NationStates Jolt Archive

Havenica Spizani Minor, Haven

The almost entirely reservist army of the colony was undertaking its largest exercise to date, with all 82 divisions mobilisied and deployed in various exercise areas, all of which just happened to fall close to the border with the neighbouring colony of Mya, the exercise had been entitled Progress and was simply an enlarged form of the standard annual exercise undertaken by Confederate Units in Haven, the divisions had been fully equipped and armed, as was confederate practice.
Airbourne assets and naval units had been attached to the exercise, as was usual for such a event, which was expected to showcase various developments in combined arms tactics and strategic theory. And now interceptors and attack aircraft flew over IFVs spread across the frontier region, in front/back symettrical attack formations that would allow the units to advance easily in either direction, which was also standard Confederate Policy for mechanised forces.
The Exercise was going to be impressive, and the countdown was broadcast in the clear across the operational frequency, "Exercise Begins in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Begin Operation Pink Dragon, Good Luck"
And then it started.....

Instead of the two sides of the exercise begining to engage in simulated combat, they commenced the firing of live weapons, not against each other, but against the defences of Mya.
Highball Surface to Surface Missiles began dropping there 15 tonne RDX payloads on known air defence stations, as aircraft commenced attack runs against critical facilities throughout the colony, yet more Attack Aircraft and artillery began dropping vast amounts of fire on anything that even looked vaguely like a military installation within the colony, unfortunately the scale of the battle put most targets out of range of the artillery, even with RA ammunition, so attack aircraft took the lead, firing ASMs at airbases and so on, which would probably result in considerable collateral damage, but this was war, and they were attacking a rather powerful nation, so the thousands of artillery peices and attack birds available were turned loose, there could be no quarter. They gave priority to enemy artillery posistions and airbases, and then worked through supply dumps, barracks and field posistions for armoured and mechanised forces, before moving onto miscellaneous unknowns that were suspected of being military in nature. Although the defensive practices in use by the Scandinavian Armed Forces would keep facilities targetted by the artillery to a minimum, there was sure for there to be something to attack, and the Aircraft would have free reign if the first strike succeeded.
The Armoured and Mechanised Formations of the Territorial Army, Yeomenry and the Regular Army reversed formation and began to drive out of there exercise areas and over the border into Mya within two minutes, heading down predetermined road and rail arteries in an attempt to penetrate deep into the defending rear area before it was possible for them to react, Armoured Recon Vehicles in the lead, tanks, WTDs and Infantry Fighting Vehicles following. The fighters that had been prepared to engage in simulated dogfights with each other now turned towards Mya and began firing live BVRAAMs against any and all enemy fighter or attack aircraft that had been in the sky at the time.
On the offshore island that composed the original, and the smaller of the colonies two parts, which is also the slice of territory that had given the colony its name, three of the 82 divisions now ploughing into the enemy would make there push, while the other 79 would doso on the mainland, where the real prizes were to be had.

Offshore, CIC of the CSS Conqueror

The deckplates laid on the floor of the Combat Information Centre of the Lion-Class Battleship shook as her 28 34" Mark 1 Naval ETC Rifles fired on enemy shore batteries, both for missiles and guns, and a wierd noise could be heard throughout the hull as her missile tubes emptied SSMs that engaged other coastal defences that were out of range of the gun batteries and airbases, meanwhile her escorts were firing huge numbers of SSMs against any vessel bearing an enemy ensign that could possibly be armed or used as a reconnaisance/ELINT platform, which was alot.
The Larger ships were on the recieving end of several hundred Khan Anti Shipping Missiles, which acted in teams and altered targets based on the fluid combat scenario, they engaged anything over a hundred thousand tonnes, starting with the largest vessels, while the smaller vessels were targetted from the smallest upwards, using GLAM missiles fired from Helocopters all the way up to Shockhounds and MAS Tresspassers depending on the target.
All this was observed by Commodore Melissa Therieu as she sipped her mug of coffee while standing at the plot table, the vibrations of the ship were kicking up a standing wave form on the surface of the coffee, but ofcourse the annyoance that she felt would soon be replaced with Glee at the numbers of enemy vessels sure to be put out of action by her battlegroup, which she foudn highly annoying, so she resolved to put in a requisition for better shock absorbers on the gun turrets, shed claim they interfered with computer performance or something......

