Al-Ahzad
25-06-2005, 21:13
Unclaimed territory, in the area of the undefined UAE-Ahzadi border
The jeep sat on the crest of the dune, water boiling out of it’s punctured radiator before dropping to the sand below to sizzle and boil away. One of the Al-Suluf soldiers, in a gesture as determined as it was futile, was still manning the .50 caliber mounted in the jeep’s bed, firing short bursts in the direction of the rapidly-shrinking dust cloud that marked the fleeing Al-Waloud warriors.
In the shade of the disabled jeep, Sheikh Hassan Al-Suluf put away his binoculars and heard the radio promise the arrival (in 30 minutes) of 3 commando battalion. He picked up the handset and retracted his request.
“Grandfather, they’re getting away! We’ve still got three good jeeps as well as the armored car with us right now! We can chase them!”
The Sheikh’s grandson was, he reflected, a very willful boy. A mere 15, he carried an M-16 slung over his back- he wasn’t big enough to handle the M-14’s that equipped most of the Ahzadi Bedouin Legion- and wore the khaki BDU’s, aviator sunglasses, and checkered keffiyeh that was de rigeur for ABL officers.
“My grandson, your heart is in the right place.” Sheikh Al-Suluf rose, brushing sand off of his uniform “but you must consider factors beyond our immediate situation” with his one good eye, the Sheikh looked upwards, and pointed to the pair of contrails streaking across the northern part of the massive blue sky. “Do you see those, boy?” the Bedouin king then turned and pointed again to the south-western horizon- towards what was more firmly considered Al-Ahzad- and the pair of contrails that were circling in the distance “and do you see those?”
“The farmers, grandson, they so love their maps, and their lines across the sand. But right here, where we stand? There is no line. But there is a general sense of where is Al-Ahzad and where is the Emirates, and sadly, grandson, those Al-Waloud have made it close to the well at Uum az Zumul. If we chase them further, we will have to answer to that” the Sheikh nodded towards the contrails the Emirates fighter jets left.
“So we simply have to wait for them to strike at us again? That’s not fair!” The boy was indignant.
The sound of helicopters grew in the distance, and a cluster of tiny dots on the horizon was getting bigger. “The Al-Waloud, grandson, would probably insist that those are not fair.”
3 Commando Battalion
“Yeah! I nailed you, you camel-jockey motherfucker!” The door gunner pumped his fist in the air for a moment before gripping his M60 to send yet another burst out the French-built helicopters door. Another one of the Al-Waloud stragglers fell out of his saddle, the rider and camel riddled with bullet holes. The helicopter formation swung around, calling off their pursuit as warning came over the radio that they were getting just a bit too close to what was arguably UAE territory to keep up the chase. The Puma helicopters pulled backwards, flaring out for landing, and the commandoes jumped out to assist the Bedouin Legion troops with their disabled vehicles.
The door gunner spat in disgust. The elite troops were reduced once again to mechanics and medics for the Al-Suluf Bedouin forces. Once again the Royalists had slipped away into the desert.
The Dofar
President Ismet Massad peered through his binoculars at the flat, semi sandy desert before him. On it, parachutes were crumpling as the last men of the 2nd brigade of the 10th Airborne Division ended their jump. As the last A-400 transports droned overhead, the Ahzadi paratroopers were- very, very slowly- organizing themselves into fighting formations. Still, Massad reasoned, it was going well- nobody had died, and all the units had landed within two kilometers of their drop zones. Not bad for such a young airborne force. Still, Massad was not nearly as pleased as he should have been with this display of newly-found military prowess.
“Hikmet” Massad spoke quietly to the portly, ancient minister-without-portfolio that was the second most powerful man in Al-Ahzad “I can’t tolerate Wazzef Al-Waloud any longer.” After a moment of silence filled with the shouts of paratrooper NCO’s screaming at their units to conduct the exercise with a little more dignity, Hikmet Bektasi responded.
“I understand , Sir, but his men are either inside the UAE or too close to the border for us to intervene in force without making the Emirates……very nervous, sir. That said, I do know where you are going with this. You’re the military man- will it work?”
