NationStates Jolt Archive


With Order, Came Death

The Macabees
29-05-2007, 20:29
[OOC: This thread is more or less closed to the participants of the War of Golden Succession. Although I dislike closed threads, for the sake of allowing this role-play to ever end I can't allow new players to join.]

3rd Republican Elite Mechanized Infantry Division, 20km outside of Hoogenbosch
12 August, 2016

Brigadier Kobus Vanderleit stood unwavering as he looked at his beloved capital city, from a distance. For the first time in many months he wore his general officer's battle dress uniform. The grey uniform fit him well, as did the polished black boots on his feet, and the tan beret which he had earned over thirty years before when he first became a lieutenant for this elite division. His shoulders were covered by a thick wool parka, tied around his neck with a Gold Cross, one of his nation's highest awards. His face showed no emotion as he looked at Hoogenbosch. Smoke had already started to rise from a few areas of the city, and the outer suburbs had had to quell some extensive fires started by rioting peasants. He swore under his breath, "Fucking plebians. What a mess they've made."

He brought down his set of binoculars from his eyes and turned around. Behind him was amassed certain elements of the division he controlled. It was mostly composed of armor and accompanying infantry. The colonel which had assumed command of this ad hoc force stood beside the general, studying him intricately. Vanderleit turned to meet him, as he said, "Is the rest of the division prepared? I have a feeling that this will become bloodier than one would have originally guessed."

The colonel arched his right eyebrow and responded, "You think they are actually foolish enough to resist?"

Brigadier Vanderleit nodded, "They think they run the capital now. They probably think they run the rest of the country as well. These traitors will resist the return of the old government as much as they can."

For three days already the Guffingfordi government was in absolute shambles. The Order of the Invisible Hand had depleted much of the country's treasuries, and the war with Stevid had offered the final blow. The country simply collapsed upon itself, and within hours the once oppressed peasantry was on the street, overthrowing the Republic's leadership and turning the once proud nation into one large riot. It was the military's perspective that it was within their right to react, and for the sake of stability they were most likely correct. Nevertheless, since the fall of the military headquarters in the capital on the second day of the riot there had been no orders given out. And so most of the military did nothing during the two most crucial days - now, there would have to be a civil war, or large amounts of foreign intervention.

Vanderleit hoped the latter did not happen, because if it did it would most likely lead to occupation.

The colonel spoke again, "When do we begin?"

The general smiled, "It will begin soon. Does the rest of the division know of the plan?" The colonel nodded. Kobus Vanderleit went on, "What of the other nearby divisions?"

The colonel shook his head, "We are the only division in II Regional Corps close enough to react at this current point in time. I have sent soldiers to the 7th Armored Division, and 4th Mechanized Infantry division, but no word has been sent back, unfortunately. If we are lucky these divisions will come into play within days, however."

The general nodded, "That is fine. Let us make our move."

The two of them walked back to the armor awaiting behind them, and each entered the separate command tanks. Within minutes this armored spearhead began to move towards the capital, and behind them one could see the rising dust clouds permeating from the movement of thousands of soldiers. The division soon began to spread out, with different groups moving in different directions. The idea was to hit the capital from as many different directions as possible, and hopefully overwhelm the defenders in many sectors of the city. Brigadier Vanderleit, of course, had gone with the armored spearhead which would enter the city within minutes.

Within the confines of his tank, surrounded by other high ranking officers, Vanderleit studied a map of the urban area. From the driver's seat he heard a warning, "We have entered Ander'voot. ETA for the center of the city is now fifty minutes, assuming no traffic."

Vanderleit gave his thanks and then returned to the map. The large area in the hull of the vehicle had been made possible by the replacement of the gun with a fake tube, and the gutting of most of the electronics would helped power the turret and the gun. These things were not required in a divisional command tank. Of course, the tank was protected by those around it and by a vast assortment of active protection systems. He pointed at a red dot on the map - red signified a target of high important, yellow of mid-importance, and orange of low-importance. Turning to the other officers he said, "Send a detachment of three infantry combat vehicles here. The police headquarters must be taken."

One of the officers corrected him, "It apparently never fell, sir. Intelligence says that there are over two hundred police officers held up, fighting against besieging rioters. But their situation must be rather bleak."

Vanderleit nodded, "Agreed. The siege of that building must be taken. The capital's police will be a very important asset to us. Our division is not large enough to police the entire city, the suburbs, and then defend it." He thought to himself and then said with a very disparate tone in his voice, "Where the hell is the rest of II Regional Corps?"

