NationStates Jolt Archive

Operation: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring


Along the territory of Vologda, a part of the Bjornoyan Protectorate in northern Russia and in ancient times a part of the then Empire of Cotland, vast formations of troops had assembled silently over the past week, with more troops arriving daily. Self-propelled artillery and multiple launch rocket systems was lining up along the southern border, and tanks and other armored vehicles were assembled in battalion formations in the battalion areas. The majority of the Cottish 10. Armé and elements of the 1. Armé and the 8. Armé were also in the area of operations. For the moment, they were well into the Cottish territory, engines powered off and quiet, protected by the extensive air defense blanket that covered the southern territories of the Bjornoyan Protectorate. Still, the barrels of the combat vehicles were facing southwards as the sentries continued their watches in the cold winter night.

In the air however, large formations of aircraft were in the air, most of them stealthy craft that eluded the RADAR, giving no sign of their presence as they continued in their holding patterns, waiting. Literarily hundreds of fighters and bombers were in the air, waiting for the clock to tick down, waiting for the go-ahead from the E-3/A Bataleur airborne early warning, command and control aircraft. Phase two of Operation: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring would begin in less than an hour, following the completion of phase one.

Operation: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring had been a plan drawn up over the past year as more nationalistic tendencies started to emerge in the Cottish people. Old documents relating back to the fall of the Empire and rise of the Realm as it was today were starting to be declassified, and people were starting to demand that the territories that had once been among the most important in one of the world's greatest Empires had to be returned to the fatherland. So, the Defense Ministry had been tasked by the Storting to secretly draw up a plan to secure some 120,000 square kilometers of the old fatherland. The decision had falled upon the territories of Yaroslavl, Kostroma and Ivanovo, territories currently occupied by the United Soviet Republics, a state with so clear socialistic tendencies that the vast majority of the people would have no problem with going to war with. The USR had occupied the territories relatively recently after the fall of the original Russian Federation, a nation that had reemerged recently and started to make its own intentions of reclaiming what it concieved as its fatherland very clear. Anyway, an official statement demanding the end of the USR occupation had been issued a week prior and met with outright denial from the USR leadership. Thus, as they had been unwilling to even discuss the return of the occupied territories to Cotland, the only option that remained for the Cots was war, and thus the implementation of Warplan: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring, now known as Operation: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring.

Phase one of that warplan was to be started by the co-ordinated strike against all USR command and control structures, units and facilities in the area of operations, against all USR airpower and ground formations, and against the military infrastructure. For that purpose, the planners of Operation: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring had decided to go with a sure thing, namely the venerable, aging but still extremely effective and undefeatable BGM.6 Imsdal hypersonic strike cruise missile. With the ability of being transported to the launch site by submarine, aircraft, ship or ground launcher, and with a range of more than 1,600 kilometers, the Imsdal was capable of bringing either an extremely heavy advanced penetrating warhead, thermite plasma, submunitions, or even a tactical nuclear warhead to the target at a terminal speed of more than Mach 7, or 8,353 kilometers per hour, at a steep angle, making it nearly impossible for even the world's most advanced surface to air missiles and other point defense weaponry to take it out - something which could be hard in the beginning thanks to the low RADAR cross-section (RCS) the missile had, making it more difficult to see on RADAR. Add to the warhead it transported the kinetic energy of an object with a mass of more than 1.67 tons hitting a static object at Mach 7, and you had a sure recipe for destruction. Sadly for the USR, that was exactly what was to happen to it in a few moments.

In the icy cold White Sea, two submarines of the Havoc-I class had emerged to the launch depth of nineteen meters and gotten into position before they at 02.00 AM began the launch sequence. Each of the submarines carried a total of 168 Imsdal missiles, and with these two firing off their complement, the 336 Imsdal missiles joined the 3,456 Imsdals that would be fired from the heavy B-43/C Incubus strategic bombers of the 3. Air Group's 1., 2., and 3. Bomb Wings (Heavy). That gave for a total of 3,792 BGM.6 Imsdal cruise missiles heading towards the USR targets. Most of the missiles were heading for command and control facilities, primarily but not limited to RADARs, command centres, communications hubs, air defense centres, satellite uplinks (though those weren't very useful after the Spizanian destruction of the world's satellite network) and command bunkers. Quite a few missiles were going to strike the USR bases in teh area as well, with the primary focus on air bases where first, Imsdal-Bs armed with thermite plasma would engulf the tarmacs and buildings with 5,000 degree Centigrade burning thermite plasma, which would destroy anything in the open and set ablaze anything that could burn, followed shortly thereafter by Imsdal-As which would crack open massive holes in the runways, rendering them useless for aircraft and thus unusable. Known USR Army, Corps, Division and Brigade-level command centres were also targetted, as were USR armored formations and infantry formations, which were targetted by a number of the Imsdal-C missiles, each of which was armed with a total of 58,825 10mm depleted uranium spheres designed to cut through infantry and armor like a warm knife in butter. Thermite plasma-armed Imsdal-Bs were also targetting these formations and command centres. Lastly, the infrastructure was targetted. Needed to quickly transport reinforcements, highways, railroads, airports and roads were targetted by powerful Imsdal-A missiles, sending a 544-kilogram Advanced Unitary Penetrator as it was known as - basically just 544 kilos of shaped high explosive - in to slow down any reinforcements the USR might send Cotland's way. Additionally, power plants, dams and anything else that could help the USR military was targetted in this the first of what was to be many strikes made by the Cots, mostly consisting of the nearly invincible Imsdal missile. All targets were located in Yaroslavl, Ivanovo and Kostroma.

Immediately after the Imsdals crossed over into USR territory, that was the signal for the Cots to start the operation. Hundreds of F-25/A Typhoon advanced air superiority fighters broke formation and started heading towards the USR, firing extreme-range AIM.11/B Dødsengel advanced air to air missiles against the USR aircraft in the skies. Following immediately behind them were F-23/A Super Falcons equipped for SEAD duty, carrying AGM.23/A AARGM anti-radiation missiles for taking out any SAM site or air defense RADAR the Imsdals hadn't taken out yet. Along with the Super Falcons, B-40/A Grevling tactical bombers also moved along, laden with bombs and AGM.5/A AMESM missiles for taking out ground targets. The Cots were starting an air campaign to soften up the enemy forces before the main ground force started its advance. The air campaign went in tandem with the insertion of special operations forces, which would conduct recon and strike attacks against high-priority enemy targets, making it easier when the main force arrived. With more than six hundred operators from HSK being deployed, the Cottish warplan, designated Operation: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring, had begun.

It was obvious from the start that the cots had already had something planned for taking the territories by force and so the USR had begun a massive defense campaign in the three territories that were the suspected invasion point. SAM sites were being set up across the lands only miles from each other to make sure enemy aircraft would have one hell of a time taking the skies. USR Mig-29's might not have been the best out there but the pilots knew what they were doing and along with an extensive training program they were expected to be the better fighters. No enemy bomber would make it in but the long ranged missiles were an unexpected move as they trusted Cotland to not bombard locations that would be important to capture rather destroy.