The CAP over the fleet was brought to maximum density as all available fighter aircraft were launched immediately on commencement of the attack, this was war, one they needed to win. Attack Aricraft and Bombers were however held back until the need for them to engage the enemy materialised seriously, they couldnt waste them on attacking fishing boats.....

Forward Command Post, 67th PO Rifle Regiment, Attached to the 3rd Havenite Division (PO)

"Initial Reports coming in now sir, lead units report no resistance, infact they havent seen anyone since they crossed the border, now 8km into the advance, they should reach the initial objectives within a matter of an hour or so" called one of the radio officers attached to the lieutenant colonel's command staff, while other radiomen recieved similar reports from all the lead companies in the regiment, and indeed from all the other regiments in the division.
"Its almost as if the enemy have dissapeared completely" muttered the brigadier, who should really have been at the brigade command post which was in a nice and safe bunker surrounded by a ring of SAM batteries, but instead he took commmand of the brigades lead regiment from the forward command post, it was after all the regiment he had led before his promotion to the rank of Brigadier some three years previously, and he still felt more confortable here than behind the lines, his staff officers were well trained, they could handle it for a while.

bumpitz

There is a reason we have a havean theater thread [also TG Generic Empire about this so he knows]

Being in the middle of a war, even if the bulk of the fighting is tens of thousands of kilometers away, tends to heighten one's alertness. Having a neighbor who is at best neutral conduct wargames despite the war does nothing to put the belligerent nation at ease. In fact, it tends to heighten the state of readiness in any competent military, which the Imperial Armed Forces most certainly qualified as. So, it was no great surprise when the wargames turned into an assault against Mya. Very little, if any, help would be forthcoming from the other Duchies, the commanders in Mya knew, but that was perfectly alright. A Duchy's defenses were meant to be self-contained, so that in the event it was cut off it could fight, and win, on its own.


E-15 Valkyrie AWACS
Altitude: 50,000 feet
Bearing: 090

"Vampire, vampire, vampire. Raid 300 and counting. Designating surface contacts Red 1.1 through Red 1.100," intoned the operator of Station 3.

"Roger Valkyrie 1, keep that feed going and we'll take the engagement from here," answered whoever was running the flagship's tactical station.


Task Force 10
Distance From Enemy: 314 kilometers
Bearing: 090

"Idiots," muttered Fleet Admiral Tim, before she raised her voice and started barking orders, "Comms, fleet orders. Defense Plan Alpha. Hold the Gs until they decide to actually try. They may fire when ready"

The Flag Lieutenant manning comms nodded once before quietly speaking into his microphone. A moment later he turned back to the Fleet Admiral, "All flags acknowledge, Admiral. They're beginning the engagement now."

"Ma'am," Tactical called, "It looks like some of those missiles are Khans."

Tim stared at her plot in disbelief before tapping a few keys to query the ship's Combat Information Center. The answer came back affirming the Commander's observation. A delighted peel of laughter erupted from her throat, "Oh Dear Lord, this is so special. Comms, fleet orders, those Khans have priority, burn them out of the sky."

"Aye, ma'am," replied the Commander.

The fleet's integrated defenses, which included the AWACS tracking the missile from the moment they launched meant that the Imperial Navy TF quickly managed to get inside the launch loop of the Spizanian fleet. In fact, the anti-missile fire came on so fast and so heavily that after a while the Spizanian missiles were barely shedding their rocket boosters before three Imperial SAMs would come in on converging vectors and end their short existences.

"All vampires have been staked, ma'am. Doesn't look like any of their fighters are down, do you want to engage them?" The Commander in charge of Flag Tactical Station asked.