Massad lowered his binoculars. At that moment, a pair of A-4 skyhawks darted overhead, laying down rocket fire as called in by the paratroopers. The exercise continued, although coming after the main Destined Glory operations it was more for the cameras- which were there in great number- than for anything else.
“Hell, Hikmet- I threw this country into debt to get that military. It’d be a damned shame if we didn’t use it”
The Skyhawk’s rockets sounded like the worlds biggest firecrackers as they slammed into the dusty practice range.
“The middle east needs to know, and the world needs to know, that Al-Ahzad is not weak any longer. I am going to send the Ahzadi Bedouin Legion into the emirates, go to the Al-Waloud camps, and crush them.”
Headquaters, Eastern Military Command
General Arjun Zail spoke with a tense certainty to the room of Generals and Colonels. Meeting in the bunker outside of Muscat were the leaders of all major units to be involved in the operation. It was an odd scene- Hassan Al-Suluf, the Republican-backed Bedouin commander sat to one side, glancing with his one good eye (the other was taken by a UAE attack helicopter during the revolution) towards the map behind General Zail. To the other side sat the commander of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
General Zail- hailing from an old line of Ahzadi Sikhs- drew himself up before the high-ranking audience.
“In essence, this operation will not be any different from the ongoing counter-insurgency efforts. It will differ only in two key areas; firstly, we will not let borders stop us. The next raid the Al-Waloud royalists make will be chased across the frontier area by the full strength of the Bedouin Legion. Secondly, size; this operation will involve all regular Al-Suluf forces, courtesy of Sheikh Hassan. That’s roughly 2,000 motorized, desert-capable light infantry. To deter conventional UAE forces from interfering, and to engage them if they make the mistake of attempting to stop our efforts, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment will be backing up the Bedouin troops. 1 Commando Battalion will also be on-call and heli-mobile. II Corps aviation brigade is also providing attack helicopter support in the form of the 5th Helicopter battalion; that’s two dozen super cobras.”
On queue, the Air Force commander in charge of the north-eastern sector spoke.
“This operation will initially take place within the Aster-30 umbrella of the Muscat-Sur regional defense area. Beyond the initial border, however, it will be up to the VLS Mica batteries of 11th ACR to provide SAM cover. Now, we have moved up squadrons from the Raysuz area to dispersal airfields around Muscat. If Emirates air forces decide to intervene, we will be able to launch Operation Eagle, the details of which I am sure you all know. Word has come down from Raysuz that we will not be the first to use fixed-wing aircraft in this conflict, although if it escalates to that, we are more than capable of backing up the ground forces and securing the airspace over the south-eastern UAE desert.”
The men in the room nodded knowingly.
“Alright” intoned General Zail “we all have our orders. Operation Victory Banner starts in twelve hours.”
Near the undefined border between the UAE and Al-Ahzad
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/linkwerk/Leclerc_12.jpg
The 11th ACR masses to support Operation Victory Banner
Colonel Fakhri read the screens of the FINDERS battle-management system in his Leclerc tank one last time. 4,500 men, 115 modern main battle tanks (god willing, they would stand up against the fearsome British-made MBT’s of the Emirates, if it came to that) and two 300-man battalions of mechanized infantry. All at his fingertips, and all waiting for his order. Colonel Fakhri listened over the radio for the heavily Arabic-accented Ahzadi that would set the combined Bedouin-Armor force (over 8,000 men) rolling.
The radio hissed, the Bedouin scouting elements reported in: “This is patrol Kilo Seven, we are taking mortar fire from probable Royalist forces, are moving in pursuit. They are retreating in the direction of Uum az Zumul. ”
Colonel Fakhri opened the hatch of his LeClerc and looked out for a moment at the desert surrounding him: it was a sea of Ahzadi tanks and IFV’s, all French-built LeClercs and AMX-10P‘s, as well as the long-range desert patrol jeeps and land rovers of the Bedouin light infantry, laden down with water and gasoline, as well as with fierce Republican-loyal, Ahzadi-trained Al-Suluf tribesmen in uniform, itching to put their M-14’s into use against the Al-Waloud. Behind him were the contrails of circling Ahzadi Air Force jets- Mirage 2000’s and F-4 Phantoms- ready to swoop over the UAE at the slightest provocation.