Another officer responded, "They haven't -"

"I know!" Brigadier Vanderleit rolled his eyes, "I have already been informed. They are all fools."

Before them, outside of the vehicle, groups of rioters had broken apart although every now and then they would respond with rocks thrown at the armor. Nevertheless, it was inconsequential, as the group rolled on. Many people who had fallen before them were simply rolled over and killed - there was no time to save lives. And, in any case, they were all to be considered traitors to the Republic.

Suddenly, Vanderleit's tank stopped and the driver turned his head around, "We have reached a barricade. It's better if we stay behind here. Please, general, get out of the tank - you will be better protected outside, in one of the buildings, by your security entourage." All officers reacted quickly, and stepped out. There would be bloodshed after all.

As Vanderleit walked quickly across the cobblestone paved street to a nearby building, where his security detachment was waiting for him, he could already here the crack of assault rifles and heavy fire the vicinity. Looking forward he yelled, "Get rid of them by any means necessary!"

The occupation of Hoogenbosch was not as easy as one would have previously assumed.

Remnants of the Guffingfordi Navy, Cerfontaine
13 August, 2016

Fighting in Hoogenbosch!

There are reports that elements of the Guffingfordi army have entered Hoogenbosch in an attempt to suppress the riots in the city. Heavy fighting continues for the second day in a row in various quarters of the once peaceful capital city. The Guffingfordi government which replaced that which was overthrown in early August had been quick to call the military action a coup d'etat. Regardless of what it actually is, it's obvious that these are signs that the Guffingfordi country has fallen apart.

Grand Admiral Powles Andersen put down the report in disgust. He had been given a copy of the morning's edition of the Fedala International, the only foreign new source he actually read, and he could barely take it. The military was reacting to the people's uprising. In a way, Powles agreed with their opinion, but he was in the unfortunate position that most of what he commanded was made up of the 'lesser people' - as many liked to call them. In other words, most of the Guffingfordi Navy agreed with the revolt. In an effort to keep his illustrious position and avoid certain death Powles had throne in his efforts with the revolution. But now that the land army had reacted there was a threat that the coastal cities would be targeted first, and there was no word on who the Guffingfordi air force had joined. He scowled and prowled his mind for thoughts.

Powles Andersen was the kind of man who fought for glorification, and not for his country. He had risen through the ranks only by a cold blooded determination to be the very best. At some point he would have probably attempted to run for one of the higher positions of the civilian government, but all that was close to impossible now. He hated himself for joining the serf's cause, but at the time there was little else he could do. Now he thought of ways to reverse the errors of his ways. He was sure that if there was more time without action the Stevidian Navy would attempt to bring the Guffingfordi Navy to their side, despite the war between the two previously, and Admiral Andersen could have nothing of the like. He had been fretting over this for four days, already.

His thoughts were broken when a man burst through his office's thick wooden doors. The admiral looked up and ordered, "What is it ensign?"

The sailor looked nervous, "We have reports that the IV Regional Corps is reacting. Intelligence claims that they are three days away."

Shit, the admiral thought to himself. Then it struck him. "Send orders to all sailors to return to post. We are leaving north."

The ensign looked confused at first, "North, sir?"

The admiral nodded and smiled, "Yes, north. We will rondevouz with an allied fleet there and retake the coastal cities for the revolution."

At that the ensign smiled, "Of course, sir!"

"Oh, and before you go, get my ring of officers in here please. We will need to discuss the strategy of this entire unfortunate ordeal."

"Of course, sir!"

There was no allied fleet. They would be surrendering their ships to the Second Empire of the Golden Throne. There was no doubt in Admiral Andersen's mind that within days the Empire would have thousands of men on Guffingfordi soil - it would be best to cater to them before he found himself dead.

All over the city claxons were soon sounding, as men rushed to their respective ships. Flags of the new Republic were risen on the masts, and soon every man and woman in the service was doing their best to prepare the fleet for immediate movement north. Of course, not many people were aware of where exactly they were going - only the officers, which were aligned to the old Republic anyways.

III Regional Corps Headquarters, Southern Guffingford
15 August, 2016

General Teunis Brooder looked annoyed, and so did the rest of the III Corps staff seated around him. They were in a very bare, concrete room, in the center of one of the buildings of the III Corps field headquarters, given that they had been more or less kicked out of all urban areas. The general lifted his head and asked, "What is the news in the rest of the country?"