Tim considered it a moment before replying, "No, hold defensive fire. They're not going to have ships in a moment. Comms, get me an open link to that Task Group's commander."

The Lieutenant pushed a couple buttons before turning to the Flag Admiral and reporting, "Open mike, Ma'am."

Fleet Admiral Tim nodded before she took a deep breath and started speaking, "Tsk, tsk, Admiral. Trying a sneak attack like that. You had those shiny Khans and you wasted them by getting so close that even a depressed boost put them in range of nearly a third of my SAMs. Luckily you didn't force us to use all that many. Now you're going to get some of your own back. And no, I'm not going to waste my breath on asking for your surrender, you tried to stab my fleet and my nation in the back and now I'm going to gut you like a fish. I most sincerely hope you enjoy the experience."

Tim signaled for the live mike to be cut, "Comms, fleet orders. Strike Plan X-Ray. Flags may fire when ready."

"Aye ma'am," replied the Lieutenant before issuing the necessary orders.

A moment later all the ships in the fleet began firing their medium range strike missiles at the maximum rate of fire, one missile per second per VLS block. Strike Plan X-Ray was the standard Imperial Navy plan for a short-range (anything under 1,100km) missile engagement. Ever single BGM-502 the fleet had would be flushed as quickly as possible and the tidal wave of fire would crash down on the enemy fleet. For this particular engagement, that meant the Imperial Navy TF would equal the total volume of fire thrown at it every 4.6 seconds. Fully half of the missiles were aimed at the Spizanian capital ships, while the rest were given free reign to attack whatever they saw. There was no finesse to the plan; missiles didn't come in on multiple vectors, there were no EW birds mixed in, it was just pure and unadulterated firepower.


E-128A Regulator AWACS
Altitude: 55,000 feet
Bearing: 045

"Mya Control, we've incoming cruise missiles and bogies have just crossed into Imperial air space. You might want to get on top of those missiles, we'll vector in fighters as they get in the air."

"Mya Control copies, Sheriff 3. Nearest CAP to the bogies is Spear 1-3, we're handing them off to you now. Godspeed."

"Roger Mya Control. Hold the fort down for us, yeah?"

"Roger, Sheriff 3. Rounds on us when you get back. Mya Control out."

"Spear 1-3 Actual here, Sheriff 3. What've you got for us?"

"Baby seals, Actual, baby seals. Match vectors with the bogies and climb to Angels Eight Zero. Weapons free. Fuck 'em up for us."

"Roger, Sheriff. Spear 1-3 Actual, out."


Spear 1-3 (FB-101 Super Halberd flight)
Range To Enemy: 210km
Altitude: 80,000 feet
Bearing: 061

"Alright, ladies and gents. Last call, smoke 'em if you got 'em," called 1-3 Actual, known by the call sign of Blade.

In response the other FB-101s in the eight aircraft flight flipped on their radars, the constant frequency hopping made it near impossible for enemy Radar Warning Receivers to pin down the source of the massive amount of energy. Then the missiles were armed, 36 AIM-510B carried in the internal bays of each of the bomber-interceptors.

"Boss, that be 200 klicks. I think I be sharing my smokes, ne?" Asked Charger, one of the younger and more freewheeling of the pilots in the flight.

"Eh, Charger. Flight, tallyho!" Marked the beginning of the engagement.

Calls of "Fox 2" echoed up and down the flight's tight beam channel.. When all of the flight's missiles were expended, it had taken no more than a minute, the aircraft turned around and hit their burners for the short spring back to their base. The Super Halberd was an interceptor of the old school, it lacked a gun and was far too large to take on fighters of any kind even if it did.


Mya Control

Much like the Imperial Navy TF holding the bay, every city had substantial air defenses. In fact, an Imperial city was probably the single most defended place in Haven. It would take entire Imperial Questarian Naval Air Service to do substantial damage to a city's defenses and defense-related infrastructure. The simple reason for that was the fact that most Imperial cities had hundreds of millions of residents, and those that didn't still had tens of millions. It was for that reason that the initial Spizanian attack against Lawan was as successful as its attack against Task Force 10, which was to say not at all.