The missiles would have no trouble hitting targets except for the lack of satellites communication to locate and target the missiles on USR positions. They expected a low 25% hit rate among the missiles but were cautious enough to begin deploying anti-missile defenses in the form of very responsive SAM sites. Armored divisions began to mobilize toward the border to engage ground invasions and they were supported by the 1st-3rd infantry divisions. The northern border was already starting to become covered in anti-tank ditches and trenches as this was going to be a defensive war for the beginning.

Rival missile launchers from the USR began to repeat Cotlands actions. Though not with the most effective missile the AGM-86C was fired from the air by the 276 bomber jets deployed to that area. The missiles would hit near the border targets mainly being the Cottish units and armored battalions. They expected a similar hit rate as that from the cottish missiles but with their targets being so close and targeted from the sky the rate was boosted to 45%.

As armored units and ground infantry moved into position to gaurd their motherland air units such as the Crimson Legionnaires (USR Special Forces) and the entire ground unit of Soviet Guerillas moved toward crossing the borders. The Guerillas would move into the cottish territory of Vologda and enter to whipe forces with guerilla tactics like attack and retreat maneuvers then blend into the civilian populace. The cottish armies only chance was to wipe the guerilla assault before it began but that would be hard as the Crimson Legionnaires would move silently after being paradropped five miles from the border, the transport planes would be covered by 75 MiG-29's while the remaining 342 run on constant alert searching for the enemy planes.

When the Crimson Legionnaires move through the border they will proceede to sabotage the border defenses to allow the defending 1st army to become the attacking 1st.

This would be the first chance the USR would show its power as a new nation and it was not about to be defeated by the likes of the realm. Vitaly Kurstrovitz stood before a large Military Audience all in strait lines and uniformed position. They saluted their great leader as he stood before them on the podium and began to speak to them and the television camera's.

"Tonight it has become clear that the Cottish Realm would not let down on its ultimatum and attacks are expected to follow. People of the republics we are being threatened, this is no liberation this is occupation. If the Cottish forces win you will be treated like dogs as the Cottish people should be treated. Being from cotland does not make you cottish, accepting cottish policies makes you a cottish. Soviet cots, do not let your fatherland deceive you, you are children of the motherland now. Draw arms and fight for her as she is the most trusted and loved among you. Do not fear though, we have already given our blood to the motherland, we have given our children and brothers our fathers to our mother and she will repay us in this time. As we have sacrificed for our mother so to shall the children of this fatherland. The realm's children will die and they will pay in their blood. It will be their children, husbands and brothers that die on the fields NOT OURS!!!."

Vitaly smashed his fist into the podium and released to a cheering crowd yelling their pledges to die for the motherland.

"Cotland will pay for any acts of aggression on our soil, they will pay in blood."

The soviet army cheered louder with more praises toward his great leadership of Kurstrovitz and toward the motherland which they would die for rather then surrender. This spirit was shared throughout the nation as the population of the USR watched from their televisions and listened on the radio to Kustrovitz's speech. Flags begun to wave outside every house, those of people of cotland also waved the soviet flag to prove they were no longer loyal to the traitorous fatherland. Anti-war movements were met with beatings and unpatriotic people ended up murdered in the streets. No one would dare challenge this war and all the televisions praised was the might of the USR military and how every child's duty was to enlist and fight. They spared no time in gathering a defense force and once training with the new recruits which came in the thousands, it was expected that Cotland would be overwhelmed.

As the battle's were estimated to begin in the skies the Air to Ground ballitic style missiles ejected off the planes and toward enemy battalion positions emitting a small burst of light in the skies from all over the border. A war in russia had broken out and it was expected to be very bloody.

The Dødsengel missiles fired against the USR MiG-29s had an effective range of some 300 kilometers, more than enough to engage and destroy the MiG-29s, which had such a high RCS that the integration of the Anti-Stealth System wasn't really needed, but used nevertheless. With a 98 % success rate, the Dødsengel would loft from the firing position to 35,000 meters and cruise at that altitude at a speed of Mach 4, constantly getting accurate guidance from both the mother aircraft, the AWACS aircraft in the area, or from its own Mk.202/D guidance system. As the missile would close in on its target, it would start to dive at its target, increasing speed to the terminal velocity of Mach 4.8, being guided by the Mk.202/D and manouvered through the thrust-vectoring system. The beautiful thing about the Dødsengel was that it didn't leave the characteristic stripe of smoke after it thanks to the Layartebian-produced gel fuel that powered the missile. It would help allow the Dødsengel to sneak up on its target and close in, eventually destroying the target with its 22.67 kilogram blast-fragmentation warhead. Litterarily hundreds of these missiles had been fired by the F-25/A Typhoon advanced air superiority fighters, which moved in for a closer kill with the AIM.14/A BVRAAM medium-range missiles.

The BVRAAM was another fine weapon in the service of the Realm, being a heavily modified and improved Meteor BVRAAM, sporting a heavier blast-fragmentation warhead of 35 kilograms and travelling at a whooping Mach 4.9, giving it the same success rate of the Dødsengel, namely 98 % successful. The expense for this improved killing capability was range, as the BVRAAM only had an effective range of some 178 kilometers. It was sufficient to score relatively long-range kills though, as the missile would loft to 32,000 meters upon being fired from its mother aircraft, getting guidance from the mother aircraft, the AWACS in the area, or its own Mk.202/B guidance system. It would when it reached the target begin a steep dive on the target, being given constant course corrections thanks to the wing surfaces and thrust vectoring system, which along with a max G-force capability of 80 positive G forces made it a highly manouverable weapon.

The Typhoons, massive beasts of death and destruction closed on the enemy MiGs at Mach 1.8, using their supercruise feature to conserve fuel, at an altitude of 26,700 meters, and used the guidance from the AWACS to guide them in to the nearest MiGs, keeping their own CAM-3/A avionics and electronics suites in passive mode to avoid alerting the enemy aircraft to their exact presence, maintaining the low radar observability. With a RADAR signature similar to the venerable F-22 Raptor air superiority fighter when not having external stores - which the aircraft didn't have, the Typhoons closed quickly and stealthily on the enemy before they were within BVRAAM range and let loose their arsenal. With 240 Typhoons in the air, and each having started the war with stores of four AIM.11/B Dødsengels, six AIM.14/A BVRAAMs and four AIM.15/A IRIS-T short-range missiles, giving a total of 960 Dødsengels (already fired at the enemy aircraft in the air at the time), 1,440 BVRAAMs and 960 IRIS-Ts available for deploying into the war, along with the M300A1 27mm revolver cannon with 750 rounds ready in the nose of each aircraft. The Typhoons released a total of two BVRAAMs per enemy aircraft, making for a crapload of missiles in the air, flying towards the enemy aircraft. To counter the threat of SAMs, flares and chaff was being released constantly to fool the missiles, which would most likely go after the far more tempting flares and chaff bundles rather than the stealthy aircraft, hopefully letting the Cots avoid the SAMs for long enough to let the Super Falcons that were following shortly after the Typhoons to fire off a couple of AARGM anti-radiation missiles towards the SAM RADARs, taking them out of commission and significantly reducing the threat of the enemy SAM capabilities.

