NationStates Jolt Archive

Dila Island, Whyatican Archipelago
The Whyatican Archipelago as it was called in the majority of Haven, was not a safe place to be for any man. Outside of two small strips of "safe zones", where the military presence of the opposing sides was far too great for an assault to be reasonably mounted, every island was under risk of attack. Militias from the various warring factions of the Barkozian continent occupied the various islands in between the Whyatican and Barkozian continent, while some islands were occupied by Whyatican Imperial Guardsmen on the eastern and western fringes.

Despite the general instability of Barkozy, possession of the archipelago itself was of relatively no importance - troops were needed on the other fronts far more desperately, and there were few things of value on the islands. The Empire if necessary could wield enough force to purge the archipelago, and even the Barkozian Continent, of hostile forces, but with the safe zone, it was deemed too expensive to add a few hundred square km of territory to the Empire for the deaths of many Guard.

However, given the Midlonia crisis - and the new media spotlight shining on the Arabian Guard and Imperial Guard, both militias, both mobilized in huge numbers, the top officers decided to flex their muscles a tad. The Emperor some time ago had given a blanket authorization for military force in the peninsula, and General Robert Goren planned to milk every inch out of the authorization. The general plan was: Arabian and Imperial Guard divisions, based out of the safe zone, would gain live-fire experience on the archipelago, increasing their morale as a fighting force and their ability abroad. Small victories in the islands were victories nonetheless, creating an increase in morale and nationalism among the Whyatican civilians.

If, and this was a large if, the campaign against the Barkozians in the Archipelago went extremely well, a fullout invasion of the Barkozian continent was not out of the question. The Barkozians were generally disorganized, fighting themselves as much as the Whyaticans, technologically inferior, and various and sundry other inequalities that would make it a figurative 'n00b stomp' for the Whyatican military. If it chose to bring it that far..

Where the Whyaticans had little interest in Barkozy outside the ambitions of some, the Barkozians were very keen on the islands. Due to the first war with the Whyaticans, the Barkozians had formed the 'ruling coalition', a group of militias that trade military committments in areas away from the homelands for monetary aid. The branch of the coalition assigned to defend the Whyatican Archipelago(most Barkozians call it the Disputed Archipelago), was the Maritime Militia, which was a point of contention for many militias that rejected the ruling coalition. The Maritime Militia consisted of troops taken from militias on the Barkozian continent and transferred to far-flung islands in the Archipelago.

The Maritime Militia had a line several islands with very strong garrisons near the continent, complete with anti-ship missiles, artillery, and even support from airbases on the continent. However, the islands north of that line were generally held by token forces of both Maritime Militia and non-affiliated militias. There were also shanty-towns on some of them, built on business with the many pirates that made the waters in the archipelago quite dangerous. The most important items north of the Barkozian defense line were a few radar stations that could give early warning of a Whyatican invasion.

There were very limited naval assets available to the Barkozians in the archipelago without the help of the pirates. Without further support from the mainland the garrisons north of the defense line could rely on only a few boghammers and a single armed 'frigate', a hasty conversion of a tugboat.

There was no guarantee of air support from the Continent or the fortified islands, either. Barkozians were very afraid of SAMs and did not want to risk planes attacking Whyatican convoys with SAM escorts, especially expensive aircraft such as f-20s.

Any first move the Whyaticans would make would be almost unopposed, but if they went too far too fast they might trigger a reaction from the militias.

IWNS Experimental Film
"Soldiers." General Robert Goren's voice echoed through the ships of the small fleet, assembled 3 nautical miles off a Barkozian occupied island. 4 frigates with 200 Arabian Guard marines in each, and a light cruiser as the flagship and heavy support ship. Eight hundred marines wasn't strictly necessary for this mission - Dila Island's garrison was likely far less than that, and Barkozian militias had notoriously low morale. They had a lack of heavy weapons and were rather skittish about sending their airplanes into battle, as they could scarcely afford to replace losses.

"Soldiers, prepare for the operation. We will be departing in thirty-five minutes." Goren said, his artificially amplified voice boring into the heads of every Arabian Guard marine. Goren was not known for his excitement, he was a very by-the-book general, not especially creative. It was well known he had aspirations to higher political office before the Reform, and he seemed now to be angling for an appointment from the Emperor. The entire Barkozian operation was his idea, in a stroke of actual creativity, and the Emperor silently approved.

As the marines boarded their amphibious ships, two old friends had a quick conversation, the last they may have. One, an Arabian native, was a veteran of several battles in the Archipelago and was more experienced than most regarding amphibious landings. The other, a refugee from Clandonia, on the other hand, was nearly crapping himself in fear. He had enlisted in the Arabian Guard to gain provincial citizenship in Whyatican Arabia and overall Imperial citizenship, but he had never seen combat and considered deserting when the Guard was moved to the mainland in the Midlonia crisis.

"Don't worry about it, if any of us die here I'll be surprised." the senior said, the calm look on his face still evident as the dropship hit the water with a splash.