Another general, a brigadier, shook his head, "None of the major cities are under the control of the military, except in the northwest. All the cities along the Zarbian and Havenic borders are occupied - the peasant revolt found it impossible to dislodge the military. However, divisions there have refused to move south in case the Zarbians or Havenic hordes decide to pounce on them. Already, intelligence is suggesting that the Zarbian military is positioning key units along the border. We fear a land grab, so perhaps our military there is correct. The 3rd Republican Elite is in Hoogenbosch, but they have been slowed down in house to house fighting against the serfs. Nevertheless, reports are positive and the police station was relieved. They have decided to allot the II Regional Corps to reinforce the I Regional Corps in the Fruytherghen area. But, if Hoogenbosch falls then the rest of the country will just be a clean-up. I believe that we have averted full scale civil war."

Another general spoke up, "Nonsense. Even if Hoogenbosch falls, and the II Corps does reinforce the I Corps, the area around Hoogenbosh has still not been cleared! They made a grave tactical error. There is no doubt that the military, in the end, would come out the clear victor, but we are giving time to our neighbors to justify their land grabs by claiming to stabilize the country."

General Brooder waved them both off, "All that is inconsequential now. What is done, is done. I will need to speak with General Martel of the II Corps. He should reserve his strength in the area. I have a feeling that we will have new enemies within weeks." He paused for a second, rethinking what he was originally going to say. It came back to him, "Our six divisions will move northeast, immediately. We must take Cerfontaine before Stevid had justification for occupying it."

A lesser officer cut in, "What about the large Imperial fleet moving into Otium Aqua?"

Brooder solemnly shook his head, "They are not guaranteed victory, and it would be best if we took the city ourselves." The rest seemed to agree.

General Brooder stood up and snapped his fingers. A stream of privates flooded the room, bringing in maps and projection equipment and the like. Quickly they set it up behind the general, and it was almost no time at all the time it took to allow the general to continue with his presentation. An attendant rolled down a huge map, hoisted along the rear concrete wall and offered the general a pointer. The map was of the immediate area around them. The general looked at all the men in the room and then coldly said, "Our saga begins today."

He placed the pointer on Cerfontaine, "This is our principle target. The 2nd Armored Division and 36th Republican Elite Mechanized Infantry Division will take the city. The schedule allots them eight days to complete the task. Civilian casualties are to be ignored - they have the right to do anything which guaranteed that the job will get done as quickly as possible." He let that order sink in. "The 43rd Mechanized Infantry Division will aim for here." The pointer fell on the small city of Fairfax. "They will use this as a headquarters for daily patrols in a radius of 30 kilometers. I want the entire region swept clean of rebel soldiers. The 2nd Cavalry Division will have to cover the areas approaching Hoogenbosch, and also clear them. The 6th Cavalry and 9th Armored Division will stay here as a strategic reserve, in case we need them to bolster any of our other divisions."

He let the information sit on them for a while, and then finished, "Is this understood?"

There were mutters of 'yes, sir' and other affirmations, and in general there were no reservations against the orders. It took only eighteen hours to prepare all the required divisions for operations, and within those eighteen hours over thirty thousand men were on their way towards Cerfontaine.

IINSA Headquarters, Fedala
15 August, 2016

High Director Patrik Le'mons looked outside the conference room window with both of his hands clenched behind his back. The conference room manifested his personal tastes. The walls were decorated with beautiful paintings - originals from the First Empire. The table was huge, and was pure oak. Around it sat twenty of the highest ranking security officers of the Empire, and they all had something to do with the Guffingford ordeal. In fact, they had been looking into the country for the past several years and it had all reached a climax when the Order of the Invisible Hand first began delving into Guffingford's politics. Now they were possibly the best informed foreign government service on the situation in the country, and the most ready to react.

Le'mons, still looking out the window, asked, "Is the 11th ready?" He was referring to the 11th Special Operations Forces Heavy Assault Brigade, specially trained for this kind of work.

One of the men around the table spoke up, "Yep. They can leave as soon as we tell them. They're rather anxious, too."

Le'mons didn't look back, "Unfortunately, we can't do anything more until we have some sort of cooperation from the government. We need to understand each other's objectives in Guffingford. Nevertheless, I will go ahead and permit that the 11th leave immediately. I want them to secure a foothold for future deployments."

Another man asked a question, "Are we to expect more special forces deployments in the country?"