From what the air search of the powerful airborne E-3/A Bataleur AEWCC aircraft told the Cots, some 417 enemy MiG-29s were in the air along with 276 bombers. That made for a total of six hundred and ninety-three targets. The Cots expected that the bulk of the USR air force in this region was in the air now. With the aircraft of the RCAF's 3. Air Group, the fourteen of twenty-one fighter wings engaged in this operation, giving for a total of 1,260 fighter aircraft of various types in the operation with an additional 630 in immediate reserve, and an additional 1,170 fighters capable of being in the area of operations within a few hours, the Cots didn't worry all that much. What did worry them though was when the RADAR operators in one of the E-3/A Bataleurs picked up small objects moving at high subsonic speeds towards Cotland. Directing some of the ground-based and extremely powerful Mjølner II Inverse Synthetic Aperture Radars (ISAR) to take a closer look, the identity of the objects were confirmed. The altitude, speed and directions all seemed to indicate one thing, and the 3D-generated picture the ISARs provided led to one conclusion: the AGM-86, a type of missile that had once been in the Cottish arsenal but that had been decommissioned as newer and better missiles became available.

There could be three different types of warheads the missiles carried. Either, a tactical nuclear weapon - if this was the case, then the Realm would retaliate in kind as the Rothsky doctrine of a few months ago, when someone responsible for Spizania's nuclear arsenal had gotten trigger happy, had established - of the B version. It could also be conventional, and then either a blast-fragmentation or a penetrator warhead, the C and D versions respectively. Either way, it was a threat and needed to be engaged.

The Cottish divisions all had integrated air defense capabilites in the form of short-range MIM.42/A Valkyrie air defense missiles with a range of fifteen kilometers, a speed of Mach 2.7 and a Mk.215/A guidance system enabling it to use Imaging Infrared to engage the target; and the larger and more capable MIM.38/A Sverd air defense missile. Carrying a massive blast-fragmentation warhead with a intercept speed of Mach 5.5 and specifically designed to counter aircraft and supersonic cruise missiles, engaging subsonic missiles would be little problem for the Sverd batteries of the Cottish divisions, who formed the second line of defense, with the RCAF's own Sverd batteries consisting the third and the F-20/A Enforcer multirole fighters consisting of the first.

As the missiles had been detected and identified, the Bateleurs immediately scrambled any fighter in the area to attempt an intercept. For the fast Enforcers, reaching the area was no problem, nor was getting a good target on the hot exhausts of the CALCM's turbofan engine for the AIM.15/A IRIS-Ts. Once they had a lock, the IRIS-Ts flew quickly and directly towards the enemy missiles, homing in on their hot exhausts. With the CALCMs not being designed or programmed to take evasive and erratic manouvers, it was easy killings. Unfortunately, the Cots didn't have enough IRIS-Ts to take down all of them, so the Enforcers broke off after having fired their IRIS-Ts and left the rest to the Sverd batteries. Quite a few more were shot down, but unfortunately some missiles made it through and detonated, killing a number of Cottish soldiers in the open and wounding more.

The air war wasn't over though, as the ISARs had detected a formation of enemy aircraft moving towards the Cottish positions. Orders were piped through to the long-range air defense sites, and soon after, extreme-range MIM.32/A Replicator missiles were fired from their M37A1 Transport-Erector Launchers. The missiles, two per what was either bombers or transports, lofted to almost 27,500 meters and cruised towards their targets at Mach 7, moving quickly and silently in the midst of night. As it came closer, the missiles dove on their targets, picking up speed to a whooping Mach 8, arming its 136 kilogram blast-fragmentation warhead and backup Hit-to-Kill kinetic energy warhead. The missiles had a 92 % success rate each, but with several missiles per target, the probability of a kill was greatly increased.

UAVs of the types Q-37 Mariner, Q-38 Shadow and Q-39 Pegasus were also in the air, silently piping images of the enemy fortifications down to the commanders on the ground. Deciding to take the opportunity and not let the element of surprise be totally lost, the ground commanders gave the artillery orders to begin the softening of enemy defenses within their range. With the 155 millimeter ETC cannons, the litteratily thousands of M52A2 Haubits self-propelled howitzers began firing their deadly shells towards the enemy positions, being assisted by the less numerous but equally deadly M54A2 Boar MLRS vehicles, each armed with thirty 250 millimeter rockets laden with explosive submunitions. They complemented the many air to ground missiles fired by the Enforcers and A-28/C Hammer ground attack aircraft, and the second strike of Imsdal missiles against mostly the same targets as the first missiles, but with an increased emphasis on the enemy air bases and air defense sites.

While this was going on, low-flying and fast B-40/A Grevling tactical bombers were flying over the border and towards USR command posts - identified through the use of ELINT aircraft and spies among the loyal Cots still present inside the USR - laden with GPS-guided JDAM bombs. They intended to bombard the command posts, in short preforming a decapitating strike to render the enemy confused and without leadership. They were escorted by a pair of EF-20/D Enforcer electronic warfare aircraft which jammed all enemy frequencies and enemy RADAR that they could.

Meanwhile, Cottish special forces were also being deployed into the area, dropping out from low-flying and stealthy helicopters and aircraft. The men of Hærens Spesialkommando, or HSK for short, were all extremely well trained and equipped, all of them being professionals with years of experience before joining the special forces. Now, they were moving inside the country, set on causing confusion and capturing or destroying high-value targets such as bridges, command posts, et cetera. They carried suppressed weapons, supplies to last them until the main force arrived, and had the skills to easily defeat an enemy force ten times the size of the twelve-man teams they operated in.

Other special forces were deployed along the border, scouting out the enemy border defenses when one team detected someone moving towards the border, which was clearly marked with two large electrified chainlink fences with a anti-vehicle ditch on either side, a small minefield on either side, and small, undetectable motion sensors that would alert the closest checkpoint of a possible intrution, warranting an armed investigaton by the heavily armed paramilitary border police. In this case however, a Cottish team from HSK detected someone, and since they weren't told of any friendlies approaching the border from the wrong side tonight, they carried out their standing orders. The team sniper trained his silenced L108A1 Sniper Rifle at the person closest to the border obstacles and pulled the trigger, sending a highly accurate 8.6x70mm round silently towards the target 584 meter away, quickly ejecting the spent casing and slamming another round into the chamber before training his rifle on the next person in the line and engaging him. The first ground engagement of Operation: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring had begun.

