneath him or behind him. The 'VisorScreen' does not display the Altitude, pitch, and Speed like the HUD, as most pilots found this very confusing. The VisorScreen can be used to fire missiles in any direction. The 'VisorScreen' also controls the reticule on the Flak Cannon, and can take over as a manual control of the main guided cannon if wished.

Another cool new feature of this plane is it's ability to interact with and control up to 2 UCAV wingmen... something that can come in handy in situations where jamming is heavy and the UCAVs can't be controlled by long distance.

Advanced Radar: Besides the standard Brother telemetry systems, radars, and cameras, the RF-X7 utilizes a Sileetris anti-jamming all-points radar system. (see Sileetris's storefront for more info)

g-reduction: The cockpit itself is a separate pod beneath the canopy, suspended inside a series of liquid and spring buffers and shock absorbers. Pilot wears a liquid-filled g-suit, and must be in top physical condition.

The escorting F-14 Tomcats looked for Dra-pol aircraft to engage while 300 Raysian RF-11d Archangel aircraft followed with GBU-12s(500lb Paveway II guided bombs) and Hellfire anti tank missiles. The guided bombs were configured for anti armor and anti personnel (HE high shrapnel) use. Any moving dra-pol vehicles on the roads outside Seoul or in the Inchon area(the city of Seoul itself is left alone except for the anti-SAM work by the Prowlers) were the primary targets as were any concentrations of dra-pol soldiers putting up any significant volume of fire against the naval infantry or Joshuan Marines, airborne or the 61st assault regiment.

DaKhiem

“These Joshuans still think to dictate, still think the Republic softer than they? Is there not some way to strike them specifica...”

Hotan’s raised hand stopped the Banat officer in his tracks.

“The enemy’s offence so far as it threatened the homeland with occupation or manipulation is all but defeated. Send out word that the People’s Army has met its task well.

“Our capacity to press the fight is likewise reduced. The reserves are strong but the war is changed, and so too the battlefield. Our resources may be better spent than in proofing millions to poisons they need not approach.

“We will consolidate. Kosong is a shambles and so now we must keep the early gains. I shall endeavour to negotiate an abandonment of the northwestern attacks, and comrade general, you must make ready your reserve to eradicate the invaders there if this does not come to pass.”

The Secretary received a few salutes and elements of his company changed as the addressed general left to make ready a reserve Red Bamboo division for a fresh assault in the northwest of South Korea.

Hotan began to speak of the need to consolidate forward positions. It must be done without antagonising the opposition further, which would be counter-productive. It must be done while the invaders regrouped, recovered, tended to the wounded, and even as they paused simply to assess damage and the situation. The Central Directorature wasn’t interested, a few nuclear detonations didn’t change the goals of the revolution.

Significantly he pointed out that the People’s Armed Forces could afford to sustain further losses. This was said as his elbow rested upon the dossier for his Republic. In this he outlines goals for –by the attainment of two billion communist heads- an eighty million man Unified People’s Army and more than five hundred million reservists of various sorts from the Kuro Student Defence League to the Working Women’s Home Brigades.

Southern Dra-pol

Across badly affected parts of the HARTS network several caves and tunnels were deliberately collapsed, burring radioactive material and smothering many of the fires that still raged. The two Kilean missiles had killed thousands, and now hundreds of tortured survivors were entombed alongside their dead comrades. It was the only way that DaKhiem could hope to restore some reasonable degree of operation to surviving parts of the system, which still boasted hundreds and hundreds of artillery tubes, radar sites, and air defence weapons, as well as a disrupted transit system.

Hotan was right, the southern city of Kosong was a shambles. Missiles attacking it had faced relatively light fire and most had impacted, knocking down towers often already weakened by attacks weeks ago. Well, that solved one headache for DaKhiem at least- the city had been destroyed by the enemy, foreigners killed were not fallen to Drapoel bullets, and the capitalist experiment initiated by the Republic was felled by the outsiders. Now Hotan could order the tunnels exploded and the gases released and blame someone else. More than eight hundred thousand further casualties may be attributed to the would-be saviours of the ROK as the city crumbled and choked.


South Korea

West

In South Korea, People’s Army units, usually mechanised infantry, were deployed from the rear to reinforce shattered fronts. They looked desperately for advanced positions relatively clear of NBC saturation, here and there rolling past fallen foreigners in various conditions, they were usually buttoned up in Type-D-192 APCs.

Coming from the rear the units on the west had to move from inaction under a display of distant air war into an unreal scene containing 584,000 of their dead or dying comrades. It was well that the enemy had attacked at Seoul and Inchon, delaying the release of so many million reserves who would, had this happened days later, have fallen alongside the rest. No one yet knew the stated figure, and no concerted Drapoel efforts were underway to determine it.

East

East the situation was no clearer. There’d been more men there with more deployed forwards, but they’d been dispersed down a greater length for the most part. Unless missiles had impacted directly on the front lines where the People’s Army was engaging in tank, infantry, and helicopter battles with the enemy, in which case everyone was dead. Either way, command there was supposed to be sending units to dig in as far south as possible, hopefully at least at the river and Andong. Hotan was half hopeful that the depth of his penetration in the east might stand him well in negotiations, both by making his position appear strong and by affording him something to cede in protection of the northwest. Still, the strikes had rather messed-up large parts of the standing plan. The momentum to push the enemy further south than Andong was lost with the huge blow dealt to the army’s infrastructure. It really was now just a matter of insuring the old enemy thrust was not able to restart.

Seoul-Inchon area

Pocketed between nuclear strikes by both sides to the south and against the Drapoel side of the DMZ to the north, this was the most hectic region of all, probably the worst place on earth for one to be to-day. Assuming that one wasn’t amongst the few survivors on the plains below, of course.

The enemy seemed still to be fighting hard towards some objective, which left Unified People’s Army commanders baffled. No one could figure out what their opponents hoped to achieve, or exactly where to start preventing it. Transport planes and helicopters were being shot to pieces left right and centre by bemused air defence crews as their comrades ripped apart hopelessly outnumbered airborne troops unlucky enough to hit the ground alive. Anti-tank gunners and missile crews near the coast chalked up their own kills in carefully orchestrated ambushes and killing zones as what anti-shipping batteries remained intact and supplied continued the barrage that’d started tens of kilometres before the incoming battleships fired so much as a shot.

The PAAF was struggling somewhat with the volume of aircraft it faced, but then with the enemy contending not only with Drapoel fighters but with massive ground based fire and the possibility of their airstrips being sunk at any moment, the battle was hardly a done deal.

The ground provided more Drapoel targets than the enemy aircraft could hope to make sorties. Thousands of AAA guns, SAMs, artillery guns firing at their troops and ships, anti-shipping missiles, numerous airstrips, thousands of armoured vehicles, tens of thousands of soft skin vehicles, hundreds of thousands of troops, and all in the vicinity of millions of civilians.

Radios and speaker systems continued to demand the surrender of enemy forces in the area and to threaten them with destruction if they hampered the reunification process any longer.

The Drapoel troops themselves were told that the chaotic and fiery nature of their situation was a precursor to the final victory, to all they’d worked for over the last three generations. And it was less painful than that assault on Hamhung in the last war, anyway, was this generation of soldiers softer than the previous? Drive them into the sea, as we should have at Hamhung! The People’s Revenge! No matter the cost.

Massive missile strikes began to take a toll as resources were diverted to shooting down Tomahawks and Harpoons, which fell in huge numbers at the expense of several hundred shoulder-launched missiles that left a gap in defences elsewhere. The PAAF’s sustained commitment against several hundred enemy aircraft was draining as aircraft were sacrificed to avert destruction of ground-based defences and in Mach 2 dashes on high-value targets.

No one yet had time to wonder where Hotan would place priority for the ever expanding Drapoel industrial beast now that static defences had suffered as well as the aircraft he’d had turned-out by the thousand.



Central Directorature, DaKhiem

Comrade Secretary Hotan himself replied to the Hudecian Foreign Minister, almost politely responding to his nation’s wise decision to allow the revolution to continue more peacefully.
However, he then added that Dra-pol’s strike had been retaliatory in design and greatly restrained in nature. Relatively little effort had been made to first disable enemy defences and relatively few, small, and short-range/slow weapons had been deployed. The CPRD, he said, then failed to retaliate to fresh nuclear strikes on its own homeland, despite possessing ballistic missiles capable of reaching places so far away as Papua New Guinea, mounting warheads twice as powerful as those already used.
The point he intended to make was that Dra-pol would not be seen as vulnerable to the reactionary anger of its attackers, and the Secretary hoped that Dr. Matsuda would express such to his country’s more pompous, less civilised allies.

A quite separate communiqué was prepared for the Joshuans, who the Secretary was in truth tired of fighting. These maniacs threatened to waylay his long planned Kuroist progress after the war if their massive commitments continued to feast upon his resources.

Hotan sighed and finally pressed pen to paper. The Central Directorature tended to make copies of all documents in various formats- the Secretary wrote down the planned conversation and would later record the reality and have it typed up. The CD’s immense size was as much due to the number of filing cabinets as the depth of its defences.

“Worthy opponent, the Choson People will hear your cause. The people for revolution and unification ask of your purpose in perpetuating the fight at Inchon and Seoul. Your nation has trod a path that must have wound through these scenes before, and neither of us can afford to lose sight of our objectives or our humanity.”

He was struggling to proceed further and eventually resolved to begin the conversation so and uncharacteristically to fill in the rest as it happened.

While on the line with Secretary Hotan, Dr. Matsuda reiterated that his nation had entered the war with the intention of saving the Korean people from an unwanted invasion and oppresion. Now, since most of the remaining Korean people on the peninsula were either dead or dying, there was no one left to save. Hence, no reason for the continued presence of Hudecian troops.

Already, hundreds of thousands of displaced Koreans were living in Hudecia proper. Dr. Matsuda encouraged Hotan that rather then expend valuable resources and forces trying to re-educate the Korean people, it would be more expedient to simply offer anyone who disagreed with Drapoel politics the chance to move to Hudecia from Drapol-occupied ROK. All expenses would be covered by the Hudecian government.

As for Hudecia's allies, there are by now far from our control. Hudecia has long advocated not bombing targets in Drapol proper, a warning which our allies have not headed. However, Hudecia will encourage all its allies to attempt to find a diplomatic solution.

-Pohang-

Tens of thousands of Korean refugees are piled onto planes, helicopters and boats as the Hudecian Army tries to maintain calm in this hastily planned evacuation. People from southern parts of the country like Daegu and Ulsan who were affected by radiation were being transported to Japan where they would be treated for radiation sickness and the effects of other chemical agents.

-Ulsan-

Lt. Rangan piloted his Arrow near the ruined city to search for survivors. Rescue teams were performing quick searches on the ground but the Arrow could search further into the city. He had seen the mushroom cloud encompass most of the city only a few hours ago, but it seemed more like a lifetime. The image was seared onto the back of his eyeballs...

Off the coast of the ROK, the two Iowas were burning hulks, along with many of their escorts. Fortunately for the carrier group, SA-22 SAMs had saved the day, as was the case for much of the LRRN group.

Fortunately, the bulk of the LRRA force was far enough north to escape the bulk of the Dra-pol FROG launches. many of the missiles were brought down by truck-mounted SA-20 systems lucky enough to catch a missile and SA-21 systems which, quite frankly, were made to do this kind of thing. The LRR SAMs had saved many areas, and lessened the cost on the field hospitals in the rear area. However, the scene at the LRRA field hospital near Pohang was not pretty.

The area had been hit with conventional and chemical weapons, and casualties were very high. The LRRA was naturally not happy about this attack on the medical forces, which were treating every side. A significant amount of hospitalized Dra-pol troops died in the strike. But still, it was not as bad as it might have been.

The hospital is quickly evacuated out to sea, and the LRRSV Mother Teresa takes up station a safe distance away from Dra-pol IRBMs.

Meanwhile, on the front lines, the 5th AEF was beginning to feel the Dra-pol counterattack. But still, they had quite some room to manouver, having significantly extended the perimeter. The Dra-pol tanks, put simply, are no match for the LRRA PT-91s and MBT-5Bs, and their IFV/APC support. Helicopters range over the battlefield, taking down some fighters in the process of beating on the Dra-pol assault. But it was obvious that they needed reinforcements if they were to hold position.

The FROG-7 launchers are prime targets for LRRA artillery. Artillery locating radars pick up the missile launch signatures ridiculously easily, and all manner of artillery fire is directed against them.

On the coast of LRR, 160,000 men, mostly truck-borne infantry but with a very heavy tank support (the LRRA decided that it does not need to put in APCs at this point as much as it needs to put in tanks and artillery) wait to board troopships for the trip to Korea.

The troops, part of the newly-christened 1st overseas army corps, quickly get onto the RO/RO ships of the pacific fleet, and sail southward under heavy protection, including two of the LRRN's three Kirov-class cruisers.

The LRRMFs in Korea had to use their technological superiority to keep the Dra-pol forces at bay. The LRRA only had around 3,000,000 troops at its disposal, most of them truck-borne infantry. (The armored cav is about 400,000 infantry, the rest of the LRRA gets around on the back of the aptly-named infantry tanks and in PTS-Ms and big trucks).

The government was more than a little mad about the use of ICBMs. It wasn't as though the Dra-pol forces knew that they were carrying conventional warheads, and the heavy Dra-pol retaliation had nearly wiped out two LRRA medical brigades and destroyed a significant part of the pacific fleet.

But so far, things had not been going disastrously. LRRA casualties had, overall, been pretty light. The 2 medical batallions had mostly survived, albeit very unexpectedly, since the SA-21 actually worked. The high quality of LRRA equipment had showed its worth.

At the front of the allied advance, the 5th AEF begins to dig into open-backed shelters. Quickly, the fighting starts.

Overhead, a CAP of 62 MiG-29KIs and 30 Jaguar IINs keeps watch on the battlefield, soon, hopefully, to be joined by Su-25 squadrons.

On the ground, the PT-91s and MBT-5Bs continue to hold the shorter-ranged Dra-pol tanks at bay as the artillery concentrates on counterbattery action. The APCs lob ATGMs into the Dra-pol ranks, but they soon run out of ammunition. The M113X was really only a good tank destroyer when it was serious about it, the RBS-56s carried meant to really only be a self-defense weapon.

Colonel Bentley surveys the battlefield with his MBT-5B's infra-red scope. Things were not looking especially good. Dra-pol definately had them beat in the numbers department. (by the way, how many APCs does Dra-pol have anyway? The LRRA has about 35,000 total, including wheeled and IFVs).

But fortunately, as he reflects as he watches a 120mm round slam into a Dra-pol tank, he had the range. With the four AT-16s in a quad launcher on the side of the turret, the LRRA tanks could confidently engage anything the Dra-pol army currently fielded.

If nothing else, they could blunt the counterattack until 160,000 reinforcments arrived.

South Korea

West

In South Korea, People’s Army units, usually mechanised infantry, were deployed from the rear to reinforce shattered fronts. They looked desperately for advanced positions relatively clear of NBC saturation, here and there rolling past fallen foreigners in various conditions, they were usually buttoned up in Type-D-192 APCs.

Coming from the rear the units on the west had to move from inaction under a display of distant air war into an unreal scene containing 584,000 of their dead or dying comrades. It was well that the enemy had attacked at Seoul and Inchon, delaying the release of so many million reserves who would, had this happened days later, have fallen alongside the rest. No one yet knew the stated figure, and no concerted Drapoel efforts were underway to determine it.

Netanya

The Carriers CVN Jonathan and CV Caleb depart with the SuperCarrier PJS SCVN Joseph in its journey to the Dra-pol theatre.

15 Ticondergoa CGS
20 Arleigh Burke DDGs
5 Spruance DDs
12 OH Perry FFGs
8 Virginia class SSNs
12 LA(i) Class SSNs
30 Oscar II Class SSGNs
10 OHIO Class SSBNs
14 AOE Fleet Supply Ships(10 with spare missles)
5 AS-39 Sub Tenders

edit: Around Asan; West of Cheonan

The 3rd Mechanized Division had been spared much of the blast effects as it was on the extreme flank and away from the targeted areas. its commander wisely ordered a cease fire and the dug in troopers watched the Dra-pol drive by without engagement from either side.

Inland in the ROK around Geosan

Field General Paul Hausser conferred with General Banak of 11th Armored Corps. They decided that the units under command, the 1st Guards Armored Corps, the 11th Armored Corps plus remnants from the now nonexistant 9th Armored Corps and 12th Armored Corps plus the 16th Armored Division and 1st Marines, would be best served by a move to the NW. As least Inchon was a closer evac point than Pusan and it had not been nuked! they issued orders to move NW and not to fire on dra-pol columns unless fired upon.

south of Wonju at Yeoju one of the improbabilites of war occured that was captured on camera. At a four way intersection, redeploying Drapol columns met the survivors from the 8th and 9th Armored, spearheading the movement of the 1st Guards Armored and 11th Armored.