Le'mons nodded, "Yep. Light, air mobile brigades are going to be the norm. Until the Ejermacht breaks through Sarcanza we can't expect heavy units in Guffingford. However, there are already invasion plans drawn up for Riptide Mozarc once Sarcanza is regained, and from there we can pour in heavy units through the north. But, this will not take place until the next year, at the very least. Nevertheless, there are chances that the Empire will deploy its larger airborne and air assault corps in Guffingford, as well as light armor and such. We should have numerical advantage over most of our foes."

They all muttered to each other about that, and then another question was asked, "What of Zarbia?"

"Our satellites have reported movements along their border with Guffingford. We should expect an invasion by the beginning of September, but they shouldn't be capable of extending their borders very far. Intelligence reports say that they are striving to simply reach the coast. I think Zarbia understand that they are not capable of defeating us on land, and I don't think they want us to renew our invasion of their western borders. In the short term, their invasion will draw off potential resistance against us and will provide stabilization forces in that area of the country. We, after all, have no reason to be greedy."

Another man agreed, "Of course."

"Stevid?"

Le'mons knew less about that question. "I don't know, and there is nothing suggesting anything about them at the moment. We have satellite feed that shows Guffingfordi movements towards Cerfontaine, and so if the military captures this coastal city there is a chance that Stevid will not be able to occupy it. If they do there is nothing we can do about it until the Empire opens up Otium Aqua."

They spoke and conjured up plans for hours more, but the most important information had already been heard.
Stevid
19-06-2007, 12:00
Imperial Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The past months of war had kept this usually quiet department of government extremely busy, may times have the civil servants burned the midnight oil to try and get their heads round al the happenings and unforeseen eventualities that the Empire was facing. The invasion of the Merkar Republic and the possible complete annexation of Bigtoa had kept the Foreign Office awake for days as it worked hard to draft papers of governmental reforms, treaties and the final documents that would be presented to the Merkar Republic politicians on annexation day. On top of this was the threat to Stevid’s colonial provinces and Dominions such as the North Hanover Island Chain Dependency, Kurona and Adaptus Astrates- a nation Stevid had successfully managed to keep out of the war and in relative safety from the hordes of enemy Imperials. But another matter had been receiving vast attention by the Foreign Office’s resources, a matter regarding the occupation of Guffingford.

Everybody in the country, perhaps every nation participating in the war knew that Guffingford was never going to be the same again and it was obvious that The Macabees, Stevid, Zarbia and maybe even Safehaven would like its fair share of the now unoccupied land. Guffingford was rich, no longer in economical terms but in natural resources; they prided themselves on their oil, gas and diamond deposits and exported far more than imported which thus made them extremely powerful economically when the former government was in its prime. Now with the Guffingfordii navy almost mortally wounded, the army incompetent and violent and the air force practically non-existent, the time seemed right for the Empire to step in and “Bring order to Chaos”. The government was terrible and had no real control over the marauding armies of Guffingford that seemed to have taken it upon themselves to solve the country’s problems by force. Stevid saw this, as well as the new Guffingfordii government, as a glorified coup d’etat which would leave the fragile government in pieces and the country in open rebellion and possible civil war that could take years to end. Civil war was probably the better option for the military than sitting around watching the country fall to pieces seeing as fighting wars were what the army was good at- and they would win it. However the army commanders were no fools and realised that foreign intervention was a real possibility and would again rather civil war than a foreign conflict. Guffingford’s current situation could only be described as anarchy.

Apart from the reasons of expanding the Holy Empire into its Forth Stage of Expansion and leaching off the natural resources of Guffingford, the Empire of Stevid decided that their nearest neighbour was ripe with anarchy was almost as dangerous as the threat posed by the Golden Throne. If the military took charge then it would not only make conquering parts of Guffingford difficult but it would make the population harder to win over in the event of occupation and the Empire always prepared to annexe hostile or beleaguered countries as peacefully and as friendly as possible so as to prevent open rebellion. This didn’t always work as was found by the invasion of Truce Island only a month ago when the plebs of the island revolted over a public hanging conducted, without informing the Stevidian Government, by the Knights Templar of the Catholic Church. In Guffingford’s case it was to be even more difficult, the population had been led to believe than Stevid was a terrible country, the epitome and living embodiment of evil in the region by the previous government. Guffingford was not exactly a free country and the population lapped it up as a consequence. When the events of the happenings between the Guffingfordii Navy and the Royal Navy in South Otium Aqua became clearer the theories and speeches fed to the masses seemed to have been proven. The embassy was bombed once more and Special Forces had to be swiftly called in to try and rescue the civil servants and ambassadors, all the while the Guffingfordii administration and government on a whole was on the verge of collapse and lost power days later. The army and air force were up to scratch at this stage and while the Special Forces succeeded in penetrating the air space of Guffingford, they failed to return home safely. Upon rescuing the embassy staff the helicopters called for a tanker for air-to-air refuelling but were shot down by the Guffingfordii Air Force before they good give their position to the RAF. This fanned the fuels of hatred in Stevid against Guffingford which still burn to this day, but Guffingford’s plummet into the sea of anarchy has done much to quench the thirst for Guffingfordii blood Stevid craved for.