[OOC: Nero, got some numbers on casualties? Also, the size and disposition of your forces would be nice. I'll get my ORBAT up after dinner.]

OOC: I'll replace this with an IC reply tomorrow (Dont have enough time to get a full IC post in without leaving information out) For the casualties, I see im loosing alot of pilots and aircraft but for the ground units only the casualties of USR divisions will be recorded as the Soviet Guerilla fighters arn't exactly our priority. Numbers of SG fighters will be placed in my repot of size and such of troops. I must say though, for a spearhead attack this was rather excessive. Anyway, just hold on it'll be up soon)

Operation: Rettferdig Tilbakeføring

Goal: The capture and occupation of the USR-occupied

territories of Ivanovo, Kostroma and Yaroslavl


Ground Forces

30. Korps, 10. Armé (RCA)
91. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men
92. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men
93. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men
27. Kampingeniørbrigade: 2,736 men

31. Korps, 10. Armé (RCA)
94. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men
95. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men
96. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men
28. Kampingeniørbrigade: 2,736 men

32. Korps, 10. Armé (RCA)
97. Panserdivisjon: 8,496 men
98. Panserdivisjon: 8,496 men
99. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men

24. Korps, 8. Armé (RCA)
84. Fallskjermdivisjon: 11,922 men
85. Fallskjermdivisjon: 11,922 men

2. Korps, 1. Armé (RCA)
5. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men
6. Infanteridivisjon: 12,912 men
7. Panserdivisjon: 8,496 men
8. Panserdivisjon: 8,496 men
2. Kampingeniørbrigade: 2,736 men

11. HV-Armé, (RCHG) [Territorial Defense]
41. HV-Korps: 86,824 men
42. HV-Korps: 86,824 men
43. HV-Korps: 86,824 men
44. HV-Korps: 86,826 men

12. HV-Armé, (RCHG) [Territorial Defense]
45. HV-Korps: 86,824 men
46. HV-Korps: 86,824 men
47. HV-Korps: 86,824 men
48. HV-Korps: 86,826 men

Vehicles Panserdivisjon
M51A2 Sabertooth MBT: 432
M52A2 Haubits ART: 288
M54A2 Boar MLRS ART: 144
M55A1 Rescuer MEV: 24
M55A2 Rescuer MEV: 12
M58A1 Resupply RSV: 288
M64A2 Shadow MEV: 18
M66A1 Skjold AT: 288
M67 HEMTT: 342
M68 MTV: 456
H-10/B Stalker: 72
H-11/A Reaper: 36
H-25/A Super Huey: 24
V-51/A Bulldog: 48

Vehicles Infanteridivisjon
M52A2 Haubits ART: 288
M54A2 Boar MLRS ART: 144
M55A1 Rescuer MEV: 24
M58A1 Resupply RSV: 288
M64A2 Shadow MEV: 18
M66A1 Skjold AT: 144
M67 HEMTT: 432
M68 MTV: 456
M70A1 Dragoon IFV: 612
M70A3 Dragoon C4I: 12
H-10/B Stalker: 72
H-11/A Reaper: 36
H-25/A Super Huey: 24
V-51/A Bulldog: 48

Vehicles Fallskjermdivisjon
M64A1 Shadow LMV: 432
M65A1 Arrow APC: 720
M65A2 Arrow C4I: 24
M68 MTV: 102
M71A1 LW155 ART: 48
M72A1 Namtaru LBT: 48

Vehicles Kampingeniørbrigade
M19A2 Brobygger AVBL: 24
M20A2 Samaritan ARV: 72
M22A1 Deployer MDV: 24
M22A2 Deployer MCV: 48
M24A1 Grizzly II BV: 48
M57A1 Bulldozer ACE: 72
M50A5 Invader CEV: 96
M67 HEMTT: 96
M68 MTV: 120


Aerial Forces

3. Air Group

Fighters
23. Fighter Wing (Interceptor): 180 pilots
28. Fighter Wing (Multirole): 90 pilots
29. Fighter Wing (Multirole): 90 pilots
30. Fighter Wing (Multirole): 90 pilots
31. Fighter Wing (Multirole): 90 pilots
32. Fighter Wing (Multirole): 90 pilots
33. Fighter Wing (Multirole): 90 pilots
34. Fighter Wing (Multirole): 90 pilots
35. Fighter Wing (Multirole): 90 pilots
36. Fighter Wing (Interceptor): 180 pilots
37. Fighter Wing (Interceptor): 180 pilots
38. Fighter Wing (Interceptor): 180 pilots
39. Fighter Wing (Interceptor): 180 pilots
40. Fighter Wing (Tactical): 114 pilots
Close Air Support
5. Ground Attack Wing: 168 pilots
6. Ground Attack Wing: 168 pilots
7. Ground Attack Wing: 168 pilots
8. Ground Attack Wing: 168 pilots
Bombers
1. Bomb Wing (Heavy): 240 pilots
2. Bomb Wing (Heavy): 240 pilots
3. Bomb Wing (Heavy): 240 pilots
4. Bomb Wing (Tactical): 96 pilots
5. Bomb Wing (Tactical): 96 pilots
Airborne Command & Control
6. Air Control Wing: 56 pilots
7. Air Control Wing: 56 pilots
8. Air Control Wing: 56 pilots
Logistics
10. Logistics Wing (Tactical): 432 pilots
11. Logistics Wing (Strategic): 396 pilots
12. Logistics Wing (Tactical): 432 pilots
13. Logistics Wing (Strategic): 396 pilots
14. Logistics Wing (Tanker): 360 pilots
Electronic Warfare
6. Electronic Warfare Wing: 116 pilots
7. Electronic Warfare Wing: 116 pilots

3. Air Group Aircraft
A-28/C Hammer: 144
A-64/A Slegge: 32
B-40/A Grevling: 96
B-43/C Incubus*: 144
C-11/B Super Globemaster: 72
C-12/J Super Hercules: 96
C-15/A Kondor: 72
E-3/A Bataleur: 9
E-17/B Gulfstream: 14
EF-20/E Enforcer: 16
EP-34/C Super Aries: 8
F-20/A Enforcer: 720
F-23/A Super Falcon: 60
F-23/B Super Falcon: 30
F-25/A Typhoon: 450
K-11/A Robin: 72
V-50/C Coba: 96


Special Operations Forces

Hærens Spesialkommando (HSK)
Elements of 4. Special Forces Group: 540
Elements of 5. Special Forces Group: 720

Marinens Spesialkommando (MSK)
Elements of 1. Special Forces Group: 480

Luftvåpenets Spesialkommando (LSK)
Elements of 20. Special Forces Group: 192
Elements of 21. Special Forces Group: 424

Special Forces Aircraft
MC-12/K Combat Talon III: 24
MC-12/L Combat Shadow II: 12
H-42/A Pave Low V: 32
H-45/A Explorer: 80

Special Forces Vehicles
M64A4 Shadow SFV: 185
M73A1 Light Strike Vehicle LSV: 75

to be continued...