A young, junior grade officer from the Joshuan side(who now commanded the remnants of the 9th Armored Div) managed a dialogue with his Dra-pol counterpart and the pictures that circulated on the internet around the world was of the two officers, in complete NBC gear, standing back to back and directing traffic in the intersection; allowing equal time for each column in the intersection without a shot being fired.


Seoul-Inchon area

Pocketed between nuclear strikes by both sides to the south and against the Drapoel side of the DMZ to the north, this was the most hectic region of all, probably the worst place on earth for one to be to-day. Assuming that one wasn’t amongst the few survivors on the plains below, of course.

The enemy seemed still to be fighting hard towards some objective, which left Unified People’s Army commanders baffled. No one could figure out what their opponents hoped to achieve, or exactly where to start preventing it. Transport planes and helicopters were being shot to pieces left right and centre by bemused air defence crews as their comrades ripped apart hopelessly outnumbered airborne troops unlucky enough to hit the ground alive. Anti-tank gunners and missile crews near the coast chalked up their own kills in carefully orchestrated ambushes and killing zones as what anti-shipping batteries remained intact and supplied continued the barrage that’d started tens of kilometres before the incoming battleships fired so much as a shot.

The PAAF was struggling somewhat with the volume of aircraft it faced, but then with the enemy contending not only with Drapoel fighters but with massive ground based fire and the possibility of their airstrips being sunk at any moment, the battle was hardly a done deal.

The ground provided more Drapoel targets than the enemy aircraft could hope to make sorties. Thousands of AAA guns, SAMs, artillery guns firing at their troops and ships, anti-shipping missiles, numerous airstrips, thousands of armoured vehicles, tens of thousands of soft skin vehicles, hundreds of thousands of troops, and all in the vicinity of millions of civilians.

Radios and speaker systems continued to demand the surrender of enemy forces in the area and to threaten them with destruction if they hampered the reunification process any longer.

The Drapoel troops themselves were told that the chaotic and fiery nature of their situation was a precursor to the final victory, to all they’d worked for over the last three generations. And it was less painful than that assault on Hamhung in the last war, anyway, was this generation of soldiers softer than the previous? Drive them into the sea, as we should have at Hamhung! The People’s Revenge! No matter the cost.

Massive missile strikes began to take a toll as resources were diverted to shooting down Tomahawks and Harpoons, which fell in huge numbers at the expense of several hundred shoulder-launched missiles that left a gap in defences elsewhere. The PAAF’s sustained commitment against several hundred enemy aircraft was draining as aircraft were sacrificed to avert destruction of ground-based defences and in Mach 2 dashes on high-value targets.

No one yet had time to wonder where Hotan would place priority for the ever expanding Drapoel industrial beast now that static defences had suffered as well as the aircraft he’d had turned-out by the thousand.


Fleet Admiral Rauss had assumed command from the battleship New Joshua after repairs had been effected.

SIR, ANTI SHIP MISSILES INBOUND!!!

Fleet Admiral Rauss, speaking slowly and moving deliberately made his way to the CIC as ALARM CLAXONS sounded throughout the fleet and AEGIS systems went into multi-threat mode as Sea Sparrow missiles started launching almost immediately(ooc note: not sure how many incomng I'm dealing with but am rping this response as being to at least a couple of hundred)

Stepping to the comm's shack just behind CIC the Fleet Admiral started giving orders:

Begin counterfire with Tomahawks and send by VLF, ship-to-ship and air control frequencies first and then all frequencies the signal "CQD"

sir???? (the international distress signal "cqd" made no sense to the comm tech. It had not been used since the Titanic sank in 1911)

yes sir sending CQD


as the Sea Sparrow missiles began bringing down the Dra-pol Qian Wei missiles inbound, the AEGIS systems on the various escorts and the battleships began shooting RIM Standard block-2 missiles and the LHAs, LPDs, AOE, and other support and transport vessels soon joined in with RIM-116 RAM(rolling airframe) missiles. With 181 combatant vessels in the combined fleets, it wouldn't take too many missiles per ship to engage the incoming Dra-pol missile systems many times over and the 100 support and transport vessel's RIM-116 contribution might have been perceived as overkill until the few surviving Qian Wei missiles came through the AA missile barrage and the CIWS 20mm point defense guns went into action as the various flare and chaff systems on ships with missles bearing in began loosing everything they could. Still some of the tough, sea skimming Qian Wei missiles found targets. '

At least 2 of the frigates, now deployed between the shore and the battleship force, exploded from direct hits by the heavy Dra-po anti ship missles.

129 Vessels launched counterstike Tomahawks at the firing bateries launch points at a rate of 2 each (258 missiles).(note: most ships have fired less than 5 tomahawks each until this point and they started with over 40 each ie: We can do this for awhile yet.)

Send the ccordinates to the ground forces so they can follow-up and seize these batteries. Also coordinate with the aloft AWACS to pinpoint location and have the 3rd Marine helo forces deploy to the targets identified
(note: the 3rd and 4th Marines were posted as deploying with an an Armored Corps and Seabees in the OOC thread. They have arrived.


"Sir!!"

The 3rd Marines began deploying from the LHA assault ships via helocppters to the struck anti ship missle batteries in company strength with orders to bring home no Dra-pol survivors.

Offshore over the Yellow Sea; Aircraft deplyed from Daeron

the 50 MIG 29s and 50 F16 Falcons joined the F14d aircraft already deployed in keeping the DRa-pol aircraft from the Inchon / Seoul area In engaging with Phalanx missile sytems at 120km with 90% accuracy, they far outranged the opposing Dra-pol aircraft. The F16s took the worst of it using AARAM missiles but the MIG 29s did quite well in the dogfights unless engaged by odds of greater than 5 to1. 100 F117/A Nighthawk stealth fighers began hitting Dra-pol emplacments and troops that showed themselves by putting stealth strikes of blu-109 bunker busters abd 2000lb GBU (guided bomb units) onto the dra-pol forces before they knew enough to fire back.

200 land based RF-11d Archangels used almost 400 UCAV "wingmen" (unmanned aerial vehicles) to draw SAM fire from the over eager Dra-pol gunners who were beinniing to have to choose between revealing thier poisitions to both air and ground forces by firing, or remaining silent and hitting the ground forces. Once marked, the previous new blackouts became apparent as 40 B2 Spirit Stealth Bombers and 60 b-1 Lancers dropped JSOWs and MOABs on the now exposed(to radar) dra-pol positions and airfields. More land based naval air has been deployed to Daeron Isle.

The rest of the 2nd Guards Airborne Division deployed in a 2nd drop(9,000 more men) with 6,000 more men and 40 more MerKava III MBTs coming in on the Super Chaoriots on drop zones held only be exteme sacrifice of their comrades in holding the drop zones against repeated Dra-pol assaults. there were now almost 30,000 men deployed (on paper) with 80 Merkava III tanks (most of these were still operational as they are extremely hard to disable) in the Inchon/seoul area.

The 95,000 plus men and 1600 plus M1a2 Abrams MBTs with 2500 Bradleys of the 14th Armored Corps began deploying direct onto the beaches of Inchon as the 36,000 men and 650 Medium Battle tanks of the 5th and 9th Marine Divs moved inland suffering frightful losses from the well dug in dra-pol along the coast road. The 3,000 men of the 1st Seabee REgiment deplyed alongside to begin construcing helo pads and improved supply and docking points. The bulk of the 3rd Marine Div as well as the 4th Marine Div plus the 2nd and 3rd Seabees awaited deployment aboard ship and passed the boredom with PT :D

the escorting crusiers, destryers and frigates took firing postions to repel anti ship and support by direct fire. It wasn't long before the original 3 remaining battleships joined in with 18" and 16" main gun direct fire that could reach Dra-pol forces gathering off Seoul or Inchon.

edit add(I didn't do enough with the paratroopers considering the makeup of the forces they face)

Southeast corner of Seoul

It didn't take long for the airdropped paratroopers with General Franz Peiper to realize they were faced with the worst odds they had ever encountered. While the airlanding people on the Super Chariots landed together and had tank support, the paratroopers started off scattered all over the place thanks to the dra-pol AA mixing up the planes on their drop runs (and knocking down more than expected)

Within 48 hours, Gen Peiper had collected about 5,000 men and cracked into the SE outskirts of Seoul. this was only possible because the Dra-pol were focused on dealing with the civilian revolt and were not expecting their own buildings and supply points blown up when the malls when up under dra-pol artillary fire much less the desperate paratroopers coming from behind them.

That was the good news. The bad news was that by the end of the next 24 hours Gen Peiper was down to less than 4,800 men and most of the rest of the 12,000 total that parachuted in were probably dead, in very deep hiding, or fighting for their lives against small groups of dra-pol because they certainly would not survive long if a larger force showed up.


Central Directorature, DaKhiem


A quite separate communiqué was prepared for the Joshuans, who the Secretary was in truth tired of fighting. These maniacs threatened to waylay his long planned Kuroist progress after the war if their massive commitments continued to feast upon his resources.

Hotan sighed and finally pressed pen to paper. The Central Directorature tended to make copies of all documents in various formats- the Secretary wrote down the planned conversation and would later record the reality and have it typed up. The CD’s immense size was as much due to the number of filing cabinets as the depth of its defences.

“Worthy opponent, the Choson People will hear your cause. The people for revolution and unification ask of your purpose in perpetuating the fight at Inchon and Seoul. Your nation has trod a path that must have wound through these scenes before, and neither of us can afford to lose sight of our objectives or our humanity.”

He was struggling to proceed further and eventually resolved to begin the conversation so and uncharacteristically to fill in the rest as it happened.

Richard von Joshua was shocked to the point of almost dropping his cane at hearing that Secretary Hotan wished to respond. He paused for awhile at the phrase "worthy opponent" as it could be said of the dra-pol as well when one considered just how well the forces opposing each other understood one another. He replied carefully

Worthy Opponent, we wish our cause heard and would honor the hearing of yours.

Our course is set in the indendence of the ROK people. This cause is one the ROK people have embraced against substantial odds and adversity. Th resilence of your people as well as the ROK has earned the respect of not only myself, but our forces in the field. We no longer (to say "not" here would be to lie in an obvious way that would be considered disrespect) desire to violate your national soverignity. We wish to honor the soverignity of the ROK which they have enjoyed since before our births. An independant ROK would not stand without Seoul anymore than the DRa-pol would stand without the Honorable Secretary. I'm certain you understand.

It is this for which we now fight at the behest of those whose national soverignity depends on the outcome of our struggle.

The 1st overseas army corps arrives near the coast of southern Korea. On the horizon, large plumes of smoke are visible. The hulks of the two Iowa class battleships and six escorts still smolder about 50 miles north, hit by the edge of a nuclear explosion.

The large collection of destroyers, frigates, and transports, gaurded by a pair of missile cruisers, heads in towards a makeshift port near Yeongdeok, recently captured from Dra-pol forces.

The 160,000 troops make a landing in LCUs and LCIs. PTS-Ms come ashore carrying trucks and towing long lines of barges.

Some infantrymen come ashore in small boats towed by Ikv-91s and BMP-2s.

After all the vehicles had landed, the remaining ship-borne troops had to be ferried ashore on a limited number of LCUs. The process takes a very long time, and by nightfall, hardly half of the 1st AEC is off the ships. Fortunately, most of the trucks were amphibious, or had floats attached to them, and were floated ashore. While this greatly speeded up the offloading in this lack of harbor facilities, many non-amphibious trucks fell victim to Davy Jones's locker when their tie cables broke.

This, of course, meant that some troops would have to find room on the already crowded trucks and small number of APCs. A small number of MT-LBs were brought along, and they are soon filled to the brim with troops. The LRRA was weak in the respect that it was meant to fight on its home turf, which allowed large armored formations of tanks, IFVs, and APCs, followed by truck-based troops and helicopter cavalry, supplemented by tank destroyers and artillery, to manouver, and the LRRA always had a strategic advantage. Not so in Korea. Only small groups of tanks and APC/IFVs could be taken into battle, and the LRRA was finding out that it needed tanks more than APCs, so trucks were being made to carry troops into active combat. While the large, powerful russian-ancestry trucks were no pushovers, they were not tracked or very well armored.

It is yet to be seen weather this will work.

The 1st overseas army corps arrives near the coast of southern Korea. On the horizon, large plumes of smoke are visible. The hulks of the two Iowa class battleships and six escorts still smolder about 50 miles north, hit by the edge of a nuclear explosion.

The large collection of destroyers, frigates, and transports, gaurded by a pair of missile cruisers, heads in towards a makeshift port near Yeongdeok, recently captured from Dra-pol forces.

The 160,000 troops make a landing in LCUs and LCIs. PTS-Ms come ashore carrying trucks and towing long lines of barges.

Some infantrymen come ashore in small boats towed by Ikv-91s and BMP-2s.

After all the vehicles had landed, the remaining ship-borne troops had to be ferried ashore on a limited number of LCUs. The process takes a very long time, and by nightfall, hardly half of the 1st AEC is off the ships. Fortunately, most of the trucks were amphibious, or had floats attached to them, and were floated ashore. While this greatly speeded up the offloading in this lack of harbor facilities, many non-amphibious trucks fell victim to Davy Jones's locker when their tie cables broke.

This, of course, meant that some troops would have to find room on the already crowded trucks and small number of APCs. A small number of MT-LBs were brought along, and they are soon filled to the brim with troops. The LRRA was weak in the respect that it was meant to fight on its home turf, which allowed large armored formations of tanks, IFVs, and APCs, followed by truck-based troops and helicopter cavalry, supplemented by tank destroyers and artillery, to manouver, and the LRRA always had a strategic advantage. Not so in Korea. Only small groups of tanks and APC/IFVs could be taken into battle, and the LRRA was finding out that it needed tanks more than APCs, so trucks were being made to carry troops into active combat. While the large, powerful russian-ancestry trucks were no pushovers, they were not tracked or very well armored.

It is yet to be seen weather this will work.

(ooc:Kilean, sorry, I know I sort of forgot about the Dibujante thing for a while, got rather distracted. I hope I've not missed too many drastic changes, but if I have, well... we can put it down to Drapoel isolationism, and our little escapade can end in disaster for the small team of agitants)

Dibujante

The shot could have been clearer, but the marksman was good and fairly sure of himself. Yes, that’s the one, he was fairly sure. Many Drapoel were still less than used to picking one foreign face from another, they tended to notice that someone wasn’t Drapoel and expect that to be enough to pick them out again. Still, the squad had been waiting for days to make its move, putting themselves through greater pains than were probably required to go unnoticed since sneaking into the country. As he applied the required trigger pressure the infantryman felt a satisfying 7.7mm report that seemed to reassure.
Shifting the rifle as he peered through the scope, the young sharpshooter saw Sub-Lieutenant Kim-O step from cover to brandish his 8mm automatic in the face of one of the yet unfallen Kilean figures. The shouts of the junior officer could just be heard from the shooter’s position as Sho Il-Han approached from behind, short sword drawn.

Moments later the blade’s thrust had brought to his knees a second figure attached to the target, and another flash of steel went a long way to removing the head that, along with the target hostage, would be taken from the scene.

The Banat had begun their hopeful attempt to inspire rebellion on Kilean’s doorstep, and now sought to publicise the attack on such a high profile figure without getting caught in the process.

South Korea, northwestern theatre

Near the coast no one was still, everyone running back and forth bringing reports delivering new orders. Enemy ships were closing to naval artillery range, some hits had been scored, it was time to bring up the cheaper, shorter range DSJ-1 missiles, oh, and dozens of enemy missiles were incoming.
Men were all but tripping over one another as some ran to cover makeshift magazines and others brought up surface to air missiles. Across the front a great many cruise missiles were brought down hundreds of metres out to sea, and many more began plowing into battery positions. There existed fairly sophisticated procedures for damage limitation and control, but having weeks rather than years to prepare in the field disadvantaged the forces here. Multiple Qian Wei launch sites were put out of action and several hundred recruits killed, along with a supervising Major from the Red Bamboo.