Since the Guffingford’s impressive fall from power, the island of Rubet in Stevid had been chosen as the somewhat obvious staging grounds for an occupying invasion force of Guffingford comprising of the unused bipedal tanks and the rather large Territorial Army. Training with the Independent Hitmen forces since the war began helped them gain much needed experience before entering the wilderness across the Otium Aqua, tank training within the confines of a city was top of the list since the port cities were of significant interest to Stevid. Open ground training was standard for the TA and was only lightly touch on during the previous month but the TA had to quickly adapt to the confines of urban terrain in case the Guffingfordii army decided not to join the Stevidian forces- the invasion would go ahead as planned but diplomacy would be encouraged with the pirates that were the foreign armies of Guffingford. It was unlikely that they would join Imperial forces from Stevid seeing as their allies previously were The Macabees who undoubtedly were beginning to build up reserve forces for a push into Guffingford.

The war in Safehaven had ground to a halt many, many weeks ago. The 24th Foot Mechanised Infantry Battalion was in the process of being completely removed from the Safehaven capital city of Haven having seen no action at all and the frontline in no danger of threatening the city any time soon. The two armoured corps Stevid had in Safehaven, one being the famous XXX Corps that had served in countless battles over the past two decades were weakened but battle hardened and a major push from the Golden Throne would result in high casualties on both sides- modern warfare was about inflicting as many kills on the enemy as possible while limiting your own, a concept that would soon be forgotten in the Haven theatre if the enemy generals were crazy enough to authorise another mass attack. The Macabees had gained so much territory now that the only the sides were fighting was for nothing more than nation pride, the Golden Throne were far too power to push back now and the only thing the Haven Pact could do was hold the line and hope for greater successes in other theatres.

With the war going well in the Merkar Republic and the Otium Aqua getting ready for a renewed assault by the Kriegmarda, Guffingford was the next target for the Stevidian forces sitting bored in Rubet Island. Three cities were targeted for complete capture: Cerfontaine, Del Monte Pelado and Port Huyzen. Satellite imagery was minimal now though, with the happenings in Otium Aqua that required real-time data and 100% attention as well as the war against the Merkar Republic, only a few satellites could be spared. RAF spy planes would shoot over the unprotected skies of Guffingford every now and again to get better pictures of rebel forces and the situation on the ground in the cities. Unfortunately things didn’t look good, Cerfontaine was being methodically approached by a rebel army that would undoubtedly attempt to take and hold the city- while Stevid’s goals required the taking of the city, its loss would not be a major blow and once the war with Merkar is over additional forces could be sent to Guffingford to take the city from the rebellious infidels of the former great Guffingfordii army. Rumours that the combat deprived 24th Foot Battalion that were crack at urban warfare from the Holy Panooly civil war could be redeployed to Guffingford where they would try and take Cerfontaine in the likely event that the enemy would get there first.

Port Huyzen was a city that was almost guaranteed to fall to Imperial forces from Stevid and any rebellion there would hopefully be crushed. The city further inland of Del Monte Pelado didn’t seem to have many enemy forces centred around it but that could easily change- no matter what happened though, Stevid was to invade and take as much of Guffingford as possible, Stevid would invade and be there to stay.

Everything mentioned was being mulled over by the Foreign Office, military officials and tacticians were working on data and devising tactical strategies and army moves to be taken. All led to the same thing, Cerfontaine was not to be easily taken and the majority of forces sent to Guffingford would have to be sent there. They also agreed that the 24th Mechanised Infantry Battalion would be sent to Cerfontaine to fight in the urban terrain there. Their experience in the ruined Panooly city of Volta would be crucial if the city was to be taken. If all else failed then Stevid would have gain two cities, several town and a couple of hundred miles of mineral rich terrain to leach off for the benefit of the Holy Empire.