The resistance of Cottish Invasion

"Every man must fight for the USR, whether with gun, blade or hands he must fight. Cotland will not take our country without knowing our countries spirit." - Gen. Igor Ruska of the 1st Soviet Marine Corps. (Official Name yet to be stamped out, using the Marines as a comparison to what they are)

These numbers are subject to change, everything listed here are the current numbers to resist cottish occupation. It is evident now more then ever that Cotland will be using mass air raids to gain control over the skies, something we must not let happen. A request has been filed for anti-air weaponry and extra air support though fighter and bomber resources are being eaten up with the loss of half the fighting force and all but seventeen bombers during the initial strike.

- ORBAT to come - (I have my BF2142 tournament game tonight, im sorry but I forgot about that. This will be another reserved spot but i'll get casualties so its not a waste of space.)

Initial Strike Report
1st Army Division 1 (1st Infanty Division): 321 KIA, 83 Wounded
The Republic Air Defense Force: 253 MiG-29's downed, pilots kills unknown.
Missiles had been fired from 187 of the 276 bombers, 60-70 Missiles confirmed to have exploded on impact (Impact of what is unknowen and specifics about location of engagment unkown)
17 bombers left, remaining amout have been shot down or location lost. Pilots are assumed MIA until confirmed.
The Crimson Legionaries have confirmed small engagements throughout the border and a report of enemy invasions has been filed. The 1st army will be responding to this with daily and nightly patrols of the designated locations. It is expected that special forces would be used on both sides and so no surprise that Cotland would be deploying forces in this the initial strike to either report locations of our armed forces or to sabotage these locations. Hundreds of SG forces have closed into the border.
Soviet Guerilla forces will provide the cover for the Crimson Legionaries to begin the assault with a more professional attitude. An expected amount of 4,300 SG's will provide the assault diversion and a reinforced 1,200 will drag the fight on. SAM sites will be aimed toward the skies to provide safety for the SG attack.

Confirmed SAM sites destroyed (52 combined in Kostroma and Yaroslavl)
SAM sites intact and undercover (142 in Kostroma) (132 in Yaroslavl')
SAM sites in Ivanovo (120)

Confirmed enemy missile impact (430 enemy missiles have impacted in our territories, 17 military instillations have been impacted, 230 recorded to have been directed either off track on false location information for other means and have impacted the ground, remaining reported to have impacted civilians locations and along the trench lines of the 1st army. Casualties are still be counted)

The Emperor looked at the Ministry of Intelligence briefing on the situation in Russia. "So the Cottish have moved against their former territories in Ivanovo, Kostroma, and Yaroslavl. Courageous but let's hope it doesn't turn out like the Spizanian war and lead to nuclear exchanges. Perhaps we ought to get a message to the world."

"I agree sir. I have one drafted at the moment." The Minister of Foreign Affairs said over the video conference, which had just him and the ministers of defense, intelligence, and the interior.

"Let's hear it then."

"To all nations of the world. The Empire is fully aware of the situation in Russia concerning the war between the Realm of Cotland and the United Soviet Republics. We hereby stand as we did with the Spizanian war in total neutrality. We wish not to aide or get involved with either side; however, should the use of nuclear weapons occur, as they did with the Spizanian war, we will be forced to forgo that neutrality and become involved."

"Sounds fine. Get it out to the world, especially to both the USR and the Realm. What else do we have?"

"Well sir..." The briefing continued...

[OOC: Bumpers for Nero]

OOC: I started a post last night but then I went out so I'll try to get it up today.

The Layartebian committment to the Cottish for their war efforts against the United Soviet Republics was the deployment of two, elite units of soldiers, each company sized but fully independent. They could be supported by a marginal amount of effort and could be anywhere in the world in as fast as eighteen hours. The units were just two of two dozen, specialized, and extremely versatile units of soldiers. Each unit consisted of a battalion of men, five hundred and twelve soldiers and sixty-seven vehicles, which could be transported anywhere in the world by twenty-three C-17B Globemaster IIIs or fourteen C-29A Titans. Usually, they were transported by the Titans but situations could change. The C-130 Super Hercules had been evaluated but it lacked the cargo capacity to carry some of the vehicles and its range was limited, compared to the other two aircraft. Of the two dozen units, eight of them stood on operational readiness at all times and they worked by rotations. A unit would be on rotation on an odd sort of schedule. They would spend three months on and then four months off, which would keep them on a constant rotation. When they weren't on an operational rotation, they were back at their base, training. The twelve thousand man unit, the size of two fully equipped brigades, were based in regiments of four battalions each at six bases across the Empire. One regiment specializing in Arctic and Northern warfare were based in the Arctic Archipelago, a second regiment specialized in desert warfare was based in Nicaragua but was usually in training elsewhere, a further one specialized in mountain warfare and was based in Peru, a fourth was specialized in island campaigns and based in Jamaica, a fifth was specialized in jungle warfare and was based in Colombia, and a sixth was specialized in general warfare and was based in North Carolina.

The unit was called the Quick Reaction Force-Army (QRF-A) and differed significantly from the Marine QRF, which was, essentially a normal Marine division that was on patrol in the seas of the world. The Army QRF was never deployed unless necessary. Though they were specialized in certain areas and terrains of fighting, each unit had some basic knowledge of fighting in all other terrains and environments. They were trained with civilian, law enforcement duties, and they were recruited straight from special forces. QRF units trained constantly and were deployed, ninety percent of the time, into a hot zone, purely by airdrop. Their vehicles would be air dropped on the deck and they would be dropped right near them. From the time that the first man jumped out of the aircraft to the time that the entire unit could be up, running, and on the move was a total of forty-five minutes. They were purely independent and needed no support from artillery or aircraft nor did they require J/STARS overhead, though all of those elements greatly and significantly increased its effectiveness. It was solely air transportable and could have air support vectored to its task force any any time, regardless of war time conditions. They were high priority. They could also operate a very small helicopter detachment of up to eight helicopters: four AH-99A Anasazi and four RAH-70A Araphaos, which could be deployed with an additional five C-17As or four C-29As. The unit was capable of surviving, on the ground, for two weeks without any support or relief missions, whatsoever in a full blown, total war. In more ideal conditions, they could survive up to four weeks without relief or supplies.

The unit was given the newest weaponry to grace the land division of the Layartebian Defense Corporation. They brought with them ten M2047A1 Arrow APCs, one M2047A3 Arrow C3s, and eight M2047A4 Arrow ATs, all originally manufactured by the Commonwealth of Hirgizstan for armored support. They brought twelve M2050A1 Serpent LBTs for tank support. They also brought eighteen M2051A2 Common Multi-Purpose Light Vehicles and eighteen M2051A3 Common Multi-Purpose Light Vehicles, which were originally manufactured by the Armed Republic of Soviet Bloc for transport purposes. They converted eight of the eighteen M2051A2s to "technicals" and mounted heavy machine guns on them. The other ten were unarmed and used for strictly carrying passengers, though they were pick-ups. Light and fast, they were more scout vehicles than anything else though they could carry seven people total. The M2051A3s were armored and could carry up to ten people and mounted either heavy machine guns or grenade launchers for protection. The ultimate protected lay with the one hundred and five millimeter ETC cannon of the M2050A1, which carried fifty-two rounds in total, enough to decimate any advancing force.