Across the theatre casualties were mounting as the PAAF struggled to keep up the level of sorties required to maintain a significant numerical advantage over usually superior opposition. A few squadrons of valuable FC-1 and even J-10 armed with PL-11 and AA-12 missiles were chanced to the fray, hoping to achieve something by the sudden increase in quality over the Su-15D and ground-attack aircraft already on hand. Of course, to get within 90km of their targets sometimes meant flying as much as 30km inside the enemy’s engagement envelope, leaving relatively little chance of escape. Less valuable aircraft were always assigned to J-10 operations in greater numbers and usually in more aggressive postures in order to draw fire. It wasn’t a tactic that could be sustained forever. The PAAF had already been forced to roll-out many of its mothballed J-10 and FC-1, withdrawn by the hundred to save their airframes, provide spare parts, and save on operating costs (in the case of the J-10, anyway). At least their storage below ground had saved them from air and nuclear attack.
On the ground life was being made especially hard as missiles rose by the hundred and bombs fell no less thick.

Casualties amongst the fighting ground forces rose like the rest, taxing their advantage. By now, though, the Central Directorature’s clearance had been amply confirmed and the first reserve was moving. It was quite impressive. The battle was one minute shifting from what might have been another People’s Army over-running of outnumbered and half-engulfed enemy forces to a furnace stoked by anti-personnel bombs and Drapoel bodies, the next its flames were fanned by a whole new scale of UPA operation. Over the course of fifty minutes the UPA’s ranks across the Inchon to Seoul area expanded by four hundred thousand as infantry poured from nearly two hundred tunnel exits after vanishing from wide assembly points inside the CPRD.

DaKhiem felt -though it wasn’t about to announce it- that the People’s Armed Forces could only hold on in the air war and resist the naval war for so long. The situation on the ground would always be critical, however, and confidence was relatively high. The enemy may gradually gain significantly above and at sea, but it might never be enough. Certainly in the short term the UPA might deal a significant blow, and it was this thinking that lead to the reinforcement via tunnels and to the sudden movement of massive mechanised forces across the border.

The nuclear strikes in the east had hurt, knocking out hundreds of armoured vehicles there and increasing that side’s need for reinforcement. This was a slight drain on the western theatre, no doubt. Not so much in manpower, but certainly in mechanisation. Had it not occurred, the new mobilisation might have been almost as powerful as that which took the People’s Army almost to the south coast.

In any event, the tens of thousands of fighters around Inchon and Seoul were not only joined by 400,000 infantrymen, but by the end of the day northern elements were seeing the passing of new mechanised units. These brought with them more DZSU-47-2 SPAAGs, DRAR-19 SPSAMs, 75mm, 100mm, 105mm, and 150mm SPGs, 122mm MLRS, APCs, light tanks, trucks, and tens of thousands of infantrymen.

The object was to insure that enemy ground forces around Seoul and Inchon were cut off and over-run before reinforcement could assemble. DaKhiem would then make their fate dependent upon a cessation of the naval and aerial bombardment of the theatre. In the short term, air defences remained at least moderately effective, if not quite a perfect match for their attackers, but time was clearly of the essence, and the UPA was pressing hard wherever it met the enemy near the two heavily involved cities. The naval bombardment especially was making life hell to the west.
The big troop movements must have represented a tempting target, considering the altered face of the war, but DaKhiem trusted that its opponents had the intelligence networks to be aware that its own nuclear potential had not been fully displayed as yet, and wary hands hovered close to launch keys.

The front to the south was still considered unsuitable for a fight, and forces there remained relatively light with NBC prepared troops moving in APCs to define fronts without engaging. The enemy pictures showing some degree of calm and effective truce were probably true, the UPA was not looking to fight in the south.

The eastern theatre

A lot of recruits didn’t want to be fighting now, not while everything seemed burned. It wasn’t quite real anymore, and some of the doctrine didn’t seem to fit post detonation. This wasn’t uniformly the case, however, and the fighting continued in any regard. Drapoel guns exchanged fire with LRR batteries, FROGs withdrew, more tanks rolled forwards, their crews less than inspired by the hulks seen about them. By the time the fresh LRR troops had arrived from over seas the UPA had likewise received tens of thousands of reinforcements, fresh troops from inside the republic. Many came prepared for NBC warfare. Prepared by UPA standards, which meant that they had very basic protective clothing and any number of other placebos, and a few more APCs. Hotan’s ambitious plans called for near two hundred thousand -mainly Type-192- APCs to enter service, but no one could say precisely how close was the UPA to that target.

The Central Directorature, DaKhiem

“Seoul. They want Seoul? Let them have Seoul, it is the only way.”
In the event it was eventually realised what the Secretary meant by his words. This project was the epitome of Drapoel. The UPA was going to move the people of Seoul, or at least a large portion of the survivors. It meant entering the city in a serious way, and carrying out yet another deurbanisation. This time at least they hadn’t to worry about ruralisation. The people were just going to walk out, out of Drapoel consideration. Even now trucks and trains were being loaded with grain from the CPRD’s incomprehensibly large stockpile. Yes, in spite of chronic malnutrition, the Republic maintained tens of millions of tons in underground, open, and partially underground storage facilities- enough to sustain the army and the vital war industries for half a year. Sacks were being thrown on to trucks and the trucks sent south, some waving white flags.

This was obviously quite insane, but these things happen to isolated ultra paranoid one-man dictatorships. In Seoul Drapoel officers and some few South Korean converts were encouraging people out of their places of residence or hiding, and speaking of an exodus south. Incentives included the fact of nuclear warfare, which it was insisted threatened Seoul directly –who there would disbelieve it?-, the desperate hunger and the laying on of a supply convoy towards the south, and the assurance of western aid there, and that the UPA was prepared to blow up resisters from below. The last point was by now probably a thought that nestled in most minds about the city- the communists had come up from below, and several towns in the central regions had been all but obliterated by explosions under their foundations. No doubt many would be moved (some moved to take a shot at the spokesmen brave enough to venture into their streets, of course).

The UPA was going to try to move a large portion of Seoul’s population, anyway. The rest were obviously either communists or terrorist fighters.

Another video message was played in DaKhiem and later smuggled out. Comrade Hotan said that the invaders would be crushed around Seoul and Inchon at the same time as the UPA drove out/released capitalists (depending on whether you saw the DaKhiem broadcast or the released tapes) and crushed terrorists, demonstrating its strength/compassion. For the east little was said. The strikes there really had knocked the UPA off its stride, and it was all they could really hope to do to prevent the LRR and local forces from dislodging them. The Secretary did seem to suggest that peace was drawing near, however. Privately this was perhaps a reflection of his desire to quite while he was ahead and move on to new projects within the Republic.

Dibujante

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Dibujante (AFRD) troops had secured a premiter around the ambush site, but parted to let the ISD team through. The Kilean personell took photos of the destroyed trucks and dead men.

"this was way too slick to be former regime loyalists." the team leader shook his head as he looked at the shattered convoy. A whole goddamn column, hit on a major road. Everybody dead, but with 26 missing.

One of the experts looked up from a slashed corpse.

"Sir, well....I think it's them" the ISD agent seemed embarassed to be saying so.

"Look, don't be chicken little, alright? When we were taking over this place, we thought the goddamn midlonians were banat, alright? Don't Dra-Pol where there ain't Dra-Pol"

"Just look at it, sir" said the other man "does anybody else work like this?"

The agent looked at the scene one more time, then his glance drifted to the AFRD troops, lazing around, a couple of them obviously stoned.

"If the Dra-Pol actually get in contact with local resistance, we're gonna be neck-deep in it, you realize that? Damn near everybody hates us anyways, the Free Dibujante government is anything but, and the AFRD is a joke." The Kilean secret policeman sighed "get 4th cav- I want a sweep of this area NOW- and start hunting these guys. This can not get worse. We've stripped the occupation troops of way too many men."

The ISD men walked back to their waiting helicopter with a stark fear. This was, in short, their worst nightmare. They had to stop it before it really began.

Andong

The radio hissed orders out to the tankers of 3rd army- just about the msot coherent Kilean force in Korea- directing them to react to the Dra-Pol counterattack.

The tanks had suffered badly, but there were still more than 1,000 in 3rd army, once the infantry unit's armored brigades had been pilfered. The odds in AFV's were ten-to-one against the allies, but the Kilean tankers (alongside their LRR comrades) proclaimed with bravado that "it would just mean more for us to kill"

The battlefield use of chemical weapons won't really kill anybody aymore, as both sides had pretty competent NBC protection. No, all that the gas did now was basically stop the infantry battle- men couldn't really fight in the chemical suits- and that was the greatest advantage chemical weapons gave the allies. As infantry panted and sweated in protective gear, the tanks rolled twards each other. Hundreds of Kilean tankers listened to the auto-loaders whirr and adjusted their sights. What was coming would possibly be the last great battle of this war, and they wanted oh-so-dearly to avenge their doomed comrades at Seoul.

-Pohang-

Thousands of refugees were crammed aboard Hudecian transports along with hundreds of Hudecian troops trying desperately to maintain calm.

It was estimated that over 300 000 Korean refugees had fled with the nearly 150 000 Hudecian troops over the last 2 days. With only 24 hours remaining in the Hudecian promise to fully withdraw the last 50 000 troops, it was worried that many refugees would not be able to escape.

Hudecian transport plane pilots were at the breaking point as many had been flying for over 20 hours. To replace them, fighter pilots were being called in to fly jumbo jets. Although there were many difficulties, Hudecian officials were more concerned about evacuating as many people as possible before the deadline

The last hundred fighters flew patrols over the city, waiting for the order to fly for Japan.

In an undergound hospital on Jeju-Do, General Lee awakes. Burned in the nuclear strike on Pusan, he is expected to live.

Through the morphine, he becomes outraged. The country has been nuked, his allies are in disarray, and Heudecia is carting off hundreds of thousands of ROK citizens.

He begins to rant, but a nurse turns up his morphine drip.

For now, the whole of the ROK army is enaged in rescue and decontamination efforts. Literally millions are dead, and the ROK is swamped with the sheer scale of the devestation. Thankfully, no disease has cropped up yet, but the coming months will be so very hard....

The 5th AEF decides that its position northwest of Andong is less than optimally defensible, so the armored cav troopers shut up into the M113Xs and CV-9040s, which head back towards the rest of the extended perimeter. Currently, their task was to keep Dra-pol troops from breaching the perimeter, and thus ruining everyone's day.

But the battlefield was already more than the LRRA really wanted to cope with. (One of the conditions for ICly invading LRR is that you don't use NBC weapons. :wink: )

While everyone had NBC gear, the civillians do not. The new field hospitals, understaffed and understocked ever since the first ones were obliterated, recieved waves of Korean civillians suffering from the effects of the chemical agents launched against the perimeter, and many more suffered from radiation burns. Casualties are low among the troops, but in terms of civillian deaths, it is nothing short of an atrocity.

While the tankers of the 5 AEFs in Korea agreed with their Kilean counterparts that unless the Dra-pol produced something armed with a decent gun, the Dra-pol armored troops would be in for a massacre, they did not actually want to kill them. In fact, the LRRA tankers feel bad for the Dra-pol troops. But the Dra-pol obviously do not feel bad for them, and every LRRA trooper there knows that for every APC he lets live, there will be one squad of troops who will not return the favor.

The 1st army corps arrives near Andong to reinforce the allied position close to nightfall. The LT-7 light tanks look well covered in camoflauge netting from a distance, but upon closer inspection it is revealed that each one carries around 10 troops in NBC gear in back of the turret, obviously very tense.

The 160,000 troops take up position to try and stem the Dra-pol assault, if it came. Hopefully, something would be worked out.

"Damnit, Fred," announces Lt. Faderovich from his position atop a small hill to his friend, Lt. James.

He surveys the battlefield, covered in charred wrecks and badly burned bodies. His troops spread out around him, their APCs and other support vehicles not far away. The LRRA had a good assortment of vehicles, as he saw when looking back over his own troops. While he was not an armored cavalry officer, and therefore his platoon did not include both APCs and troops, there was a lot of ACAV in the area. M113s and MT-LBs, reflecting both sides of the iron curtain, AMVs, hastily armored trucks, and a collection of tanks spanning several decades gave a good impression of the LRRA.

Things stunk. Nobody wanted to be in Korea. The terrain disagreed with them, the climate disagreed with them, everything about the penninsula made the troops long more for the rolling hills and lush, green cold temperate valleys and hills (think northwest europe) of LRR.

Il-79 transports also fly in, bringing an armored cavalry batallion of around 25 MT-LBs and 25 M113s, and taking refugees back to LRR on their way out.

The small force heads towards the front. Some vehicles carry SAM and SPAAG weapons, to join the growing umbrella of LRRA air defense vehicles.

OCC: If the Dra-pol commandos want to launch an attack into LRR territory, be my guest.

Kilij looked around his new surroundings, hardly noticing the poor condition of what was sufficing as the Daylami embassy in Dra-pol were in. The orders from Dra-pol were simple: stay in your compound and dont mess around where you are likely to be shot.
The orders from Daylam were more complex: negotiate an increase in Daylami aid to Dra-pol, possibly including transfusions of fighters to bolster the ailing Drapoel air forces from complete defeat.
To this end, Kilij was trying to initiate negotiations with someone who could reach Hotan and make a decision.


The message was simple: what do you need to save the war in the air?

The Central Directorature, DaKhiem

“Seoul. They want Seoul? Let them have Seoul, it is the only way.”
In the event it was eventually realised what the Secretary meant by his words. This project was the epitome of Drapoel. The UPA was going to move the people of Seoul, or at least a large portion of the survivors. It meant entering the city in a serious way, and carrying out yet another deurbanisation. This time at least they hadn’t to worry about ruralisation. The people were just going to walk out, out of Drapoel consideration. Even now trucks and trains were being loaded with grain from the CPRD’s incomprehensibly large stockpile. Yes, in spite of chronic malnutrition, the Republic maintained tens of millions of tons in underground, open, and partially underground storage facilities- enough to sustain the army and the vital war industries for half a year. Sacks were being thrown on to trucks and the trucks sent south, some waving white flags.

This was obviously quite insane, but these things happen to isolated ultra paranoid one-man dictatorships. In Seoul Drapoel officers and some few South Korean converts were encouraging people out of their places of residence or hiding, and speaking of an exodus south. Incentives included the fact of nuclear warfare, which it was insisted threatened Seoul directly –who there would disbelieve it?-, the desperate hunger and the laying on of a supply convoy towards the south, and the assurance of western aid there, and that the UPA was prepared to blow up resisters from below. The last point was by now probably a thought that nestled in most minds about the city- the communists had come up from below, and several towns in the central regions had been all but obliterated by explosions under their foundations. No doubt many would be moved (some moved to take a shot at the spokesmen brave enough to venture into their streets, of course).

The UPA was going to try to move a large portion of Seoul’s population, anyway. The rest were obviously either communists or terrorist fighters.

Another video message was played in DaKhiem and later smuggled out. Comrade Hotan said that the invaders would be crushed around Seoul and Inchon at the same time as the UPA drove out/released capitalists (depending on whether you saw the DaKhiem broadcast or the released tapes) and crushed terrorists, demonstrating its strength/compassion. For the east little was said. The strikes there really had knocked the UPA off its stride, and it was all they could really hope to do to prevent the LRR and local forces from dislodging them. The Secretary did seem to suggest that peace was drawing near, however. Privately this was perhaps a reflection of his desire to quite while he was ahead and move on to new projects within the Republic.

Joshua City; Presidential Complex

He wants to do what!?! .....OK

President Richard von Joshua went through the various reports and faced his cabinet after several moments of uncomfortable silence

We can supply Seoul through Inchon if the Dra-pol at Inchon and Seoul cease fighting and allow aid through the lines to the citizens of the ROK in those areas. We had supply convoys going to supply 100,000 + troops for the long term that......we no longer have in the field..... We can divert those supplies, short term through Inchon.

Direktor Stryker make this move public and obvious. Stress that the only thing preventing the ROK civilian population from receiving food and medical care from the outside world, without an imposed exile from their homes through nuclear and chemical ridden battlefields, is the Dra-pol and the Dra-pol refusal to allow humanitarian aid to defenseless civilains whom they've already held hostage and deliberately shelled for no other reason than mindless land greed on the part of Secretary Hotan and his fat cat cronies.

Issue a challenge to the Dra-pol to divert the food supply convoys directly to Seoul and that we will give them safe passage as long as no military and terrorist elements attempt to smuggle weapons or dra-pol forces into the city.

Make plain our offer to declare Seoul an open city and reiterate that the ROK people deserve the right of self governance. Haven't the people of the ROK suffered enough under the illegal Dra-pol occupation and isn't it time that came to an end? We can administer long term shipments from our home islands to Inchon with our federalized transports.

The size of our Navy that makes that possible also compels us to field the size reular army that no requires me to issue orders to commence 1st wave reserve final mobilization stages and preperation for deployment.