Colonel Fakhri spoke into his headset: “Operation Victory Banner, commence!
The jeep sat on the crest of the dune, water boiling out of it’s punctured radiator before dropping to the sand below to sizzle and boil away. One of the Al-Suluf soldiers, in a gesture as determined as it was futile, was still manning the .50 caliber mounted in the jeep’s bed, firing short bursts in the direction of the rapidly-shrinking dust cloud that marked the fleeing Al-Waloud warriors.
In the shade of the disabled jeep, Sheikh Hassan Al-Suluf put away his binoculars and heard the radio promise the arrival (in 30 minutes) of 3 commando battalion. He picked up the handset and retracted his request.
“Grandfather, they’re getting away! We’ve still got three good jeeps as well as the armored car with us right now! We can chase them!”
The Sheikh’s grandson was, he reflected, a very willful boy. A mere 15, he carried an M-16 slung over his back- he wasn’t big enough to handle the M-14’s that equipped most of the Ahzadi Bedouin Legion- and wore the khaki BDU’s, aviator sunglasses, and checkered keffiyeh that was de rigeur for ABL officers.
“My grandson, your heart is in the right place.” Sheikh Al-Suluf rose, brushing sand off of his uniform “but you must consider factors beyond our immediate situation” with his one good eye, the Sheikh looked upwards, and pointed to the pair of contrails streaking across the northern part of the massive blue sky. “Do you see those, boy?” the Bedouin king then turned and pointed again to the south-western horizon- towards what was more firmly considered Al-Ahzad- and the pair of contrails that were circling in the distance “and do you see those?”
“The farmers, grandson, they so love their maps, and their lines across the sand. But right here, where we stand? There is no line. But there is a general sense of where is Al-Ahzad and where is the Emirates, and sadly, grandson, those Al-Waloud have made it close to the well at Uum az Zumul. If we chase them further, we will have to answer to that” the Sheikh nodded towards the contrails the Emirates fighter jets left.
“So we simply have to wait for them to strike at us again? That’s not fair!” The boy was indignant.
The sound of helicopters grew in the distance, and a cluster of tiny dots on the horizon was getting bigger. “The Al-Waloud, grandson, would probably insist that those are not fair.”
3 Commando Battalion
“Yeah! I nailed you, you camel-jockey motherfucker!” The door gunner pumped his fist in the air for a moment before gripping his M60 to send yet another burst out the French-built helicopters door. Another one of the Al-Waloud stragglers fell out of his saddle, the rider and camel riddled with bullet holes. The helicopter formation swung around, calling off their pursuit as warning came over the radio that they were getting just a bit too close to what was arguably UAE territory to keep up the chase. The Puma helicopters pulled backwards, flaring out for landing, and the commandoes jumped out to assist the Bedouin Legion troops with their disabled vehicles.
The door gunner spat in disgust. The elite troops were reduced once again to mechanics and medics for the Al-Suluf Bedouin forces. Once again the Royalists had slipped away into the desert.
The Dofar
President Ismet Massad peered through his binoculars at the flat, semi sandy desert before him. On it, parachutes were crumpling as the last men of the 2nd brigade of the 10th Airborne Division ended their jump. As the last A-400 transports droned overhead, the Ahzadi paratroopers were- very, very slowly- organizing themselves into fighting formations. Still, Massad reasoned, it was going well- nobody had died, and all the units had landed within two kilometers of their drop zones. Not bad for such a young airborne force. Still, Massad was not nearly as pleased as he should have been with this display of newly-found military prowess.
“Hikmet” Massad spoke quietly to the portly, ancient minister-without-portfolio that was the second most powerful man in Al-Ahzad “I can’t tolerate Wazzef Al-Waloud any longer.” After a moment of silence filled with the shouts of paratrooper NCO’s screaming at their units to conduct the exercise with a little more dignity, Hikmet Bektasi responded.
“I understand , Sir, but his men are either inside the UAE or too close to the border for us to intervene in force without making the Emirates……very nervous, sir. That said, I do know where you are going with this. You’re the military man- will it work?”
Massad lowered his binoculars. At that moment, a pair of A-4 skyhawks darted overhead, laying down rocket fire as called in by the paratroopers. The exercise continued, although coming after the main Destined Glory operations it was more for the cameras- which were there in great number- than for anything else.