Each unit was equipped for a variety of duties. They could perform reconnaissance duties and light support roles. They would never get into a head-to-head engagement with enemy forces because they weren't equipped to go toe-to-toe with heavy armored units. They were outfitted with limited but capable anti-tank support from their anti-tank Arrows, Serpents, and various missile systems carried. They could carry shoulder-launched, air-to-air missiles to deal with limited airborne threats. They could perform quick and hard strike missions. They could also perform peacekeeping operations, which was what they would be used for here.

As part of the duty of being on complete, operational readiness, each unit had their equipment moved to a nearby air force base, where it was loaded into various C-29A Titans or C-17B Globemaster IIIs, ready to go at a moment's notice. They remained at their army base and would travel by convoy to the air force base if the call came. That call had come and the lumbering aircraft, were took up most of the outside tarmac area were given their pre-flight checks. Loadmasters walked inside and inspected straps and what not but the labor was done, all they had to do was start her up and get in the air. One unit would go to Ivanovo, towards the south, to repell any possibility of a Pantheean advance while performing peacekeeping duties as well. Cottish military elements would be with them at all times and the other group would move to the east of Kostroma, in case the USR decided that it didn't like its already agreed upon arrangement. They would fly in with helicopter support and they would be there in just hours. As the soldiers stepped into the aircraft, which were roaring on the tarmac already, others were getting into the air with supplies and other essentials. Thirty-six Titans were aloft eventually, escorted by various squadrons of F-39 Super Eagles and F-45 Scorpions, assisted by KC-10B Extender tankers as they flew across the North Atlantic towards Europe.

"We cannot commit to the plan, let cotland take the lands. Our force must stay stable, we were born on bloodshed it is something we cannot escape. Let the world see that we are not savages, the plan must stop before it is in place."

"Then the world will see us as weak."

"Then let them, we will prove our strength another way. Killing is not the answer now."

"But it was not because of us, they began this and we should finish it."

"They began only to feed their people with thoughts of power. They are the savages, we must wait before we loose more people. All this plan would do is kill, not win the war."

"Then is it over, those trucks will unload all troops. Pull the SAM sites down and began pulling them out, I want this retreat done by tommorrow before Cotland can get any intel on the defense movement we had begun."

"What about the Guerilla forces?"

"They will do what they were trained to do, we cannot stop them. That is Cotlands price for invading our land. They will not be able to connect the guerilla forces to our training camps, they will see them as resistance fighters thats all."

"I will begin the operations now, you have made a good disicion your leadership."

The man left the Leaders Office with a bow and then the Soviet salute, a fisted hand against the heart. Kurstrovitz turned in his chair, now Cotland would sit all around Kirov and it would take nothing for them to invade. He knew defense needed to be built, something stronge enough to repel Cotland in all its power. Minutes of thinking left Kurstrovitz in a dazes state, he sat watching a bird in a tree outside his office. The long courtyard that had been built so recently was bright with imported flowers and freshly cut grass. The paved patrol routs were covered in armed guards walking back and forth ready to protect their great leader with their own lifes.

Shultz stood outside the door, he knocked a few times with courtesy for his grand leader.

"Sir, the reports are back. We have many MIA soldiers, expected to have ran from the army. Also, we have two decisions to make. One we can leave the old weapons, the AK's and such an do a quick replacement with the ones bought from the Federation or we can spend the money to have them moved back."

"Why spend money, do you not remember. A gun is the soldiers responsibility, they bought it when they entered the service and if they want to keep it they will pay to ship it with them. Our soldiers will gladly pay for the gun. A soldier without a weapon is no longer a soldier."

"Understandable, secondly I the prisoners from the camps in those territories have been shipped back to Antrive and a total liquidation and distuction of the camps have been finished. There is no longer any trace of camps in those territories and we have burned all records of there existence."

"Good, make sure that it stays that way."

The two continued to talk eventually falling off of the political conversation into a more typical one. They spoke as friends now, like they did before the revolution.

With the Soviet retreat going along as scheduled, the Cots started moving in. Column after column of tanks, trucks and armored vehicles were rolling in, taking command of city after city, town after town, hamlet after hamlet with little opposition. Under the merry tunes of military bands playing marches, victory parades were held in the various places where the Realm took over, and Cottish flags replaced the USR flags quickly. With hundreds of thousands of men quietly occupying the territories, Operation Rettferdig Tilbakeføring was moving along better than had been scheduled.

Within two days, all of the territories had been occupied by the Cottish forces, and the Cots would now start on the process of consolidating their power. It was fully expected by the military analysts in various areas around the world and by the so-called experts that commented in the media that this would be a long and ardious process, but the High Command had an ace up their sleeve. Throughout the three new Cottish territories, notices were being delivered to the native Nerotikans that it was time for them to get back to their country. Almost ninety percent of the ethnic Nerotikans were being deported to what remained of their country, although the Cots didn't officially call it deportation. They chose to refér to it as "relocating USR citizens to the USR", and it was done with a smile from the Cottish soldiers who delivered the notifications, helped the families pack and into trains bound for Kirov. The three territories would be modernized to Cottish standards and repopulated by Cottish citizens within a year or so.

Unfortunately for the Cots, not all went along so smoothly. As the men of the 3. Kampgruppe, 6. Infanteridivisjon were settling in for the evening in their temporary base somewhere in Kostroma, the sentry making the round heard a noise. Unslinging his L100 assault rifle, he looked around, looking for what had made the noise. Believing he saw something more, he raised his rifle and issued a challenge in Cottish, taking a few steps forward. He never heard the reply, as the 7.62x39mm bullets slammed into his face, killing him instantly. At the same time, the area around the Kampgruppe exploded into a frenzy of gunfire, accompanied by the occational RPG. The thousand-man battlegroup was being assaulted, and while temporarily confused, the confusion was quickly replaced by the training of the men as the battlegroup commander, oberstløytnant Torsteinsøn took charge. The infantry got a fix on the enemy positions and began returning fire, keeping behind the various armored vehicles and down on the dirt. As the turrets of the M70A1 Dragoon IFVs came to live at last, the game was up for the attackers as the thermal imaging of the AN/VSQ-31D VEDS sensor suite picked up the location of the attackers. This left the vehicle commander with three options. He could either use the M256A1 35 millimeter chaingun which was the Dragoon's primary armament, the coaxial L116A1 light machine gun, or the more exotic Mk.400 Active Denial System, a non-lethal system which fired a beam of concentrated energy through a strong millimeter-wave transmitter, creating what was known as the "goodbye effect" as the electromagnetic radiation at a frequency of 95 GHz penetrated approximately 0.4 millimeters into the skin and heated it to 55 degrees centigrade, causing an intensely painful burning sensation. Capable of penetrating thick clothing, the Mk.400 had an effective range of some 500 meters and was ideal for crowd control or denying the enemy a chance to use his weapon. Unfortunately for the attackers, the Cots didn't have time to torture the enemy, so the vehicle commanders mostly chose the main armament and sent a burst of three 35x228 millimeter projectiles into each enemy with extreme accuracy, killing them instantly.