"Still.." the younger said, attempting to put on the facade of a soldier as dozens more boats dropped out of the frigates. A few potshots of the CL's main guns were fired, echoing in the ears of the marines. There likely wasn't much in the way of fortification, and the militia on the island probably wasn't aware it was under attack at all. It would realize this as shells began landing on their soldiers' heads, naturally, but it was hoped that the Barkozians were taken completely by surprise.

Morale was high among the majority of the Guards, and as the boats closed in, the frigates and light cruiser began a sweep for Barkozian small ships and aiming to cut off any route of escape..

When Whyatican shells landed on the island, that was the first sign anything had happened. Many militiamen were asleep and they were all scattered. The beach was clear except for the footprints of its previous inhabitants, and the only semblance of command was a gathering of men near the center of the island near a creek. One officer stood among a small group of militia who happened to be near the central tent camp. It was some of the island's garrison, and that's about all that could be relied upon at the moment. Of the 72 men in his command on the island, only around 40 could be accounted for. The rest didn't even really try to reunite with their commander, just hiding wherever they could until this whole thing would blow over.

"Is this it?" The officer spoke to himself, almost as if he thought these were the only ones on the island. Everybody knew that people could come and go as they please with Barkozian militias, so the fact that the garrison suddenly got smaller as soon as Whyaticans arrived was no surprise. "Whoever has the radio, come here, everybody else, just get on that side of the creek...." he pointed at the bank towards where the enemy was landing "..and stay low."

The officer walked away into the brush and the militiamen immediately started talking. "Hey, isn't he Whyatican? Maybe he's just tryin' to run." one said, leaning against the side of the creek. "I wouldn't blame 'em.." another said, looking nervously over the top of the bank.

"This is Mahan from Island 127, under bombardment from Whyatican vessels strength unknown, expect invasion imminently. Have reduced strength can't hold on for long, request evacuation immediately." the officer spoke as the radioman cranked for the radio. "Okay, you can stop now." he then said as the radioman stopped and put the cranking device and radio box in his backpack. Mahan then returned to his men and spoke. "Alright guys, they're coming pretty soon. Try to take some shots at them when they get this far, but if they get close just run off. I think the evac is gonna be at the beach on the southeastern side, so try to wander there if you can." Mahan walked to a man holding the recoilless rifle. "Come with me." he ordered, as he walked down the creek until he disappeared once again.

The men then continued their chatter, more out of nervousness than out of curiousity about what their commander was doing.

A shell whizzed over the heads of the marines as the first boats hit the shore - The boarding ramp dropped, and all the Arabian marines rushed out, searching for targets. Most of the marines knew the Barkozians wouldn't immediately challenge them, especially when the first three landing boats probably outnumbered their entire garrison. Eight hundred marines was vastly overkill for this mission, and may prove counterproductive, but this was the first mission for this particular group of Arabian marines. In fact, shelling the island was probably a bad idea as well, as all it served to do was awaken the Barkozian militia and prevent any chance of capturing them all alive.

As the rest of the landing boats hit the shore, the marines began to form into groups of five to explore the island, which in itself wasn't very big, and there weren't many places the Barkozians could go. The Experimental Film had found an SOS broadcast from the Barkozians, but was unable to determine where exactly it came from before the transmission cut out, and given that the Barkozians were likely moving, the location of the transmission wouldn't help them too much.

The fire teams began pushing past the banks of the shore, beginning the comb of every square inch of the island for hostiles...

The Barkozian militiamen waited at the creek for their opponents. The creek wasn't the worst position in which to be, but it wouldn't be good for long. As a few scattered Whyatican patrols headed through the heart of the island, they seemed to hit stiff resistance. It was quite a surprise to everyone, as none of the Barkozians seemed to notice until the patrol was right on top of them. Maybe it wasn't what they meant, but the Barkozians effectively ambushed some scattered Whyaticans.

Meanwhile, away from the main action were the two others who broke off. Mahan dove into some tall grass near the beach and noticed the landing craft bringing up men and supplies.

"Get that thing ready and find a boat to hit. Something with people in it."

Mahan's colleague, the one with the recoilless rifle moved up to a kneel in the tall grass and took aim as Mahan took a round from his pack and loaded it in the back. He yanked on the pin and tapped the soldier on the shoulder and went back to prone in front of him. The soldier nervously took aim at a boat coming to shore and fired a rocket at it.

"Hit the fucking deck!" yelled a marine lieutenant as Barkozian shots whizzed by him. He swore under his breath, and struggled to find a target. He saw a blur of a man moving from the trees, and fired a burst of his assault rifle into the bush, as well as unclipping a grenade from his vest, pulling the pin, and hurling it in the direction of the bullets. A fellow marine caught a Barkozian bullet in the shoulder, and his screams went through the ears of everyone around him. The marines finally found where the Barkozians were coming from, and opened fire on them from their poor positions, narrowly avoiding getting killed themselves.

The recoilless rifle shell slammed into the water just to the right of an LCAC boat, and the shockwave sent the LCAC into a turn, and it slid up on the beach with a slam. A shell from the IWNS Experimental Film soared over the marines' heads, landing somewhere in the trees. Other marine groups on the beach found themselves in rather similar predicaments as the first group, pinned down under fire from the Barkozian militias. None had died yet on the Whyatican side, although if the firefight kept moving the odds of Whyatican casualties mounted.