The.....41st, 47th, 50th and 56th Armored Divisions, 4th Heavy Air Cavalry Divison, 31st, 32nd, 38th and 106th Mechanized Infantry Divisions should begin deployment soon correct?

Yes sir, The 50th and 56th Armored Divisions are being equipped with Merkava III battle tanks and our Mechanized Divisions will have M1a1 model tanks instead of the a2s.

We still have a full Guards Mechanized Corps of regular army soldiers and a 3 Marine Divisions undeployed sir. Also the story on our empty sub pens and the "rumor" that we have 40 SSBNs deployed with nuclear ICBMs should run this evening.

Very Good!

In the beachhead at Inchon

What are you staring at soldier?

SGT, are those dra-pol men in our uniforms coming off the transport?

No....not at all......Those are members of the "Freedom Division" deploying forward with the 14th Corps. Its actually the old 6th Mechanized filled with ROK soldiers and recruits and commanded by a Col Wentz. They are deploying forward in the hopes of rallying the people left in Inchon to rise up against the dra-pol still between us and the airborne and one of their assault regiments that we airlifted at Seoul.

Between Seoul and Inchon

Holy shit!!! Where are they coming from?

The newly arrived dra-pol soldiers hit the landing zones for the 2nd Airborne and 61st assault like a tidal wave. The dra-pol assault, combined with renewed dra-pol vigor in the air and with their artillary support forced the battalion at the drop zones to make a choice and they collapsed back east onto the 9,000 men of the airlanding regiments and the Freedom Division assault regiment to their east fighting their way into Seoul. The dra-pol decision to try to round up civilians to drive them out of the city promptly backfired on the military command who had previously been fighting to keep the citizens in and the paratroopers out. With help from the civilian resistance, increased with help from Col Wittmann's spec ops team and the prospect of being forced from their lifelong homes, The combined force of paratroopers, Merkava III tanks and the ROK 61st asault regiment finally overran portions of the dra-pol lines west of seoul and surged into the city itself.

SE of Seoul

Ready sir!

Open fire and commence the assault

The combined mass of 3 Corps'(1st Guards Armored, 11th Guards Armored, 12th Armored Corps, plus the combined surviving elements of 8th and 9th Armored Divisions and the whole of the 1st Marine Division) artillery commenced a bombardment on the advancing dra-pol soldiers new in theatre and bent on overrunning the remains of the 2nd Airborne dug into the SE corner of the Seoul outskirts.

With the bombardment still underway, the surviving air support aircraft hit the oncoming dra-pol nearest the combined army commmand whose shock troops and main battle tanks starting moving out even while the bomardment continued. It was hoped they could overrun the surprised and shell shocked Dra-pol and fight their way through to their comrades of the 2nd Airborne dug in around Seoul and on to the Inchon perimeter and then, Field General Paul Hausser hoped, board transports for home.

The nearly 300,000men had the last 4,500 M1a2 POJ Abrams MBTs, 5,200 Bradleys, and 300 Borden Medium Flame Tanks on the Korean peninsula outside the Inchon perimeter except for the 3rd Mechanized Infanty Division which was pulled out by sea without their equipment near Yasan after the Drapol retreated north. General Hausser's men had everything at stake and nothing to lose by throwing everything into theirfight to break through through Seoul to Inchon.

ooc note: The tanks and Bradleys of the 3rd Mechanized were left behind in defensive positions at Yasan and Asan and set with demolition charges to explode after the sea lift had begun in earnest (ooc: as dra-pol rped its withdrawal I hope this won't be contested)

Offshore at Inchon

Admiral Rauss, the Joseph battlegroup has arrived!

"Very good!"

What pleased the admiral the most were the additional tomahawks and harpoons on the escorts and also loaded in the holds of the fleet supply ships with the battle group.

What pleased the admiral the most were the 250 combat aircraft. Especially 100 more of the new Forzando RF/A-x7 Raysian Air Superioity strike fighters currently flown by the Zebulun air wing and 50 more EA-6b anti AA/SAM Prowlers. the 100 additional F14d Tomcats with the superior range of their Phalanx missile systems would be welcome indeed. He also heard that the last 150 MIG 29 Fulcrums in the POJ Air corps were being deployed to Dearon Isle. The initial 50 had just about fought themselves out with very admirable results against sometimes comparable aircraft and 5-6 to 1 odds.

Dra-pol's relatively few public broadcast-capable systems were joined by some surviving South Korean facilities over-run in the early days of war and an announcement went out from DaKhiem.

Sho Cheiy introduced himself to cameras and microphones, speaking reasonable English with a thick accent.

Cheiy stated that across South Korea the Unified People's Army was concurrently receiving orders for a general halt to its advances.

In the east UPA armour would halt where it was as the Central Directorature awaited enemy response, prepared always to restart its combat operations if its restraint was not answered in kind.

To the west the PAAF would fly no sorties over the Yellow Sea, though it would in the short term at least, "continue to protect the Unified People's Army, its own bases, and the people of Korea." Surviving anti-shipping batteries would quiet unless approached without prior agreement or assaulted. The, "operation to evacuate Seoul, expel the hostile terror cells, and aid the migration of the unrevolutionary" would continue, along with Drapoel convoys to supply same, and the armed defence of these convoys and the related processes would persist. The unofficail cease-fire south of Seoul, on the wasted plains, would likewise be maintained though UPA gains would be staunchly protected against military incursion.

Most significantly, along with the continued evacuation of many locals caught up in the destruction, DaKhiem would allow the uncontested evacuation of invading forces from the Seoul and Inchon theatres, and allow foreign none combat clean-up and medicare assets monitored access to built-up areas in the northwestern ROK.

These statements and offers came from the mouth of a man still widely suspected to be the Banat's top officer, and they began to be evidenced in the field even as his transmissions went out.

Seoul / Inchon Area

If you've ever noticed how, at a baseball game, the runners on base take off full speed on a hit ball deep with 2 outs until they know whether its gone as a homerun or not and then, when it leaves the field, the runners all slow down as they realize they will make it to home plate regardless; you would have the flow of battle as General Hausser's 300,000 tired, grimy, beat up, almost out of gas and food, soldiers and marines; who not that long ago were willing to fight tooth and nail to get close enough to Inchon to smell the water and feel the sea breeze that reminded many of the Joshuan home islands, slowed their advance as the firing slowed down and then, for the most part, stopped. There were some flare-ups, misunderstandings, here and there; all minor and none that stopped what became and organized procession towards the Inchon port facilities by the Joshuan soldiers and marines, picking up their airborne comrades, the Kilean paratroopers and naval infantry and the remains of the Freedom division's 61st assault regiment along the way.

Though none would admit it to reporters afterwards, there were some mutual signs of respect between Dra-pol and Joshuan as the latter passed the Dra-pol assault troops on their way by. A nodding of the head, a tip of the cap, a head bow, a salute and its return between soldiers who had fought against each other in a few cases both in the southern battles and the more recent ones in the Seoul Inchon areas.

Some mutual aid stations for wounded that treated both sides until the Joshuan soldiers were transported. While General Hausser led his men toward the ports, General Banak had a more pressing concern as several... actually a lot of civilians wanted to come with the Joshuans. Many had ample reason to fear staying and so the columns were joined by as many civilians as wanted to that the circumstances allowed for(situations where the residents wanted to leave with the Joshuan soldiers and the joshuans had enough local numerical presence to preclude rash acts of prevention by the dra-pol. it seemed the dra-pol always had enough presence on the march routes to gararuntee a lack of rash behavior on the part of the Joshuan soldiers and marines.

General Banak and Col Wittmann convinced a local Dra-pol commander that the departure of the Joshuan ground forces would be speeded up by allowing transport planes into the airport and that Joshuan Seabees could help repair any damage to the fields and get them operational if they weren't already. A short while later, Seabees, with dra-pol help,, were at work on the airfields around Inchon. Not long after that, the first of what would be over 200 c141s began landing with about a hundred K767 multi purpose tanker/transport aircraft and every COD (Carrier onboard delivery) aircraft that could fly in from the remaining carriers offshore. The sheer size of the SCVN Joseph all but ensured that its first "combat" mission would end with it serving as a hospital and rescue vessel.

The 14th Corps cleanup support, supply, and medical units were chosen to remain behind with the 2nd Seabee Regiment for disassembling and stray weapons detonation. A small task force naval task force(1 Crusier and 2 destroyers with 4 frigates) with 2 Watson class transports and an RT-S10 Amphibious Ship for help with the beach area loading remained in the area with a minesweeper and fleet supply vessel while area cleanup and medical treatment for those unable to move continued for sometime after General Hausser stepped on the last transport for the Promise of Joshua home islands.

the one hitch was that the local dra-pol officers would not let the Raysian RT-2207 NVTOL Super Chariots even approach the area. too many had seen these monster aircraft mutations deliver Merkava III battle tanks in groups of 4 or entire companies of airborne troopers and proving themselves capable of sustaining an incredible amount of damage and still fly away later.

General Thalmann stood on the ridge and saw the mixture of Kilean troops and ROK refugees file past him, southwards to safety.

He pulled off his gas mask, exposing his grimy face to the sun for the first time in too long.

"Tell the crews" he said, slowly, carefully "to re-safe the warheads"

It wouldn't happen now. Now, for now, it was over.

OCC: Dra-pol, check your T-grams.

Counting the cost in the CPRD

Several thousand Drapoel had been killed by ROK forces during the first few days of the war, and the prize had been capture, destruction, or encirclement of all but a few South Korean cities and the permeation of communist forces almost to the south coast. A handful of aircraft and armoured vehicles were likewise lost in the initial operation, to which the ROKA had no real answer.

The arrival of foreign forces and the appearance of foreign-backed partisan units added at first some hundreds to the casualty tally and later, with the bombardment of the lower west coast roads, tens of thousands more.

The PAAF’s attempt to deny the enemies access to ROK airspace and its massive assaults on enemy fleets brought down scores of Drapoel jets and helicopters, and enemy strikes on captured airbases did yet more damage to men and machines.

Missile strikes on Kosong killed several thousand civilians and put hundreds of thousands more in danger, as their city was cut-off by the People’s Army, desperate to contain the now destroyed capitalist experiment. Later attacks on the city and an inability to divert resources may have left tens if not thousands dead or dying, many of them foreigners.

While cut-off by the damaging strikes in South Korea’s southwest, advance elements of the People’s Army suffered, in early estimations, over a hundred thousand casualties in the face of enemy mechanised and aerial superiority and their own poor supply. The lost were dead or else incapacitated and presumably captured. Many of these would kill themselves before, during, or after their capture, perhaps taking others with them so heavily indoctrinated are the Drapoel, especially those selected to lead the assault into the ROK’s south.

On the east coast, fighting all around Andong -especially in crossings back and forth over local waterways- cost the People’s Army losses in the tens of thousands initially. The less advanced western drive suffered relatively little in the face of only partisan resistance and some air attack for which it was well prepared. The mentioned supply line ahead of the main advance was of course an exception to this, abandoned for the defence of the Seoul area against air and maritime bombardment.

An eventual enemy counter-thrust in the west had barely begun to bite while the eastern front became only more intensely contested. Still the Drapoel had for one reason or another made no serious attempt to extract isolated forces in the far south, which were in the end completely destroyed. The enemy’s eastern thrust pushed Drapoel casualties there up towards six figures, leaving over quarter of a million PA soldiers dead all told, along with hundreds of destroyed aircraft, thousands of PAAF casualties, and several thousand armoured vehicles lost. The civilian death toll was unknown but certainly five figures, concentrated in Kosong.

The South Korean dead already may have numbered more than a million when several northern towns were blown up or gassed from beneath in response to missile attacks on the CPRD proper. Tens of thousands more died, and several times as many were left homeless and found themselves assigned to new collectives even as the shooting continued. Moderate shelling joined starvation in Seoul, contributing to a Central Directorature estimate putting the South Korean dead beyond two million. Most of the ROK’s suffering was contained within territory now the responsibility of DaKhiem, which had its own losses to contend with.

The enemy assault on Seoul and Inchon killed over thirty thousand Unified People’s Army comrades, with wounded numbering several times higher than that, most victims of heavy shelling and bombing. The Drapoel suddenly had massive numbers of wounded to contend with, where previously they’d been largely abandoned behind enemy lines. Priorities still lay elsewhere, and the body count rose.

When the conventional missile strikes across the DMZ killed hundreds of Drapoel -including scores of civilians- and triggered a nuclear exchange, the proportion of suffering and strain ballooned. 584,000 UPA comrades were made casualties on the western front alone as they prepared to enter battle some way south of the fighting around Seoul. Thousands of them staggered back wounded beyond Drapoel medicine’s capacity to offer significant relief. At Pyongyang several dozen front-line fighters were destroyed and hundreds of servicemen died alongside local collective dwellers. Several thousand more soldiers and workers died in two blasts across the defensive network north of the defunct DMZ, and later thousands more would be buried alive with their contamination. Thousands of civilians, their homes irradiated would not see much aid for days. On the eastern front 611,000 casualties were dwarfed in significance –to Central Directorature eyes- by the loss of several dozen aircraft and thousands upon thousands of armoured vehicles, assembled for yet another counter offensive in that toing and froing battle. The first loss of MT-3 “Hotan” battle tanks was recorded as resulting from Kilean’s nuclear strikes in the east, a platoon of the vehicles being barely a thousand yards from the epicentre of one blast.

For a time it seemed that UPA casualties would be immeasurably worse than those suffered in the Crusader War, but in truth the military dead numbered less than two million, and Drapoel civilian perhaps ten percent of that. The human wave attacks that characterised the Crusader War hadn’t this time faced the same massive concentration of entrenched resistance that surrounded Hamhung, nor had they been so badly supported or frankly so massive.
Dra-pol’s deployment into the ROK represented less than 20% of its military might, and enemy satellite reconnaissance was to be one of Hotan’s major bargaining tools. He had tens of millions of men still at various degrees of readiness across the CPRD, and insured them against nuclear attack mainly by the publicity surrounding his nuclear and ballistic tests of recent years. They were evidence that Dra-pol had used neither her most powerful warheads nor her most advanced or far-reaching missiles in the brief nuclear exchanges thus far- certainly Tokyo would be keen to express its support for a none nuclear solution, and presumably Quinntonian Dra-pol too. The destruction from below of several ROK towns could just as easily be affected at Seoul, and Dra-pol’s preparedness for self-sacrifice had been evidenced in the abandonment of two assault divisions in the south.

The real loss felt in DaKhiem was material above human. Pyongyang was all but out of action, despite the protection afforded by its hardened and underground facilities. The eastern army groups were robbed of their best mechanisation, and in the west precious SAMs and anti-shipping missiles were spent or knocked-out. Numerous HARTs and their resource-intensive transport networks were destroyed too. The destruction of Kosong was a pain further to the victorious Kurosite thinkers (victorious over the Suloists, that is), keen to promote industrialisation and a measure of urbanisation contrary to Dra-pol’s Suloist past.

The ROK was cut off at the head, its dead numbered millions, its homeless must be counted half the population. The CPRD was bloodied but not to any degree it could not bear, but its ambition was stunted half way to fruition and its poverty likely to be compounded by huge material losses. The coalition nations? DaKhiem was unsure. The Joshuans were presumably at least familiar with the sort of loses they’d absorbed, but no one was sure of the other parties. Certainly their objectives in the war had not been fully realised at least. They’d recover sooner from the economic and industrial strain, it was supposed, but the human scars may be a different affair.

Hotan and his selected aides prepared themselves to discuss a more stable end to the conflict, the Secretary with one slightly clouded eye on his all-consuming Kuro Progress. KI’s dreams would be realised in Hotan’s lifetime, he’d sworn it to himself at the time of the Director’s laying in state.

The KBS logo flashes up on the screen for just a moment, prefacing a speech that will go down in Korean history.

Studies conducted decades later will show that the shock of the sudden Dra-Pol attack and the total collapse of the ROK government created a state of mass shock among the Korean people. Indeed, the ROK state apparatus never really took the initiative. ROK troops fought (when they did) under foriegn command, and the ROK just sort of stumbled around, unable or unwilling to process what happened.

The resistance to Dra-Pol in South Korea was largely the work of one man- General Roh-Sung Lee. He held Gumi. He raised the new divisions from the Homeland Reserve Force, but aside from his military activities, he was there. He wore a uniform and gave orders and went on TV and told the nation that something was being done. He convinced a nation that there still was a nation to fight for. Nobody really seemed to realize it, but Korea depended on this man. He was a vestige of normaly.

Perhaps it was beacuse of this that his speech would resonate so deeply with the Korean people. When the camera cut to General Lee, many would later recount breaking into tears.