Combat Information Centre, CSS Conqueror
"Missile barrage ineffective, no penetration of target defence network" called the missile command officer, looking rather pale at the thought of all that firepower going to waste, the Commodore just smiled as she took another gulp of her coffee, "If im right, well wel know soon enough, Sound Battle Stations Missile Strike 1, Maximum Alert status, get every bird off the deck, including our PDIs, and load some Mike-Wun-Too-Toos, tell the Republic to do the same"
The Combat watch officer facing her lifted his old-style telephone headset to the side of his head and began passing on orders as the ship turned to bring all seven of its main turrets to bear upon the distant enemy battlegroup"
"Vampire Vampire, Oh God, thousands of them" came a crackle over the radio, the radar operator who had reported the contact apparently forgetting to follow proper protocall, such was the urgency of his message.

Fishtail-Two Zero, AWACS Off of CSS Incorruptable

"Vampire Vampire, Oh God, thousands of them" was all the Radar operator could manage as thousands upon thousands of Cruise missiles appeared on his low attitude plot, tens of thousands of them......
"Code Red Alert, Data passed to your command system, commence firing immediately" was the instinctive instruction sounded by the planes pilot as her pair of escorts broke to fire there own Medium Range missiles at the oncoming horde.
"Roger that, missiles launching now, good luck" came the voice of the distressed control officer aboard the Incorruptable. "Good luck" echoed the pilot, hed always rather liked that deck officer, and hoped that if the ships number came up, him and the deck gang would get off the ship alive, although that might have been to much to hope.

CSS Conqueror Battlegroup

The PDI interceptors kicked off of the turret tops as the missiles approached and white and grey smoke began to obscure huge swathes of the fleet as all teh ships with long range SAMs began discharging them with reckless abandon, every ship of destroyer size and above was launching missiles, while hte stealthy frigates meerly orientated themselves to allow for maximum launch rates when they closed within range of the short range missile pickets on the outer edge of the fleet.
The fleet had just over five minutes to respond to the threat from the time they had appeared on the AWACs Radar Warning Screen, within two minutes the first thirty five thousand Long Range Surface to Air Missiles were in the air, nearly half of the entire Ultra Long Range SAM stockpile available, this included the entire stock that was carried into action by Conqueror, which had been exhausted in the thirty seconds.
As these missiles roared out towards the enemy fleet the load of Long Range missiles being discharged fell to a trickle as the SAM controllers waited to see what the success rate of the missiles would be, which ahd been directed onto the target by a combination of the AWACs control systems and there own active seeker RADARs, alongside Sattelite based systems that were so classified half the fleet didnt even know they were operational.
The missiles were moving slightly faster than the AShMs they were designed to intercept, and so reached them just over half way to the launching armada, lighting up the skies over that unfortunate point of ocean with numerous fireballs as missiles crashed into each other and exploded, filling the sky with more shrapnel that blew up still more missiles of every kind, fracticide was probably a major problem for both fleets.
The ULRSAMs proved themselves an excellent investment of time and energy, and eliminated there chosen targets an aggregate of approximately 70% of the time, which was partially due to such a large number of missiles being packed so close together than shrapnel frequently struck more than one missile.
However since only half as many SAMs as inbounds had been launched, this translated to only 35% of the salvo destroyed. Which left approximately forty-nine and a half thousand missiles rushing towards the fleet.
Rather than squandering the remaining stock of ULR missiles remaining to the battlegroup, they waited until the missiles were at approximatley 100km from the outer pickets, at which point the "Short-Range" missiles opened up, this time coming from the outer pickets themselves, which unleashed wave after wave of missiles, many emptying there magazines as another sixty thousand missiles rose in challenge to the approaching hail of shiny tipped death, again the missiles equitted themselves honourably, an average of 76% of the weapons knocking out a target on aggregate, taking out all but about four thousand of the inbounds, which were split fairly evenly between those attacking the capital ship and those attacking targets of oppurtunity, then about 25 kilometres out those outer escorts that had half full standard missile containers emptied them, sending about another 12,000 missiles into the sky, or approximately three per missile, wiping the barrage from the sky, at an enormous cost.
The cruisers moved outwards in the pattern as the lighter escorts moved in closer, used minature rockets fixed to the bottom of 16 missile cells to flush them out of the ship and into the ocean, and came alongside one of the battlegroups four replenishment vessels, which began to swiftly reload the SAMs on the groups outer escorts, without half an hour, it was probably that the fleet s escorts would again have full missile loadouts.