After the Dragoons got into the game, the game was pretty much up for the attackers. Using the firepower of the Dragoons and the manouverability of the infantry, the firefight was ended after twelve minutes as the last of the attackers withdrew. The infantry chased after them, but to no avail. They managed to slip away. As the infantry got back, oberstløytnant Torsteinsøn got the casualty reports. Sixteen dead, nineteen wounded. Two Dragoons destroyed by sustained RPG fire, another five damaged. Worse, both his fuel trucks had been destroyed and the burning fuel was raging along the compound, sending black smoke up and leaving the soldiers to try to stop the raging inferno. At least he still had his radio. It would be used to inform the rest of the Cottish forces that there were resistance to the Cottish occupation. From the looks of the bodies and equipment the Cots were hauling in, the enemy seemed to be normal Nerotikans, armed with antiquated weapons and no uniforms. An insurgency. It seemed what the people at High Command had said about the Nerotikans was true after all. The deportation of the civilians was a necessary evil. The attack also signalled that the Cots needed to be ruthless when it came to captured insurgents too. The Layartebian peacekeepers that were to accompany the Cots would have to be briefed as well, once they arrived.

[OOC: Good enough insurgency for ya Nero?]

The attack on the 6. Infanteridivisjon wasn't the only one. Over the course of that same evening and night, attacks had been carried out against most of the Cottish military units in the new territories with varying degrees of success. The most devestating attack had occured against a tank company outside Yuzha, which had left only twelve survivors out of an original complement of eighty-eight soldiers, and with most of the vehicles of that unit destroyed. It had required close air support from H-11/A Reaper helicopter gunships and hand-to-hand combat before the last of the enemy were repelled.

The flow of information to the military area command was limited, but sufficient. The Cottish forces were up against a full-scale insurgency in the three territories. This meant that the soldiers would have to be used to pacify the insurgency, and that meant that blood had to be shed and that few if any considerations could be taken when rooting out the insurgents.

The Cottish forces in Europe had very limited experience with handling insurgencies, but that could not be said for forces deployed to other parts of the world. In Arabia, the newly redesignated 17. Korps had successfully attacked, occupied and pacified the area surrounding Dhahran, effectively ridding Saudi-Arabia of the Aazad terrorist organization. In the eyes of the Cottish High Command, the officers of the 17. Korps were the best bet at clearing the newly formed territories of insurgents. So, thirty-six hours after the attacks, the six most experienced officers from the Dhahran campaign were present at the command center in Esthar, the former capital of the Bjornoyan Federation and currently the capital of the Bjornoyan Protectorate, and giving advise. The first and foremost advise given was one which had already been implemented: begin deportation of the ethnic group immediately. The second was to begin a total military occupation of the area and strike severely down on any attacks by retaliating against the homesteads of those responsible. That meant that the new rules of engagement and directives issued by the High Command were brutal.

Already the next day, the effects of the new directives began to be noticed as troops began establishing themselves, creating checkpoints and sealing off areas with barbed wire, sandbags and concrete barriers. All traffic was checked and everyone attempting to move past the checkpoint carefully checked, all under the careful supervision of the infantry squad and the man manning the heavy machine gun mounted in the M64A1 Shadow LMV behind the sandbags. Helicopters flying overhead kept a vigil eye, using their FLIR sensors to check for anyone suspicious. Until everyone of Nerotikan origin had been deported, the military presence would be felt.

In a small village outside Rodniki, or Rødnikk as the city of a hundred thousand would be known as in Cottish, the first implementation of the brutal orders was carried out when Kampgruppe (Infanteri) 1, 6. Infanteridivisjon arrived in the village of nine hundred, just after dawn. The first signs of the Cottish arrival was when the first company of sixteen Dragoon IFVs escorted by a pair of M66A1 Skjold anti-tank vehicles rolled into the village, stopping just outside the combined city hall and police station. The infantry dismounted the IFVs and quickly stormed the large building, quickly taking control of the police station and gaining control of the few police officers on duty. They were quickly disarmed and brought outside, where more Cottish armored vehicles were arriving. It wasn't long before the entire infantry battalion that formed the core of the Kampgruppe was in the village and working, pounding on doors to appartments and pulling people out from their beds and outside, where, dressed only in what they could grab before they were pulled out from the apartments, they had to wait under armed guard in the cold morning while the Cottish troops searched the apartments for anything that could connect them to the insurgency.

It took several hours, but sure enough, in one of the apartments the Cots found propaganda leaflets in support of the insurgency, a weapons cache of AK-47s, RPG-7s and enough Semtex-A to blow up a lot of stuff, and a significant sum of money in USR currency. Having established that this was infact a insurgent cache, the Kampgruppe commander had no choice but to carry out his orders. All those living in the four-story apartment building, a total of sixty-nine persons, were restrained with plastic zip-ties and placed in the back of five-ton trucks and driven out from the village under heavy escort while the Cots used the captured Semtex-A on the building, blowing it up. In a field outside the village, away from sight, the restrained villagers were forced out from the trucks and forcefully seperated. Men went into one group, women into another one, and children into a third. The children were placed back aboard the trucks and driven away while the Cottish soldiers started carrying out their brutal orders.

The L112A1 heavy machine gun is a twenty kilo heavy, $15,000 piece of weaponry which fires the 12.7x99mm projectile at a speed of 930 meters per second. It has an effective range of 2,000 meters and a maximum range of 6,800 meters, and has a rate of fire of six hundred rounds per minute, or ten rounds per second. That meant that the L112 could expend its magazine of 250 rounds in twenty-five seconds, making it a weapon suitable for delivering massive destruction to infantry, light armor and softskinned vehicles. The purpose it was used for now was not exactly what it had been designed for, but it was never the less gruesomely effective as the four L112s that had been set up behind the armored vehicles, out of sight of the villagers, were manned and prepared. At a given signal, the vehicles drove away, revealing to the shocked villagers the ready machine guns. One of the officers had a megaphone, and he spoke to them.

"You have permitted your home to be used as a strongpoint for the insurgency. You have therefore been found guilty of assisting the insurgency, and are hereby sentenced to death. The sentence will be carried out immediately. May God have mercy on your heathen souls." He said to the shocked villagers as the Cottish soldiers that had surrounded the restrained bunch quickly got out of the firing line. When the men were out of the way, a single order was shouted over the megaphone.