When the camera cut to General Lee, everybody saw what the airburst over Pusan had done to him. Half his face a twisted mess of scar tissue, hair already noticeably thinner. His right arm sat stiffly in his chair, and he looked almost grey.

It seemed as if General Lee was a symbol for the whole of Korea that day- scarred and traumatized so deeply and so suddenly, left frail and weak. The now skeletal form spoke, and the ROK listened.

Brothers, Sisters, Friends, Koreans. Words fail me now. Our country lies shattered. Millions of our family and neighbors lie dead, millions more now are being broken under the Dra-Pol jackboot. Hundreds of thousands of us are scattered among foriegn lands, hundreds of thousands dead on the field of battle. Our greatest city has been emptied, now a lifeless corpse picked over by the Dra-Pol vultures while it's people are sent on a death march to what is left of our home.

The worst weapons ever devised by humanity have been unleashed on my dear homeland. The very land and soil and sky are poisoned.

We must look upon this scene, this devestation, and we must realize that it is not the greatest horror we must bear.

We must look to the north and know that- even as we speak- untold numbers of our contrymen are beginning a hellish life of slavery and submission. We must look at our now-lifeless mountains and the fused craters of our cities and know that we have been defeated.

We have been defeated beacuse.....beacuse I have failed you. Beacuse I have failed my uniform, beacuse I have failed my army, beacuse I have failed my country.

I am not the only one who has failed you. We all have. Our uniforms are now a badge of shame, our banners showing only our disgrace. I am not the only soldier who now envies the dead, who feels humiliation and self-hate every painful waking second. I know that my wife and family are- hopefully- dead in Seoul or- god forbid- living under the horror of Dra-Pol rule. I also know that I- a soldier- was supposed to protect them. It was I- it was every soldier- who should have died in their stead, died to protect them.

But I- we- did not. We now live with the guilt of surviving as cowards.

Countrymen, I ask you to take up the unbearable load. I ask you to wake to another grim day. I ask you to taste the bitterness of defeat with every waking moment of your life.

I ask you this, beacuse as hard as they have tried, the Dra-Pol have not destroyed us. We hold on, we survive. Our cities are shells, our armies shattered. But the Korean nation still lives and breathes.

We must find somewhere the stregnth to bury the charred corpses of children, we must find the will to see the Dra-Pol banner fly over the blue house. We must carry on.

We must carry on beacuse the dead demand it of us. We must carry on beacuse South Korea can never again know the taste of defeat! We must carry on beacuse the dead lie unavenged! We must carry on beacuse we know no other course!

Our nation is not dead! We shall re-build what has been broken. The will of our people shall be a mighty fortress! The hills and mountains of beautiful Korea shall be a wall that cries "not one step farther" to the Dra-Pol! Our broken cities will once again grow!

We must un-do the destruction of war, we must re-forge the broken shield of our army, we must heal our wounded land!

General Lee's face was twisted in emotion, and he was obviously in pain. General Lee found the stregnth to choke out one last line, a sentence that will go down in history as the motto of a generation.

Countrymen! The south shall rise again!

OOC: casualties post forthcoming.

IC:

Premier Frosh gets on the now semi-formal hotline to Dra-Pol, and requests a meeting for a formal cease-fire will be signed.

The war needs a formal end, and fast. Most of the really important reconstruction efforts would look pretty damn shady under the current conditions of shakey truce.

But reconstruction is coming. Kilean (the ROK's credit rating is shot) has recently taken out a 100 billion thaler loan from the NS banking corporation. A good amount of the South Korean industrial base has survived, and together with ROK, Kilean, LRR, and POJ economic planners, they are conspiring to make the next few years very good ones to be in construction in the ROK.

Presidential Complex; Secure Situation Room

and our losses [/b]

So far we estimate in excess of slightly over 210,000 dead. At least half were sailors aboard the ships that were destroyed in nuclear blasts. Less than twice that many wounded, mostly army personnel....we had almost no survivors or wounded from the ships sunk.

We lost over 500 Combat strike aircraft and almost 300 support aircraft in strikes over theatre on on the 7 sunken carriers.

15 Crusiers, 55 destroyers, 38 frigates and the battleship Raider were sunk with 8 support vessels and 6 sub tenders.

Fleet Admiral Rauss should not have come out of retirement. Damage there, physically and emotionally is we fear very long lasting. He will not command again.

[i] This was his only "defeat" and we do not consider it a defeat per se. He supported the ground troops and destroyed the targets assigned

He had not lost this many personnel under his command before. This is probably the first conflict in some time where we faced any enemy on something remotely approaching equal terms since the terror wars. We had always been heavily outnumbered before and could not afford even individual losses lightly. It is in this light that Admiral Rauss, and most of our population, see this as a defeat.

Ground forces

Outright destroyed units include:

2nd Marine Divison
4th Armored Division
6th Mechanized Divison
4th Seabee regiment

1st and 2nd Guards Airborne as much as destroyed. Gen Peiper survived with slightly more than 8,000 men of the 2nd Guards Airborne but most of that division's infrastructure is gone.

The entire 12th Armored Corps is in similiar condition.

The 14th Army Corps and the 5th and 9th marine divisions sustained substantial losses in the fight around Inchon.
The remains of the 8th and 9th Armored Divisions combined on the field as the 9th Armored. We will leave this unit intact.

The 3rd Mechanized was evacuated almost en total but without their euqipment which was destroyed in place on the field at Asan.

Leaders: Field Marshall Manstein, Major Generals Rogers and Ben Gurion and Spec Ops Major Li (dead in the blast at Taejeon)

Hudecia has suffered greatly. For the army, over 50 000 of its young men were dead, either in the nuclear apocalypse or on the field of battle. Another 150 000 were wounded or suffering from radiation exposure. Its commanders were incinerated in Ulsan, and, like a headless corpse, the army twisted and twitched like it could almost rise from the dead. Quickly, a new head was put on, and like Frankenstein, the army limped away.

The Hudecian navy was in tatters. The pride of the Hudecian navy was at the bottom of the Yellow Sea along with at least 30 other assorted vessels including 2 Iowa Battleships. The bones of approximately 5 000 Hudecian sailors would decorate the seabed and their flesh would feed the sea creatures. Admiral Smetka escaped death fortunately and was now receiving treatment in Japan.

The air force had a better time. Although it had lost at least 300 F-22Rs, 150 F-36Ts and 50 of the famed Avro Arrow IIs along with about 1000 of its finest, the air force could boast of its successes.

It was the air force that destroyed the ROK road infrastructure, a mission that had given the southwest a chance at victory. A strategic victory to be sure, and a lesson that they would not forget. However, it was the air forces short-sightednes that prevented them from destroying the ROK airfields from which Drapol had launched its assault on the Hudecian fleet. Still, Hudecian response against the airfields was a measured success.

Hundreds of thousands of ROK refugees now called Hudecia their temporary home, even more were waiting in Japan for final clearance to move to Hudecia.

A war which had started to save the Korean people had ended up costing the Korean people the most. But the final casualty of this entire war could be the Hudecian government.

In anger, fear and passion, Hudecians poured into the streets and attacked police lines surrounding downtown Ottawa. Shouting anti-government slogans and carrying bats, they furiously charged the police lines. Police responded with rubber ammo in a desperate attempt to stop the onslaught. But, as protestors broke through police lines on Parliament Hill, the government of President M. Maetova collapsed and the President went into 'voluntary exile'.

Dr. Matsuda, the former foreign minister, was appointed to head the interim government.

The first thing he does is to call Chairman Hotan and request negotiations with Drapol. The second thing is to call Hudecia Industries CEO Armitage and dispatch him to Kilean to help with the reconstruction of ROK.

The next step for the Joshuan government was to dispatch the Minister of State; Bishop Christension to Kilean who seemed to be heading the formal reconstruction and reconcilation efforts. Bishop Christension went with very far reaching authority to act as he saw fit to bring this matter to an acceptable conclusion

Kilean would come to call the two year long period of war with Dra-Pol and Dibujante the "Red Wars"- a conflict that has claimed over a million Kilean soldiers lives.

All told, Kilean lost some 710,000 soldiers lives in Korea, the vast majority of them when the million-strong Heersgruppe Koree was hit by nuclear and chemical strikes.

In the reatreat to (and battle for) gumi, some 9,000 Kilean soldiers died. 2,000 more would die as II Corps drove the Dra-Pol from the city. The battles around Andong would claim some 63,000 Kilean lives, all from third army.

Drumroll, was, however, the bloodiest episode of the war. Somewhat ironically, the Kilean high command had been expecting 1 million+ casualties in this war. The sudden end to fighting following operation drumroll actually made it so the total loss of life was lower than expected (well, loss of life in the Kilean army- millions died elsewhere). Over 450,000 in one day.

The Kilean airborne forces were a broken and useless shell, maybe two regiments worth of troops from a force that once was three divisions strong. The same goes for Kilean Naval Infantry.

Indeed, of all the services, the Navy was the hardest hit, proportionally. Just about every major surface ship the tiny Kilean navy had was sunk, with the exception of the KNS Ostends (the fleets centrepiece, now limping back to port, heavily damaged), the KNS Unison (a destroyer damaged earlier in the war), and the KNS Vespertine (a destroyer that somehow avoided most fo the blast damage). The GEV fleet of the Naval Infantry lies broken and burned on the beaches at Inchon.

The Air Force comes out of this looking the best. The highest-scoring KAF ace of the conflict is Tuoman Kazanski, who, after one last pre-ceasefire mission over Seoul, ends the war with 219 kills. Four other Kilean pilots have over 100 kills in the war. The Air Force is far from untouched, though. Perhaps two dozen precious strategic bombers were shot down, and 350 other combat aircraft met their end.

The Army Air Corps is a differnt story. Drumroll was a slaughter for the ground-attack aircraft of Kilean. When it was over, the KLL had lost some ~60% of it's ground attack aircraft. The casualties for pilots were rather low, a testament to the efficency of allied CSAR operations. Only 254 Kilean pilots were killed, most of them either ground-attack fliers or shot down deep inside Dra-Pol itself.

Postwar, the Kilean Veterans Health Agency will find itself expanding it's cancer and neurological wards. The radioactive particles and chemical agents unleashed at wars end has shredded the bodies and neurologies of the better part of a generation, causing nervous conditions, cancer, and various birth defects in the childern of Korea veterans. Indeed, the unique trauma of nuclear warfare will imprint itself forever on Kilean society. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder- something that Kilean troops, historically, get at below-average rates, in large part due to the extensive psychological and social support network the conscript-based Kilean army has- will spike radically. Veterans of the Korean conflict are much more prone to depression and suicide. If you look at units involved in nuclear decontamination efforts in ROK cities, these rates skyrocket once again. Suprisingly (well, suprising to psychologists, but not to any paratrooper or naval infantryman) PTSD cases in surviving Airborne or Naval Infantry units is almost nil.

Ich hatt ein Kamerad, it is later said with black humor, was looking to break the top ten around the end of the war.

The LRRA had suffered comparatively light losses. While the 2nd brigade, 56th Uhlans was nearly destroyed, with 1,000 dead from 1,500. The 2nd AEF also suffered nearly 700 dead in its counterattack across the Naktong.

In the counterattack on Andong, the 5th AEF had taken very few casualties, less than 100 dead in fact. The high quality of LRRA armored vehicles had shown its worth, and Andong was a picture-perfect assault for the armored cavalry. While they would probably have had to retreat if reinforcements did not arrive, they did hold off the Dra-pol counterattack.

The LRRN was hard-hit, but not as bad as the other navies, probably due to the advanced SA-22N and SA-21N SAMs. The two Iowas were sunk, but two Kirovs are under construction to replace them, and seven frigates were also sent to Davy Jones's locker.

11 Jaguars had been shot down, but only two pilots were casualties in the long run.

The medical batallions had saved thousands on both sides, so, all in all, it was not so bad for the LRRA.

In fact, some things had even been learned from the Dra-pol troops. Along the coast of LRR, HARTs could be seen springing up. Along a line around 60km inland, the trench and tunnel defenses running the length of the LRR coast were reinforced by HARTs and hardened missile emplacments. The fortified hills became even more heavily fortified, and the LRR home defense improved.

And with the end of major combat, the cleanup begins.

LRRA field engineers begin clearing battlefields of unexploded ordenance. The hulks of destroyed tanks and armored vehicles are checked by the large LRRA engineer corps, and ammunition is removed into special-purpose M113s.

The NBC cleanup also gets underway. Engineers begin removing tons upon tons of soil from the Korean countryside, beginning an operation that will take several years. Reservoirs are also emptied, and food aid is flown in almost nonstop by LRRA Il-79s and C-135s.

At sea, LRRN drydock and towing ships begin moving the destroyed hulks of the large number of nuked ships out of the water, crews in full NBC gear. The irradiated remnants of battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and frigates are removed to LRR, where they can be safely decontaminated.

Comrade Secretary Hotan remained distracted by his personal ideological ambitions, and was fairly quick, by Drapoel standards, to invite involved parties to Paegam, to conclude the peace.

Of course the CPRD might be convinced to send agents elsewhere, but Hotan's offer was born of his desire to remain close to home so as not to lose pace with his Kurosite progress. Other than face-to-face negotiations would suit the Drapoel just as well.

Damage to Dra-pol herself was being swept from view as unfortunate and utterly ignorant labourers were directed to sweep contaminated soil and rubble into many of the tunnels, bunkers, and other facilities already destroyed or cut-off from their networks. Staggering risks were taken in recovering knocked-out vehicles and downed aircraft, as well as in requisitioning South Korean materials from even the most contaminated regions. Someone would find a use for it, though it may mean the next generation of Drapoel farm tools and that monorail they're talking about glow a little at night and lower the national life expectancy that bit further.

No one noticed the low level of air force activity. Before the war flights had been few as fuel was stockpiled, now they were few because, well the PAAF didn't have ten thousand combat jets anymore. Perhaps this was the main benefit of flight patterns that doomed so many pilots to inexperience- no one would be sure just what remained of the air force, and the illusion of confident strength might be maintained, such as it was.

In China, the Yellow Sea Fleet received cancellation orders on its almost enacted commerce raiding and espionage activities. The Sea of Japan Fleet remained buttoned-up in its hardened shelters in the cliff face.

Quinntonian Dra-pol authorities have offered all parties the chance to allow Quinntonian humanitarian and Radiation Clean-up Units into the affected zones. We will do so only with permission from all parties.
Hanhung has been gripped by fear as terrorist attacks have been popping up all over the city with sniper attacks and brief gun battles in the sewers below. Fortunately, an equally determined and paranoid Dra-poel anti-terrorist force is taking the fight to the enemy in all circumstances. They had been training against and fighting the Banat-controlled insurgents for years and they had never been thhis good, with their hands untied by the recent placement of Hamhung under martial law, the units were doing well in containing the actions of the terrorists, and were beating them back under the rocks that they crawled out from.
Also, a few small submarines(?) had been detected trying to mine the mouth of the harbour, and though the mines had damaged a few shipping vessels, the subs were currently sorrounded by an entire Carrier Battle Group, The Hezekiah, and with back-up from no less than 15 unattached Orca attack subs, the subs are currently in the shaloows, and have tons andtons of ordanance were trained on their positions, with sub-hunting choppers and jets flying low over the area, the offending vessles have been radioed an offer to peacabley surrender, and promised that they would be returned to their home nations upon their arrests; all except for their Banat political officers. Commadore Douglas Hutt is waiting for a response, and has a greenlight to take any and all actions to maintain security in the area, especially considering the recent nuclear activity in the region.
WWJD
Amen.

Quinntonian Dra-pol authorities have offered all parties the chance to allow Quinntonian humanitarian and Radiation Clean-up Units into the affected zones. We will do so only with permission from all parties.
Hanhung has been gripped by fear as terrorist attacks have been popping up all over the city with sniper attacks and brief gun battles in the sewers below. Fortunately, an equally determined and paranoid Dra-poel anti-terrorist force is taking the fight to the enemy in all circumstances. They had been training against and fighting the Banat-controlled insurgents for years and they had never been thhis good, with their hands untied by the recent placement of Hamhung under martial law, the units were doing well in containing the actions of the terrorists, and were beating them back under the rocks that they crawled out from.
Also, a few small submarines(?) had been detected trying to mine the mouth of the harbour, and though the mines had damaged a few shipping vessels, the subs were currently sorrounded by an entire Carrier Battle Group, The Hezekiah, and with back-up from no less than 15 unattached Orca attack subs, the subs are currently in the shaloows, and have tons andtons of ordanance were trained on their positions, with sub-hunting choppers and jets flying low over the area, the offending vessles have been radioed an offer to peacabley surrender, and promised that they would be returned to their home nations upon their arrests; all except for their Banat political officers. Commadore Douglas Hutt is waiting for a response, and has a greenlight to take any and all actions to maintain security in the area, especially considering the recent nuclear activity in the region.
WWJD
Amen.