“Hell, Hikmet- I threw this country into debt to get that military. It’d be a damned shame if we didn’t use it”
The Skyhawk’s rockets sounded like the worlds biggest firecrackers as they slammed into the dusty practice range.
“The middle east needs to know, and the world needs to know, that Al-Ahzad is not weak any longer. I am going to send the Ahzadi Bedouin Legion into the emirates, go to the Al-Waloud camps, and crush them.”
Headquaters, Eastern Military Command
General Arjun Zail spoke with a tense certainty to the room of Generals and Colonels. Meeting in the bunker outside of Muscat were the leaders of all major units to be involved in the operation. It was an odd scene- Hassan Al-Suluf, the Republican-backed Bedouin commander sat to one side, glancing with his one good eye (the other was taken by a UAE attack helicopter during the revolution) towards the map behind General Zail. To the other side sat the commander of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment.
General Zail- hailing from an old line of Ahzadi Sikhs- drew himself up before the high-ranking audience.
“In essence, this operation will not be any different from the ongoing counter-insurgency efforts. It will differ only in two key areas; firstly, we will not let borders stop us. The next raid the Al-Waloud royalists make will be chased across the frontier area by the full strength of the Bedouin Legion. Secondly, size; this operation will involve all regular Al-Suluf forces, courtesy of Sheikh Hassan. That’s roughly 2,000 motorized, desert-capable light infantry. To deter conventional UAE forces from interfering, and to engage them if they make the mistake of attempting to stop our efforts, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment will be backing up the Bedouin troops. 1 Commando Battalion will also be on-call and heli-mobile. II Corps aviation brigade is also providing attack helicopter support in the form of the 5th Helicopter battalion; that’s two dozen super cobras.”
On queue, the Air Force commander in charge of the north-eastern sector spoke.
“This operation will initially take place within the Aster-30 umbrella of the Muscat-Sur regional defense area. Beyond the initial border, however, it will be up to the VLS Mica batteries of 11th ACR to provide SAM cover. Now, we have moved up squadrons from the Raysuz area to dispersal airfields around Muscat. If Emirates air forces decide to intervene, we will be able to launch Operation Eagle, the details of which I am sure you all know. Word has come down from Raysuz that we will not be the first to use fixed-wing aircraft in this conflict, although if it escalates to that, we are more than capable of backing up the ground forces and securing the airspace over the south-eastern UAE desert.”
The men in the room nodded knowingly.
“Alright” intoned General Zail “we all have our orders. Operation Victory Banner starts in twelve hours.”
Near the undefined border between the UAE and Al-Ahzad
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v251/linkwerk/Leclerc_12.jpg
The 11th ACR masses to support Operation Victory Banner
Colonel Fakhri read the screens of the FINDERS battle-management system in his Leclerc tank one last time. 4,500 men, 115 modern main battle tanks (god willing, they would stand up against the fearsome British-made MBT’s of the Emirates, if it came to that) and two 300-man battalions of mechanized infantry. All at his fingertips, and all waiting for his order. Colonel Fakhri listened over the radio for the heavily Arabic-accented Ahzadi that would set the combined Bedouin-Armor force (over 8,000 men) rolling.
The radio hissed, the Bedouin scouting elements reported in: “This is patrol Kilo Seven, we are taking mortar fire from probable Royalist forces, are moving in pursuit. They are retreating in the direction of Uum az Zumul. ”
Colonel Fakhri opened the hatch of his LeClerc and looked out for a moment at the desert surrounding him: it was a sea of Ahzadi tanks and IFV’s, all French-built LeClercs and AMX-10P‘s, as well as the long-range desert patrol jeeps and land rovers of the Bedouin light infantry, laden down with water and gasoline, as well as with fierce Republican-loyal, Ahzadi-trained Al-Suluf tribesmen in uniform, itching to put their M-14’s into use against the Al-Waloud. Behind him were the contrails of circling Ahzadi Air Force jets- Mirage 2000’s and F-4 Phantoms- ready to swoop over the UAE at the slightest provocation.
Colonel Fakhri spoke into his headset: “Operation Victory Banner, commence!