"Ild!" [Fire!]

With that, the four gunners began firing, sending the deadly projectiles into the doomed crowd. The heavy projectiles slammed into the people and mutilated the bodies, killing instantly as the projectiles hit. Several of the villagers were cut in half by the spray of heavy projectiles, and many more lost limbs, heads and other body parts from the heavy fire. After thirty seconds when the last of the heavy machine guns had expended its ammo box, the men were ordered to cease fire. The fifty-two adults had all been killed by the one thousand rounds that had been fired into them. Perhaps it had been overkill, but the commander had orders to be ruthless, and now one had been made, even though it made him sick to his stomack.

The bodies would be gathered up by the division's combat engineer brigade and destroyed after the infantry left, leaving no evidences of the massacre. Several others would be brought to this field and others like it and slaughtered for their involvement in the insurgency, however loosely their involvement was - from actively participating to living in the same building as an insurgent or being related to one. It would be bloody and cost thousands of lives, and the news of the genocide-ish clean-up would eventually reach the world through deported Nerotikans who were forced onto trains and shipped into Kirov oblast, the closest USR holding, where they were expected to starting their lives anew. The Layartebian peacekeepers that were being deployed to these areas would most likely also witness the slaughters preformed by the Cottish forces, but the Cots didn't expect the Layartebians to interfér. After all, this was considered an internal affair of the Realm and thus under the purview of the Protection of the Realm Act (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=465139)'s article thirty by the Cottish government.

"Theres no support from USR High Command, were alone here."

"Then we will fight for ourselves and for the people that were not forturnate enough to make it home."

"And why? Why should we die for people that do not care, the military left us with no support and now we are stuck here against the cottish forces. I choose to live."

"Then leave, but know that as soon as you turn your back I will shoot you."

The two men sat in silence for a length of time then without a word one stood and began to walk away. The other man lifted his gun and with a grim face he fired into the leaving man's back sending him forward to the ground dead on contact. The gunman lowered the weapon and spit onto the ground to show his disapproval to the mans choice.

"Idiot, I loved you like a brother. I would have died for you and you choose to leave me. I will join you soon then, expect me though I will die with honor and not cowardice."

The man set his rifle to the left of him and reached out to a long belt with thick objects attached all across it. He strapped himself with it and stood up, threw a long coat on and closed it hiding the belt. His hand slid inside the pocket and he pulled out a small trigger. He left his dead friend and his rifle and began to walk toward a small village. From a far it was obvious that this was cottish occupied, the sounds of large trucks and shouting men gave off that vibe and the suicidal man knew that he would soon be confronted by this enemy.

As he walked be began to pray, long and winded he drew breaths at a constant pace as his heart raced and his mind jumped from thought to thought. He stepped onto the paved road out from a forested area and walked toward a group of trucks and smoking soldiers. His walk became a jog, and then a run as he got closer the men noticed him and ordered him to stop, even in the cottish language his meaning was apparent. He continued to run and they fired, by this time he was close or at least close enough as he pressed the trigger and the bombs went off.

The Layartebian QRF units landed in the middle of a guerilla war. Cottish soldiers were being engaged through the shadows and through the darkness by Soviet forces that had either been left behind during the hasty retreat or strategically left to cause as much bloodshed as possible. The Intelligence division of the Cottish government had provided little in the way of the capability or capacity of the guerilla forces but they would have to be settled quickly and effectively. The two battalions of soldiers, each numbering 512 men with eight helicopters each and sixty-seven vehicles each, were directed to set up shop in two locations. One unit would go to Ivanovo, towards the south, to repell any possibility of a Pantheean advance while performing peacekeeping duties as well. Cottish military elements would be with them at all times and the other group would move to the east of Kostroma, in case the USR decided that it didn't like its already agreed upon arrangement. Neither of those situations seemed likely when the two battalions touched down in Cottish controlled territory. As Cottish military units advanced and the two battalions set themselves in, the war that raged on in the shadows touched them. Snipers picked away at the two bases the minute they stepped foot on the ground to establish the two areas. Battalion commanders sent out roving patrols to try to find and kill these snipers but they were crafty and rarely stayed in one place after they fired a shot or two. Layartebian snipers took up concealed positions as well, away from the bases to try to counter the enemy snipers but they were well trained and they knew the terrain. Neither of the two territories was well built-up and Kostroma was covered with woodlands. The timber industry there would boom underneath the Cottish government. However, for now, it was a hindrance to operations. Helicopters could operate above the trees but they were at risk for shoulder-fired missiles and anti-aircraft fire, forcing them higher up, to altitudes that made them less effective. They were still heavily capable but they would be no more capable than the tanks and fighting vehicles on the ground, which had a better view underneath the canopy of the forest. Operations began almost immediately. Each battalion had four companies and each company had four platoons, giving a total of thirty-two platoons in total. That gave them a lot of men to send out for patrols and each platoon had four squads of eight men. That was a total of one hundred and twenty-eight squads. They could operate as independently as possible and as small as possible.

Nearby towns and villages were the biggest concern and four platoons from each battalion were sent out to conduct sweeping missions in nearby towns and villages. They moved with vehicle support and occasionally, bullets would ping against their hulls with little effect. They operated Arrow fighter vehicles, Serpent light tanks, and CMPL armored trucks. Unless they were being engaged by anti-tank missiles or heavy RPGs, they were safe. They were fitted with reactive armor, non-explosive due to the necessity to have soldiers around them but when the tanks went on sweep missions, they exchanged them for ERA, which made them that much more effective. Layartebian ERA was called Integrated Advanced Explosive Reactive Armor (IAERA) and was composed of bricks, 4.13 inches wide, 9.05 inches long, 3.75 inches thick, and packed with 48.50 pounds of Arckell plastic explosive, which could detonate at velocities of 9,420 meters per second. It was dense and newly engineered to explode faster than anything else out there and that was what made it that much more effective. Fitted with IAERA, a tank could add an additional 560mm of protection against HEAT rounds or 420mm of protection against kinetic energy penetrators. NxRA (non-explosive reactive armor) was just a highly dense rubber that added 450mm against HEAT and 360mm against KE. Every precaution was taken and every protection was envisioned. Serpent LBTs were armed with 105mm ETC cannons that could put their rounds through the hulls of even medium and main battle tanks, if conditions were right. The enemy would find that going up against the superior technology and firepower of the Layartebian military would be their eventual demise. Guerilla tactics were more than effective and more than impossible to counter but the Layartebian military had enough experience with guerilla warfare to realize how to effectively counter it. Kaliningrad, the Yucatán, and Venezuela, amongst others, really trained the Layartebian military on guerilla tactics. The QRF forces were trained in guerilla tactics and they were recruited directly from SOF units. They would be more than enough to rise to the challenge.