Kinshasa, presidential palace

General Ndelebe was incredolous. "That did WHAT?" "It's good enough, your benevolence, several IRBM were launched by both sides, nuclear payloads - The damage is massive." "If Dra-pol keeps that up, WE may be next. Lift our tac-M arsenal up to readiness code 1. Any strikes will be met in kind, immediately. That being said, get me Hotan on the phone."

Dra-pol hotlines

On the private level, CAF supply officers in Kangyye ensure local banat that the supplies will continue to roll in, now including water purification tablets, medicinal supplies and other humanitarian aid.

On the top level, Ndelebe calls up the central directorate, offering to host negotiations in Kinshasa between Kilean's high command and themselves. In his words:

This cannot continue. The exchange of nuclear weapons heralds the end of all of us unless you postpone the revolution and embrace negotiations with the warring nations - We will make Kinshasa's chamber of deputies available for talks, and the Manus Nigra will ensure your total security. We await an answer, 'Comrades', but time is little and there are those who would not see this happen; please hurry.

Kilean commends the African Commonwealth move to further the peace process, and suggests a meeting of the highest levels between the allies and Dra-Pol in Kinshasa to sign a final peace.

DOUBLE POST

The LRR government is very willing to finally resolve this conflict.

All Dra-pol troops interned in LRRA field hospitals will be returned upon recovery from their wounds, and the LRRA will work for the immediate release of all Dra-pol troops held in internment camps (the LRRA doesn't run any).

Meanwhile, on the penninsula, nearly all the LRRA combat troops had shipped home. On the RO/RO ships coming in, however, a sizeable force of engineers, medics, and various other specialities disembarks. The LRRA combat engineering corps was a good quarter of the army, and was very well equipped. They had some of the new CV-90 APCs with them, engineer's variants, and formations of EOD, earthmoving, and transport vehicles. They join the engineers already deployed in Korea with the AEFs.

Newly appointed consul Pak Seung-Il, having dispensed with his Banat dress uniform and as such -so far as anyone outside Dra-pol could know- his affiliation with the unit, boarded the L2D4 and was soon aloft, leaving the DaKhiem area bound for Kinshasa. When Pak departed, the Central Directorature had only moments before confirmed to the Commonwealth its willingness to site negotiations on their soil. A single FC-1 fighter escorted the old diplomatic transport on its long journey.

Secretary Hotan made a point to state in his response to Ndelebe that the revolution was a constant force that would brook no postponement, and that through negotiations it would remain in the ascendancy.

He maintained the Drapoel line that placed the blame for the nuclear escalation of the War For Korean Unity (as DaKhiem was now calling it) squarely upon the opposition forces. Central Directorature records recalled the ballistic missile strikes on Drapoel soil at a time when the most destructive single weapons used by the UPA were thousand pound high explosive FROGs. Now they implied that "WMDs' had been employed against the people of Dra-pol and that DaKhiem's launches had been responsive and tempered by Hotan's desire to spare the people of South Korea.

Of course the citizens of the CPRD believed the Central Directorature, as they always had, and they had little cause for doubt since they were fully aware that the enemy had 'nuked' their country. Many didn't yet know that Dra-pol had returned fire- some didn't know she was capable, and those in a position to know were aware that their firings had been in response to incoming missiles. In all the confusion no one could remember what was irradiated first and what was only blown apart, at the time it didn't seem to matter.

DaKhiem was keen to impress upon the outside world the same notion, and it came armed with two pieces of information- 1) ballistic missiles flew north first, and 2) Pyongyang and the Drapoel side of the 38th parallel were scenes of nuclear detonation on that same day.

In South Korea, UPA lines were further consolidated as prisoners of war were advised at the muzzle of a gun or tip of a blade to put their backs into shifting debris that for one reason or another the Banat wouldn't touch.

Still, thousands of UPA soldiers were continuing to develop radiation sickness. Rather than weaken DaKhiem's position at home, this only served to fuel Drapoel xenophobia, and efforts were under way to ensure that the South Koreans in occupied territory saw the nuclear hammering of their lands the same way.

President Ndelebe ensured Hotan that remained dedicated to the CPRD, and that he would ensure the safety of the Dra-pol envoy with every mean at his disposal(which was saying something - Kinshasa is literally crawling with paramilitary, police and counterinsurgency to prevent acts of terror expected to follow in the wake of AC's first ever free elections; which will take place in mere weeks.

However, of the revolution Ndelebe would comment little, for he was in no position to take sides when Kinshasa had promised to host the talks; and the Secular Party has sworn to be neutral and as impartial as is possible.

The LRR government was, overall, not too pleased with its ICBM-armed friends, namely Kilean. Even though the ICBMs they used carried conventional warheads, the Dra-pol certainly were not going to wait and see.

It was the retaliatory strikes with WMDs that had caused the greatest casualties. For the LRRA, the hardest-hit units were those tasked with medical duties. It was certainly a point that would be pressed in negotiations.

Meanwhile, on the front, armies of LRRA engineers work incessently, largely ignoring the two sides watching eachother warily across no-man's land. The LRRA would never again deploy a large military force for anything other than support and medical purposes except in national defense. The losses inflicted and taken were too much for the average soldier to really feel good about, especially since their enemy was largely made up of conscripts. "Indoctrinated fools," as troops call them.

The AEFs ship back home, secure in the knowledge that they will never have to do anything like that except in cases of national defense.

The enginnering brigades use their heavy equipment to move debris and load contaminated soil into large trucks. Converted Mi-8s carry large sprayers designed to nullify the effects of chemical agents. They sweep up and down the battlefield, painted in non-combat white.

New CV-90 APCs, converted into engineer's vehicles, see their debut in Korea. They are employed in clearing wreckage and retreiving unexploded ordenance.

A CV-90 engineer's vehicle, carrying a large white flag, rumbles towards the Dra-pol line. Hopefully, the jittery Dra-pol troops would recognize this symbol of peace. The vehicle's ECM system and heavy armor showed that its occupants were prepared for the worst.

On board, Joseph Strauss, the commander of the humanitarian support corps (overseas), prepares to meet with the Dra-pol commander to discuss his unit's rights and responsibilities in the combat zone. It was reported that POWs and Korean civillians were being employed to clear hazardous materials, a job which could easily be taken over by the HSC. Strauss wanted to ask if his HSC could do these tasks instead of untrained prisoners.

Of course, this would get nowhere if the vehicle was set upon by armies of fanatical "communists" (yeah right) who somehow thought that killing people and crushing them utterly was helping them. That was the element of luck involved. They couldn't expect the average conscript to recognize a white flag as anything more than capitalist trickery if anything at all. Hopefully, there would be a more educated noncom or officer.

OOC: this is finals week, so I'm probably not going to be able to post much. I've gotta go off and actually read descartes....

That said, Premier Frosh is showing up in Kinshasa for what will probably be his last official trip as Premier. After the nuclear exchange and perceived defeat at Dra-Pol hands, it's widely assumed that he will be voted out of office by now-labor minister DeVanders and his powerful Social Democrat party when the heimatsversammlung is reconviened.

Drapoel clean up and repair efforts continued across the CPRD and occupied South Korean territory, and the cease-fire continued to be respected across the yet poorly defined frontier with the remaining capitalist Republic of Korea. Fighting on the peninsula was not yet over, however, as a few desperate communist cells in Quinntonian-administered Hamhung clung on to some last few slivers of hope for official support. They had, it appeared, been abandoned by DaKhiem, which presumably undertook to spark the revolts while under the impression that the war would drag on- now the Central Directorature was less than keen to undertake a fight on a second front.
No doubt the Banat-lead units caused in Hamhung damage beyond proportion to their numbers and resources -after all, the scale of their operation could not have been anticipated by authorities ignorant of their underground presence- but now exposed and unsupported there was no chance for success. Some commanders tried to take their surviving recruits back underground into safe houses, cellars, and the sea of faces. Some would succeed, others would be caught, and still more would go down fighting, crying revolution and reunification.
Offshore, two Hound Class submarines had returned to hidden shelters in the cliff face, but two more remained at sea, low on supplies and under Quinntonian guns. In one of the poorly maintained vessels (for DaKhiem had trouble acquiring spare parts for its few imported weapons systems) there had been a technical problem leading to the near asphyxiation of the twenty-three-strong crew. Eventually its captain had ordered the boat to the surface, but he still refused to surrender or to allow his vessel to be boarded, and appeared to be facing little opposition from his men. The second boat had tried under electric power to slip away, first towards home, then out to deeper waters and in eventual frustration, into the harbour itself. Each time it’d been tracked or re-located, and now sat motionless a couple of dozen feet below the surface, conserving what little battery power remained.

South Korea

In the east Drapoel activity was relatively modest as vehicles had been destroyed in larger numbers, and the west tended to have higher priority owing to its greater value in terms of infrastructure and population. The west was also deemed to be of greater public interest abroad, and as such perhaps more visible- it was important that DaKhiem appear in control and its assets efficient and effective.
Consequently, when the LRR engineer’s vehicle rolled into Drapoel territory it passed by precious little activity, and was eventually confronted by a UPA Sub-Lieutenant clad in modest protective gear; a gas mask, basic hood, and gloves in addition to his standard uniform; and carrying a sub-machinegun under his arm. He stepped in front of the vehicle, left hand raised, while from a sandbagged shell crater two teenage recruits in similar protective apparel trained a 7.7mm machinegun on the scene.
The Drapoel, of course, would probably either deny reports of POW and civilian conscription in the clean up, or bluntly refuse to discuss their methods at all.
One of the few operations underway in the east was typically Drapoel in its confrontational and audacious design. UPA and PAAF Mi-8 HIP had been modified to resemble LRR aircraft and were operating around the hectic front lines. The Banat wasn’t yet finished with its infiltration programmes, and wasn’t above dispatching saboteurs in clean up vehicles. Anything to make the south’s recovery slower than the Drapoel.

Consul Pak Seung-Il meanwhile touched down in the African Commonwealth, the Drapoel wheel of life and progress, painted on his L2D4 transport and FC-1 escort, descending from other than Asian skies for perhaps the first time in history. He’d be keen to take any opportunity to congratulate the Commonwealth for resisting capitalists and westerners in Gabon, for the good of African unity, which he’d equate with Asian or Korean.

In terms of the cease-fire, it seems that both sides have sort of "agreed" to a minimal level of subversion. South Korean special forces command troops cross the case-fire line just about as often as Banat troops do. POJ Special Forces as well as Kilean ISD join them in caching weapons and setting the foundations for long-term (albiet low-level) reistance.

The huge amounts of foriegn aid flowing into the country means that General Lee is starting to think about the actual post-war order. It seems that the ROK constitution will continue to be in effect, and elections for the new parliment will have to begin soon.

The ROK capital will be relocated to Pusan- an odd choice, considering the nuked nature of the city center, but General Lee figures, what the hell, people still live in hiroshima, right? Even as he speaks, bulldozers are scraping up the contaminated topsoil and dumping it into Pusan harbor as part of the new expansion/reconstruction/oh, hell the port's gone so lets build a new one next to it program.

In terms of long-range plans, there is going to be a lot of change in the ROK. Millions are dead, and hundreds of thousands are abroad in refugee camps. The major trashed cities will be reconstructed, yes- but the vast majority of the displaced population of Seoul (those that survived the "seoul death march" that the allied media is busy turning into folk legend) will not be settled in large urban areas.

Big cities are simply too good of a target, and General Lee points to the Seoul factor as the biggest limiter on ROK action in the war. No, the postwar ROK will be one of mid-sized towns and small cities. Most of the population will dwell in the Gumi's and Jangsu's and Pohang's of the country, a large semi-urbanized "belt" in the southern part of the country.

General Lee is reluctant to leave his bunker on Jeju-Do for any reason, but the situation calls it. A KAL 747 lifts off, bound for kinshasa. He wants the treaty to be a handshake, and then he wants this goddamn war over.

Lee was sure as hell not very enthused with LRR actions- working with the Dra-Pol? What the hell was this? Not to mention that they were goddamn pinko's themselves who would actually care for Dra-Pol wounded instead of just shooting them out of hand like real men did. It should have made itself pretty apparent that this was not a war with kid gloves.

Shaking off the rant, he readies himself as the plane descends. Another war, another status-quo un-peace.

Hudecian engineers offer their assistance to the South Korean government and the occupying forces to help rebuild city centres like Ulsan.

OCC: Just FYI, LRR engines tend to be quite distinctive in their appearance. Also, I think the hips your troops are using might need a serious systems upgrade for them to pass for LRRA craft.

IC:

On the ground, cleanup and rescue efforts continue, the LRR force much more as it should be, engineers protected by "deployment armor," basically tanks and wheeled APCs, units more suited to quick, supporting deployments.

Strauss pops up out of the engineering vehicle's hatch, clad in NBC gear like the vehicle's crew and small protective unit, four Uhlans troopers who should have been deployed to Korea in a scout-assault supporting role, who were useful as engineers as well, armed with Ak-74s and the like.

He calls out to the UPA S-Lt. from his hatch.

"Greetings, we would like to speak with your commander on matters of the utmost importance."

From several miles away, an Uhlans platoon consisting of CV-90 APC variant engineer's vehicles, gaurded by a group of wheeled APCs, LT-7 light tanks, and MBT-5C battle tanks, watches apprehensively as Strauss addresses the UPA lieutenant. A pair of Uhlans troopers (like combat-engineer-scouts) armed with a Mistral SAM between them sit on the ground a few yards away from their Lunkwill&Fook AMV (advanced modular vehicle) wheeled APC, watching the Mi-8s that did not seem right. They did not appear to have any useful equipment aboard, and more than once they had been told to set down for inspection.

While much reduced from the previous large number of mechanized infantry, the LRRA force of Uhlans troopers were still quite capable of protecting the engineering units. The LRRA "elite" per se troops are the mechanized infantry and the Uhlans, both similar, except for the fact that the mechanized infantry was an armored combat force, trained for fast armored assaults, and the Uhlans was more of a multipurpose scouting/peacekeeping force with more light vehicles.

Several Banat raids had been "broken up" by Uhlans troopers, sometimes with threats and searchlights, other times with bursts of MG fire.

Overhead, an LRRA Mi-8 comes up behind a questionable Mi-8. The LRRA sprayer helicopters had set down for the day, so this one is an armed craft.

"Attention, unidentified helicopter, set down now or turn back to your own lines."

Given that the Dra-Pol are not exactly being all that forthcoming in pushing peace negotiations, the KLM along with the ROKA is simply digging in and putting up barbed wire along the approximate line of control between the Dra-Pol and Kilean forces. It appears that a de facto border is now appearing in the ROK.

In Pusan, the port has been cleared and is now able to accept ships on a very limited basis.

In the African Commonlwealth, Kilean diplomats attempt to schedule the first meeting between sides, if only to sign a ceasefire. More importantly, Kilean hopes to secure some sort of super-DMZ that will keep heavy Dra-Pol artillery and large offensive units away from the new Korean border.

Secular Party clerks welcome Kilean measures, and implore Dra-Pol and LRR diplomats to set down for talks soon. Adding a point to the agenda, the Commonwealth Defense Council offers to spare brigades for peacekeeping if a lasting ceasefire can be negotiated between the warring nations.

An LRR An-72 touches down in the African Commonwealth capital city, carrying the LRR ambassador. Underwing, the aircraft carries a total of four big drop tanks, as the An-72 was not meant to be a long-haul aircraft.

back on the DMZ, the LRRA Uhlans troopers, self-appointed peacekeepers, continue providing protection for the decontamination crews. Occasionaly, a sinper would take a pot shot at a cleanup team as it was removing topsoil, and the gaurd troopers would shoot bursts of MG fire into the air as a warning, rarely deterring anything. It certainly made them mad. South Korea was really messed up by this war. If it had been no-WMD, then fine. But everything had gone to Valhallah.

A pair of LRRN hospital ships sit motionless offshore, treating hundreds of thousands of wounded, mostly from effects of the WMDs used. A near-endless parade of helicopters brings in more wounded to the ships, and soon several hospital frigates are brought in to help cope with the amount of wounded.

Forests of barbed wire and hardened defenses spring up on both sides of the new DMZ, with the ownership of the Seoul-Inchon area still in question.

Uhlans troopers in their L&F AMV wheeled APCs patrol up and down the DMZ, accompanied by MBT-5A and MBT-5C, as well as some very new MBT-6 tanks, hoping to discourage further fighting.