Gunnery Control Room, CSS Conqueror

While all this "sissy missile business" (in the words of the Conquerors Senior Heavy Gunnery Officer), was happening, the crews of the three heaviest battlewagons in the fleet, Conqueror, Republic and Warspite were firing there main armaments, why you might ask would they do this when the fleet was 340km away? Surely they could not reach out that far, even with the insane 34"/70 Mark 1 mountings they possessed?
With "conventional" ammunition this was correct, however these three ships were in possesion of M122-Alpha Ammunition, which allowed them to strike out to 411km.
They were basically 20" subcalibre sabots, with a difference, when the subcalibre projectile reached the apex of its arc, small fins unfolded from a slip ring at the back of the projectile, and began to guide it towards a target that was being lit up for it by radars form the fleet, from low orbit and from the AWACs above the fleet, in event that this was jammed, M112-Bravo and Charlie ammunition was also avialable.
Every one of those three ships combined 38 34" barrels was harnessed for the purpose of firing the ammunition, and with advanced autoloaders allowing them to fire every 45 seconds, they could put up a fearsome amount of firepower.
Even with the expensive and state of the art technology used in the M122 program, accuracy at these ranges was poor, about 15% against a target the size of the Morrigan-class CVAN CVAN-195, which was the target of these predations. With 38 barrels firing every forty five seconds, 50-51 shells were fired per minute, with a 15% accuracy rate, that meant seven or eight shells would hit the carrier every minute, which might not sound like that devestating, but it was when you considered that each of the two and a half tonne projectiles would be hitting the deck at nearly 1400 metres per second.

Meanwhile the carrier based aircraft continued to orbit, waiting for a true air battle to begin, rotating at combat densities to ensure that the squadrons in the air would have sufficient fuel to fight proper air battles and ensuring that there were always triple the ordinary number of AWACs birds on duty.
The only anti air or air to air action that occured was a trio of Ultra Long Range Praetorians was launched against each of the 8 bombers that had deployed missiles against them, they might have thought they were safe, but at that range and altitude they were well over the horizon when viewed from the fleet, and that made them tempting targets. And what was another 32 missiles in the grand scheme of things?

[Alright, Spiz, I'm starting to have some serious reservations about this entire RP. First, you tell me that you sprung this thing on me because that's what Matt told you to do, which Matt denies (and I'm inclined to believe Matt since he's been reasonable about planning OOC notification and seeking my opinion on the course of the war.) Then, and this only reinforces my belief in Matt, Zuk comes to me and tells me the he's entering the war and that it was planned from the beginning.

I don't mind losing ships, any losses are going to be replaced after the war (and then some) anyway. What I do mind is the premise that my military is so stupid that they would leave fleets in a bay where they can be Pearl Harbored. I think it's also rather silly to assume that they wouldn't get underway when neighbors allied to the QC starting massive freaking wargames right in the middle of a bloody war. That's a mite suspicious, don't you think? Considering how cautious the Imperial Armed Forces have been so far, it's rather out of character to ignore potentially hostile fleets that have at least a numerical parity and the advantage of position.

So, here's what you're going to do if you want this war to continue. One, you're going to start a new thread where the buildup to the wargames so that I can respond to them as I normally would IC. Two, you're actually going to talk to me and plan this out, because my patience for getting clusterfucked without my knowledge is gone. Three, since you've brought in a partner, I do believe I'm going to bring in TSS so that this war isn't quite so one-sided.]