At the South Korean ports, more LRRA troops arrive, mostly equipped with heavy tanks and wheeled APCs. They head towards the border, where they take up station between the two warring sides. While the LRR government has no sympathy with the Dra-pol government, the maintainance of peace is considered necessary to prevent further civillian casualties.

Ambassador Howard "Howlin'" Wolf, a senior LRR diplomat, walks into the conference and takes a seat at the place reserved for him.

In the subsequent preliminary meetings, he offers LRRA troops as peacekeepers to guard the new Korean border, a job they were already unofficially adopting.

The UPA had withdrawn next to nothing of what survived near the fronts, eventually beginning to replace battered units with fresh ones from home. Many supply convoys began to leave-behind some of their vehicles and passengers as the UPA gradually boosted its strength across the board.

Exceptional lengths were being taken to make life hard around Inchon and there about, DaKhiem having been convinced throughout that victory their belonged to the Drapoel, and that the CPRD certainly shouldn't have to brook this incursion. Attempts were being made to prevent opposition aircraft or shipping from approaching as small numbers of interceptors, ASW helicopters, and aircraft clearly carrying anti-shipping missiles flew incessantly. There was no shyness about acquiring radar locks on foreign aircraft. Small D/E submarines were even now attempting to mine the area, and any square inch of soil not under the feet of an enemy soldier was pounced upon by the Banat or UPA. Baffling Drapoel pop played round the clock- something most of their soldiers were used to, many being blessed at home with state radios that can not be turned off. Below the cities, tons of gas and high explosives remained unused.

The Drapoel were becoming similarly belligerent around Quinntonian-policed Hamhung, rolling out gigantic speakers that must have been months in the making and blasting Reunification Rainbow and songs listing Hotan's superhuman achievements and abilities 24 hours a day. The East Sea Flotilla was daring to hassle shipping, too, demanding to search as many as their few missile boats could meet. New 190mm artillery guns were increasingly integrated into the lines opposite the Westguaard. DaKhiem continued to demand their land returned from the Crusaders.

In deepest Dra-pol, out of the way of prying eyes, millions again began to feel the pinch as rations were cut. Dinner tables across the Republic cursed the Christians for stealing some of their best farmland, the capitalist bourgeois for refusing to buy superior Drapoel goods, or the imperialists for blockading their shores.


Kinshasa

Pak Seung-Il, with a single Banat Sub-Lieutenant in tow, entered what was apparently to be the conference hall. He'd ignored the enemy for long enough, he felt.
The Drapoel pair averaged five foot four and a half, and came dressed in typically modest fashion. The Sub-Lieutenant in pale beige fatigues and a military cap, his sandled feet bound in fabric strips. He carried in his belt an 8mm Nambu automatic. The diplomat was unarmed and dressed as a civilian. Ill-fitting light brown trousers, a fabric belt, and a loose shirt of similar colour. His hairline was beginning to recede.

Pak took a seat, the Banat officer standing close over his shoulder regarding the apparently empty room.

Pak laid-out on the table before him a map depicting DaKhiem's current assessment of borders on the Korean peninsula. A good deal of information pertaining to the CPRD had been deleted, while road networks and internal divisions in South Korea and Hamhung remained ominously evident on the Drapoel document.

http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/Chivtv/NS1/Drapolmap.jpg

<OOC: damn, that's almost exactly as I pictured the new inter-korean border, and to think, I was going to go and photoshop that one today...<OOC>

The border isn't just someplace for Dra-Pol tricks. Knowing rations are cut, and knowing that even though dependent on international aid the ROK still has more than enough food, the Kilean and ROK troops host freqent barbeques juuuust on their side of the border, the delicious smells of korean barbeque and kilean wursts floating over starved dra-pol troops while traditional festival music (the only think anybody figures the dra-pol will recognize) and obscene parodies of reunification rainbow are blasted by newer, better samsung speakers.

Along the de-facto border, the troops dig in as the rest of the Kilean army gets cracking on reconstruction and coordinating a damn near Drapoel-esqe nternal population redistribution in the ROK.

Pusan is the centre of reconsruction efforts, and by this point the radioactive topsoil in the city center has been scraped up and all dumped on the new extension to Pusan harbor (most eco-sensitive move EVAR!)

Near Pyongtaek, South Korea

A couple of UPA Privates returned to their little one-man tents outside which they lay down their modest personal equipment and their armaments. A 6.5mm D-Type-86 assault rifle from one, an 8mm sub-machinegun and a number of hand-grenades the other.
A finger-bowl full of Drapoel rice for each man was keenly emptied and a small dried fish was sliced by bayonet and shared.
Chewing on the fairly tasteless morsel one screwed up his face and sniffed the air.

"They're doing it again, I told you!"
"What? Is that it? Is that..."
"Yes, yes, they're roasting the dead, again, they're so hungry!"
"They're so greedy! They can't share their rations!"
"I feel sick! Bloated bourgeois swine! You'd better not touch our dead!" The soldier shouted the last words in the direction of the strange-smelling front.

Along the border, LRRA Uhlans armored units sit at the few border crossings, mazes of barbed wire, MG nests, and mines laid by the allied forces.

Lieutenant Raoul Weiss surveys the landscape from the commander's hatch of his MBT-5A tank. In the distance, the fires from Kilean barbecues burn, the smell of meats wafting over the battlefield, an odd addition to the still-lingering chemical aroma.

Most of the traffic through the border area consists of engineer's vehicles and earthmovers, some LRRA, some from other allied countries.

Another CV-90 APC (turretless and amphibious) drives into no-man's land between the two lines, carrying a load of EOD personnel. All over the ROK countryside, EOD and decontamination teams work round-the-clock, braving Banat raids and occasional firefights, to clear the countryside of the dangers left behind from warfare. In the areas hit by nuclear warheads, LRRA crews work alongside Kilean cleanup crews inremoving tons uon tons of topsoil and debris. Whereas the Dra-pol enlist civillians and POWs to do the same task, the allied forces have large amounts of well-trained, professional engineering personnel.

Lieutenant Weiss can see the edge of the Dra-pol line, probably crawling with activity. A raid by Dra-pol commandos on an engineering vehicle had been repulsed by a company of Uhlans troopers in AMVs. The 8x8 AMVs had proven very effective in holding up against whatever was thrown at them, and none had been lost.

Back on the LRRN hospital ships, medical staff were having a hard time getting Dra-pol patients to eat anything, after word had filtered through that they "would all be roasted at Kilean barbecues," probably from one of the newly-infirmed Banat commandos. The hospital ship staff were having a very tough time convincing their Dra-pol patients not to starve. The head doctor on the Mother Teresa radios the Dra-pol CP.

"Attention, Dra-pol command center, this is the hospital ship Mother Teresa. Do you copy, over."

The head doctor hoped to get the Dra-pol commander to tell the Dra-pol patients that they would not be eaten, and to resume eating food again. Of course, weather the commander would do anything of the sort was an open question.

Meanwhile, on the south coast of the ROK, a gaggle of ROK navy trainees stand on a dock, addressed by a middle-height indian man wearing LRRN insignia. Moored to the dock are several ROKN fast patrol boats, as well as an LRRN Super Dvora patrol boat, sporting its heavy cannon.

After the LRRN missile/patrol squadron officer, identified by the torpedo insignia on his uniform, ends his address, the group disperses and runs to their respective ships.

They file out of the harbor in line abreast formation, the LRRN boat behind, and head out into the Jeju strait.

http://forum.apan-info.net/win99-2k/images/high/26ch.jpg

http://www.naval-technology.com/contractor_images/israel_aircraft2/israel3.jpg

The group's first "target" is a surfaced submarine, supposed to be reminiscent of a Sang-o (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/s-sango.htm) class infiltration sub. It actually was the real deal, taken from LRRN stocks. Their task was to capture the submarine and disarm the "explosives" carried in its mine bays.

OCC: Anyone want to jump in here? Kilean naval elements, perhaps? Enterprising banat commandos?

Kinshasa

General Lee put down the report. This was good, this was damn good. The LRR was already getting the navy back together, and once this treaty was signed, he could get to work on the army....


Jeju Strait

The Patrol boats swerved in their calculated manuvers as they darted up to the cove that was their designated target. Dashing in, they each fired a shell or two at the "122mm Dra-Pol gun" (really a telephone pole, but hey, it's a drill) before turning back to the open sea.

Newly arrived in the area, the Kilean navy's 2nd U-Boat flotilla (4 Type 209 diesels) will now take up the OPFOR role in this impromptu excercise.

The Korean military is finally wrapping up the disaster clean-up role it's had since the nuclear exchange. Now they'll focus on rebuilding a once mighty military machine.

Anyone in the North Korean area, All millitary planes not registered with the Xiannese Ministry of National Air Safety will be warned and shot down if not responding.

All trains going nto the North korean region will be limited and uniformed millitary personel will not be allowed on trains. All points are enacted by the New Law passed last month which discontinues the stationing of International Troops such as Sino, _Taiwan, Hudecia, and so on.

If you guys need a map of China, TG me, or find us in the China region. All rp's involving China in political, Regional, w/e is based on our NS map. I apparently, Xiaguo is located of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning.

As Minister of Foreign Afairs, China, Shanghai and Xiang Gang(Hong Kong) will be opened to foreign merchant ships and by terms, any fighting near Chinese territory will be condemned and reported. All naval millitary ships shall remain stationed away from all Chinese ports. Thank You.

DOUBLE POST

OCC: Is South Hanguk Kilean?

IC:

The LRRN commander looks out across the strait, full of Kilean, LRR, Hudecian, and a small number of ROKN ships, mostly escorted around by LRRN sovremennys.

He soon spots the objective- a surfaced "Sang-o" across the horizon.

He turns around to see if any of the ROKN crews had seen it yet, and apparently some had. The flashes of blank rounds from the foreward cannons indicated that.

"Bring 'er around towards the submarine!"

The Super Dvora makes a sharp turn, and heads towards the OPFOR sub.

The gunner in the 40mm MG turret trains his gun on the aft deck, and gives it a sweep, as good as the 40mm, meant for somewhat harder targets, could do. The faint whine of MILES gear can be heard over the distance.

Meanwhile, back at the border, things appear close to finished. Whereas it used to be that you couldn't step two feet without seeing a shell to disarm, engineering units were actually coming back without finding anything. The topsoil removal was also almost done, and troops of the civil engineering group (concerned with the reconstruction of infrastructure, whereas the combat engineers are more UXO, decontamination centered) begin to rebuild the major roads to their prewar standards.

The Uhlans troopers continue to provide border security, but what Banat raids there were never got far past their own lines. Soon, border crossings begin to appear, distinguished by the excessive amount of bunkers and the presence of LRRA heavy armor. Since the UPA was in firm control of their side of the land border, refugees are few and far between on that stretch. The sea, however, is a totally different story.

LRRN PT boat crewshad been flown in a few days before the refugee influx, but what they lacked was their staple ships. Only a few Super Dvoras were in the area, so the crews, initially intended to serve as advisers, are thrown into service to supplement the badly shaken ROKN. And most patrolling is done in small Rigid Raiders, the only boats transportable in reasonable numbers by airlift. Word was that their Dvoras would eventually get shipped in, but that will take a little less than a week at the earliest.

Off the east coast of the ROK, only a few miles south of the border, a force of rigid raiders and landing craft have the job of sorting through the hundreds of refugee boats daily.

Lt. Commander Eli Van Halen wakes up at around 1:30 AM, and flips out of his hammock, landing on the floor of the beachside barracks with a thud. He gathers his web gear, and trudges outside in his pyjamas.

To his left and right, SA-21 SAM/ABM and SA-20 SAM batteries sit in hardened shelters, fully manned and ready at all times. In front of him, an LCVP and seven Rigid Raider sit beached, the waters of a receeding high tide still lapping up against their hulls.

Van Halen is joined by the rest of his patrol, who proceed to push their craft out into the water. A CV-90 engineer's vehicle pulls the LCVP out from the beach after a squad of Uhlans troopers had boarded, and the patrol heads out for sea, Van Halen in the wheelhouse of the LCVP.

'We've got boats, nine o'clock."
"Roger that, we're headed over that way."

One of the rigid raiders spots a group of boats a few miles north, so the group turns to investigate.

Unger the jury-rigged 20mm cannons and 14.5mm MGs on the LCVP, the rigid raiders proceed to board the small boats.

OCC: This might be a good place for Dra-pol elements to jump in.

Well, South Hanguk is a, eerm, close ally of Kilean, and really, Gen. Lee wouldn't have ended up in charge of what's left of the ROK without Kilean help. Aaah, I can't justify it....South Hanguk is something of a Kilean puppet. Lee is a DuGaulle type, so he'll probably end up contradicting Kilean on a lot of stuff, but, well, it's me.

Down to the border depicted by DaKhiem’s new maps (as seen in Kinshasa) the UPA and Banat were enforcing Drapoel administration of South Korea in the Drapoel fashion. The land was no longer considered in anyway the ROK or even part of South Korea, it was firmly part of the Choson People’s Republic.
For years DaKhiem had been building-in something of a redundancy to its labour base, with millions contributing nothing much to the effective economic life of the nation. This well explained a lot of the republic’s problems, especially to those aware of the scale of stockpiles in just about every commodity ever produced in the CPRD- grain mountains existed throughout the two recent famines. The collectives that created these stockpiles would not be greatly missed in the course of their current relocation. Their output had been lowered further by the schooling many had been receiving at local, DaKhiem, and underground facilities staffed by the intellectual class, by those schooled in Quinntonian, and by their former pupils. This redundant class was now undertaking its relocation to the south, swamping what remained of the local population and setting to the closely supervised task of reshaping northern ROK cities to a new Kurosite model. This model –its twin aspects pioneered at Kosong and Kanggye- would warp the battered Korean cities still further. Many towns were damaged, but those worst hit by Drapoel missiles, artillery, and tunnelled demolitions were centres of population, military presence, and consumerism, and few had been targeted by enemy forces concerned for the South Korean populace. The CPRD had no use for extra South Korean heads of population, save some of the more dangerous unskilled clean-up work, and certainly had no interest in consumer society or its physical manifestations. Malls, whole high streets, religious buildings, and even private homes were of no value to newly appointed Director Hotan, and would not persist. Industrial centres would be modified and expanded- stockpiled materials were already being moved, and there were many components well suited to adapting South Korean machine tools to Drapoel tasks. In many factories communist agents surfaced to over-see operations after months or years of feeding information to DaKhiem, enabling specific items to be manufactured ahead of time, in Dra-pol. The Drapoel seemed to know inside-out many of the facilities that interested them, and plans were swinging into action across occupied soil.
The only annoyance was that the reunification had not been absolute, but this was perhaps well as resources may not have stretched- where the Drapoel might have struggled to handle total victory, they were actually more than prepared for this halfway house of partial unification. Of course this didn’t leave any less Drapoel agents in the extreme south, and their work would continue as it had for years previous.
A lot of technology was flowing back the other way as Kanggye administrators sought improvements to their factories.

Along the new border defences were taking a more typical Drapoel shape as the UPA sought to dig-in to an unmoveable degree before the enemies tabled any unfavourable demands in Kinshasa. Guns integrated into the fortifications north of the old demarcation line were being removed, and preparation was underway to accommodate one of the CPRD’s CS-400 surface-to-air missile batteries inside former ROK territory with all the security measures enjoyed by those in the north.
The Banat became increasingly disinterested in conflict to the south as DaKheim prepared for a renewed policy of creeping normalcy with regards to military emplacement near the border and remained satisfied with its long established agents.

(A little OOC rambling, if I may. It’s not exactly important, but Dra-pol doesn’t actually use 122mm artillery, just for the record. I’m not sure if I’ve ever said that they did, but if so I was either drunk and not paying attention, or it was way back before I sorted things out properly. Like I say, hardly important, but I feel inclined for some reason to list what we do use, ammo-wise, if only for interest’s sake.
There’s 7x19.5mm pistol-ammunition as used by Banat agents, some officers, and some second-line military personnel.
8x21.5mm as used in more common officer’s side arms and in sub-machineguns.
6.5mm rifle and light-machinegun for which I can’t remember/find the calibre, but I believe it’s 6.5x40-something mm.
7.7x57mm rifle and medium-machinegun round
14.5x114mm heavy, AA machinegun
30mm aviation, anti-aircraft cannon
47mm light-gun, anti-aircraft, self-propelled-anti-aircraft cannon
75mm light-tank gun, towed field-gun, self-propelled assault-gun, anti-aircraft artillery piece
100mm towed anti-tank gun, anti-aircraft-artillery piece
105mm medium-tank gun, towed field-gun, self-propelled assault-gun
115mm main-battle-tank gun, towed gun, self-propelled assault-gun/tank-hunter
125mm main-battle-tank gun
150mm towed howitzer, self-propelled assault gun
190mm new towed gun, self-propelled gun
57mm, 122mm, 240mm rocket artillery
40mm grenade-launcher (knee mortar)
51mm, 80mm mortars and possibly larger pieces
RPG-69-I rocket-propelled grenades with various warheads.
Drapoel submarines, by the way, are a few tiny things barely big enough to squeeze a couple of men inside, and about half a dozen Beth Gellen Hound Class D/Es, some of which are in China, and others north of the old DMZ, two being under Quinntonian guns at Hungnam. Of course we’ve plans to build about forty of our own subs, but we’ve never done it before.
I’m a bit confused as to what’s going on off-shore, but the Drapoel aren’t presently engaged in water-borne incursions against the south, and any enemy vessels found to be encroaching upon Drapoel waters will probably just be attacked by shore-based helicopters or other aircraft, or possibly ignored depending on what they appear to be and where they appear to be going. Assuming they’re spotted at all, that is.)

OCC: Oh, ok. I was assuming that the Banat would try to infiltrate the ROK by boat. Would you consider it plausible that large amounts of refugees from the former ROK are trying to escape to the current ROK by boat?

As for the PT boat thing, its just an excersize. The Sang-o class seems to fit your descriptions of your subs (pretty ratty, can fit a few people), and it is an RL North Korean sub. Would it pass?

And also, my hospital ship is trying to get your theater CP on the radio. Look just above the pics on my second to last IC post.

Could we expect a renewed Dra-pol attack some time in the future? Or perhaps political upheval?

Kinshasa

"alright" Frosch looked at the Dra-Pol delegate, waiting for the translator to finish. "we know you're fortifying the occupied territory. very cute."

Another awkward pause, in which Frosch worked on his "I-hate-you" glare.

"you are going to freeze construction for the time being. If you do so, we will pull all armored divisions to 80 kilometers south of the new border, eliminating our ability to launch any further offensive actions against you. this will be a temporary measure, but it could become permanent as negotiations continue"

Another pause as the translator jabbered on.

"secondly, the African Commonwealth will deploy troops to Korea, and place them on the new border, seperating the Dra-Pol and allied armies. This, too, will be a temporary measure that could become permanent. Once Dra-Pol ceases all fortification of the occupied territories, once the Allied forces pull back their offensive units, and once AC troops are in a position to keep our armies apart, then real negotaitions can take place. Real negotiations, if I may add, that you have done a very good job of avoiding. Of our demands, this is the most important- you have to actually create a dialog with us, or we have to reason at all to belive your good intentions"

Frosch looked right at the Dra-Pol delegate.

"We don't do this to play cowboy, you know. Right now, we simply have no assurance that the Dra-Pol will keep their word, and frankly, the construction of fortifications- which as Dra-Pol has proven time and again are not simply defensive works- is too provocative. We have refrained from sending new troops to Korea since the ceasefire, but if Dra-Pol does not cease the construction of new fortifications and does not enter into meaningful peace dialog, we will have no choice but to become suspicious, and we will deploy more forces to Korea to protect what's left of the ROK"

"If Dra-Pol doesn't stop building fortifications heavier than field positions, and if you don't actually say something" Frosch pointed at his silent Dra-Pol opposite in frustration "then I'm going to bring Kilean troop levels in Korea up to pre-nuclear exchange levels."

Frosch got up.

"The ball's in your court, okay? Don't screw this one up."

Kinshasa

Not wanting to appear partial, party subsecretary Lucia Mwano(taking the place of head secretary Mortu currently engaged in peace talks in Al-Khals regarding the war in Gabon) announced that it supported neither side at present, but would indeed supply troops for the Korean DMZ, and if necessary, a force large enough to repel a massed UPA onslaught or high-tech coalition air strikes. Knowing the monstrous size of the AC military budget(in excess of five trillion US dollars a year), and the reckless discipline with which they exercise in foreign deployments, she likely isn't joking.

The LRR delegate finally talks, somewhat disappointed at the current dialouge.

"We would like assurances from the Dra-pol authorities that they will allow the delivery of humanitarian supplies to the people in the newly-occupied territories, and that they will no longer put civillians to work cleaning up contaminated debris. I'm sure my government is fine with African Commonwealth troops acting as peacekeepers, and the LRRA units in place will fill in until they arrive. We also request that there be some routes open through the border area between the ROK and Dra-pol, so as to promote future peace agreements."

The LRR delegate finally talks, somewhat disappointed at the current dialouge.

"We would like assurances from the Dra-pol authorities that they will allow the delivery of humanitarian supplies to the people in the newly-occupied territories, and that they will no longer put civillians to work cleaning up contaminated debris. I'm sure my government is fine with African Commonwealth troops acting as peacekeepers, and the LRRA units in place will fill in until they arrive. We also request that there be some routes open through the border area between the ROK and Dra-pol, so as to promote future peace agreements."

bump

"DaKhiem's position..." Said Pak Seung-Il, "...is resolute. There is no interest in what the South and its foreign cohorts wish to do with themselves or their little divisions.

"We hold no opposition to the placement of African troops south of UPA lines.

"The Choson People's Republic can attend to its own security and reconstruction." He added.

Frosh was back in Skarswald. It looked like a signed peace with Dra-Pol would never happen, and that the status quo was simply going to stand.

In retrospect, he had been naive. Naive about more than just the treaty, too. This whole war, the nuclear exchange, all of it....

Frosh has promised a lot to the social democrats and kilean liberty party to get them in on his monolithic unity bloc that had lead kilean through the wars with Dibujante and Dra-Pol. Among those promises was the promise that when the re-built heimatsversammlung met, it would do so under a constitution radically different from the one in place when a young leftist burnt down the legislative building, setting off this whole war.

The complex three-tired system was gone, as was the arcane proportional voting system. Kilean politics had changed- the UN now rated Kilean as a "father knows best" state instead of a iron-fisted consumerist dictatorship.

Frosh shook his head. Silly UN. Sure, he had dictatorial powers, but....well...you had to yield to certain political realities. One of those realities was that Kilean was a very different place now. One and a half million of it's young men were dead, women had gone to work in wartime industries, and for the first time in it's history, Kilean was dealing with a large non-white minority; the thousands of Korean refugees that had opted to stay in Kilean, most of them working with local branches of huge Korean companies.

Frosh would lose the elections- he knew that much. He wondered who would run, and who would end up taking his place...


On top of that, he had General Lee and the ROK to contend with, as well as reconstruction of northeast Kilean and Dibujante.

A lot on his plate, but Kilean would pull through. Frosh knew that even a lefty pansy like DeVanders would stick to the overseas commitments that Kilean had made.

It would be interesting, thought Frosh, to see how this new Naval Law ends up panning out.....

Bump for the new boards. Hope to get this RP going again!

Oh, just for the hell of it- the Kilean Landsmaacht has been re-organized post-war! Premier Frosch has called for free elections (the first in Kilean history) to begin in four months. Kilean has basically accepted the de-facto truce in korea.

(note: army does not include army air corps, ISD, or paramilitary units)

The post-war Kilean Landsmaacht is still a powerful juggernaut, but it will be (proportionally) the smallest active-duty military in Kilean’s history. The liberalization that has come about after the extended period of war has led to a huge cutback in military funding. Even many of the units that are listed as “active duty” will basically be semi-active reserve due to relaxed training standards and fewer exercises. The reserve formations are still, of course, huge- but they are called up even less frequently than before.

It is noteworthy, however, to point out that of this new, smaller military budget, the R&D allocation is simply huge, some 26% of the total budget, and the vast majority of those kept on active duty are a cadre of experienced NCO’s. In addition, the active duty Kilean military will have more elite units than ever before, with the reconstruction of the Kilean airborne units having top priority, and many more independent sub-divisional units, including some independent regiments, something unheard of in the pre- red wars Kilean army.

Also, for the first time standing corps and army headquarters units will be created, in addition to one standing army group HQ unit (Army Group Korea)- yet another sign of radical transformation in the Landsmaacht.

Active Units

Standing HQ units

1 army group HQ unit (Army Group Korea, Pusan)
9 army HQ units (1-9th armies, most of these are HQ groups for reserve units)
4 corps HQ units (II, III, IV, X corps)

Combat Divisions:: 59 (~2.5 million men active duty)

20 infantry divisions
5 mountain divisions
6 airborne divisions (2 air landing/glider)
18 panczer divisions
8 armored cavalry divisions
2 air cavalry divisions

Sub-Divisional Independent Combat Units:
(Note: these are combat units that operate independent of any division, and are not a listing of all sub-divisional combat units in the kilean military. These tend to be elite units. This is by no means a comprehensive list of independent units- there are many more corps artillery, air defense, CBW, supply, etc, etc- but these are the significant sub-divisional combat formations in the Kilean army)

16 air cavalry brigades
7 light infantry brigades
12 armored cavalry brigades
6 independent light infantry regiments (Raiders)
9 theatre missile brigades (5 Longbow, 4 FROG)

Reserve Units:

(with the military draw down, this is where the majority of Kileans might is. In their present state, the reserves would need about four months to become ready to ship out, although that fact is a closely-guarded secret- the impression the rest of the world has is one of hair-trigger readiness)

[I]Combat Divisions{/I]: 308 (~7.8 million men)

135 infantry divisions
105 panczer divisions
5 mountain divisions
6 light divisions
52 armored cavalry divisions
3 air cavalry divisions
2 air landing/glider divisions

Sub-Divisional Independent Combat Units:

9 air cavalry brigades
12 armored cavalry brigades
6 light infantry brigades
8 theatre missile brigades (6 Scud, 2 FROG)


Kilean divisional makeup

The division is the building block of the Kilean military, and is a very complete unit- individual brigades and regiments are almost never deployed separately from their division, and the division is considered a complete and stand-alone unit. Kilean divisions are large (~25,000 men) although some types are smaller (~15,000 men). The standard Kilean division is made up of brigades (roughly 5,000 men) or regiments (about 2,500 men). Full-size Kilean divisions are made up of four brigades and two regiments. They are organized with an emphasis on divisional self-reliance, as evidenced by the large artillery and air defense units.

NOTE: this only includes regiment/brigade sized units. Each division has many smaller units contained in those brigades and regiments. For example, engineer battalions are often included in the artillery regiments, HQ companies are usually folded into one of the infantry or armored brigades, etc. In addition, this only includes the combat units that a Kilean division is made up of, and support units are NOT included. I’m not being unrealistic by not including them, I’m just saving myself time and effort by not prattling on about field kitchen units.

Infantry Division (25,000 men): the most common in the Kilean Landsmaacht.

3 motorized infantry brigades
1 panczer brigade
1 artillery regiment
1 air defense regiment

Panczer Division (25,000 men): the hitting power of the KLM

3 Panczer brigades
1 mechanized infantry brigade
1 artillery regiment
1 aviation regiment (anti-aircraft troops + attack helicopter battalion)

Armored Cavalry Division (25,000 men): these are basically infantry units that are made up of mechanized, instead of motorized troops. This means that they use fighting-vehicle variants of Kilean APC’s, and also have a panczer battalion in every brigade.

4 mechanized cavalry brigades
1 artillery regiment
1 air defense regiment (mechanized)

Mountain Division (15,000 men): the largest bodies of specialist troops fielded by Kilean, the mountain troops are short on heavy equipment, lack mechanization, and have time and time again proven their lethality in tough terrain. These are smaller divisions, differentiated from light infantry by their lack of artillery or APC’s.

2 mountain infantry brigades
1 mountain gun regiment (pack howitzers, mortars, etc)
1 air defense demi-regiment (half a regiment)
1 anti-tank demi-regiment (extra antitank troops, to compensate for lack of heavy firepower elsewhere)

Light Infantry Division (20,000 men): these are smaller units that are easier to deploy strategically, and faster tactically than regular infantry. Needless to say, they also lack the hitting power of heavy mechanized formations.

3 motorized infantry brigades
1 light artillery regiment (non-SPG guns)
1 air-defense regiment (light- MANPADS and APC mounted AA systems only)

Airborne Division (15,000 men) these are the crème de la crème of the Kilean army. Re-formed after the slaughter of Operation Drumroll, they are based around hardened survivors and the best of the new recruits. They are all-volunteer units; no conscripts.

2 parachute infantry brigades
1 combined anti-tank/air defense regiment.
1 Raider regiment (elite light infantry)

Air-Landing Divisions (15,000 men): who said glider troops were out? These divisions are the punch of the Kilean airborne troops, using their gliders to bring in heavy equipment that couldn’t be otherwise be available.

2 light infantry brigades (line infantry equipment, sans vehicles; full antitank weapons compliment)
1 light artillery regiment (pack howitzers, light SPG’s)
1 glider mechanized regiment (Chasseur light tanks and wheeled APC’s delived by cargo glider)

Air Cavalry Division (15,000 men): Helicopter-borne assault troops, not as popular as they once were in the Kilean military, but still very useful for counter-insurgency missions.

2 air-mobile brigades (helo-mobile infantry)
1 attack helicopter brigade

ugh the new boards should die.

Come to think about it, where are all of u crazy guys up to anyway? Is the peninsula (hopefully not) destroyed yet?

ugh the new boards should die.

Come to think about it, where are all of u crazy guys up to anyway? Is the peninsula (hopefully not) destroyed yet?

It....erm....it's sorta not destroyed. Lets just say that most of the northern ROK is learning to love Hotan or die, and that the rest of it sort of glows if it's not saturated with nerve gas.

Well, it's not *that* bad, and rebuilding is starting, but war's over, and Dra-Pol sorta-kinda-maybe-won (it was a tie??)

In Dra-pol too the cease-fire continued to be observed and considered essentially official.
Hotan's Two Billion Struggle, his first great struggle as full Director, had fallen a little behind scheduel, but he was one of few that knew it. Essentially, it was still a great success. The Unified People's Army was more powerful than it had ever been. Life expectancy across the republic had, meanwhile, fallen several years (more in the occupied ROK), but it was a simple enough matter for the Central Directorature to place the blame squarely on Dra-pol's enemies. The use of nuclear weapons made it all the easier to convince the ordinary, isolated, highly indoctrinated Drapoel that the outside world considered him an enemy, along with everyone he loved. It wasn't just propaganda, obviously!

(As for the war? Well, I suppose that neither side achieved their aim, so in a manner of speaking it was something of a draw. It certainly stalemated after the tragic nuclear exchange... and even that's a grey area, as Dra-pol was the first to use "WMD" but did so in the mistaken but understandable belief that the enemy was in the process of doing the same. Both sides can reasonably tell their people that it was the other's fault, I suppose. So far as I know, Dra-pol is better placed as a result of the war, though I don't know exactly what anyone else is up to, of course. Anyway, I've a couple of new threads to start, one related to the Two Billion Struggle.)

OOC: that sounds like the more or less of it. Hudecia will remain out of this until the radioactive cloud dissapates.

Along the ROK coast, the small LRRN offensive group can be found in large numbers, being the only LRR combat units still near the ROK. On land, the highly skilled LRRA engineering and medical teams advance the goal of someday restoring life for the surviving inhabitants of the ROK to something closer to normal.

Some of the newest Howlin' Wolf (named after the famous blues musician) missile/patrol corvettes make a showing (which are essentially heavily modified Albatross class corvettes with ASMs on them).

The LRRA engineer crews, having cleared most of the unexploded ordenance, and having removed thousands upon thousands of acres of topsoil (in a 24/7 effort nothing short of a miracle), get to rebuilding war-torn civilian areas.

Everyone 'knew' that Dra-pol would have no way of cleaning up the contaminated areas, and the engineers, who form a very large fraction of the active military, itch to go over and help out.

Offshore, patients begin to trickle off the hospital ships, and are sent via aeroplane to a rehab center in LRR.


A Howlin' Wolf manouvering off the coast of the ROK.

OCC: Hey, Dra-pol, so finally it is over. Do you think us dirty capitalist pigs (this coming from a country with 100% income tax) could get involved in some more of your country's social uphevals? You are definately an interesting nation. I have even taken your coastal defense tactics to heart. Hide everything and shoot whoever gets close with long-range ASMs!

(ooc:Well, Dra-pol remains pretty much paranoid as ever, and still isolationist, but under Kuro Progress is allowing certain small areas of openness, such as the Asian Friendship Conference in "liberated Seoul": http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=339885 So involved parties can send delegations if they so desire. There's no clearly set agenda as yet, and it won't revolve entirely around the War for Korean Unification (as Dra-pol calls it))

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