NationStates Jolt Archive

Sixth Armada
To say the least, the power that was amassed here would make any admiral have a wet-dream. There were more than fifty fleet and and superheavy carriers, not to mention all the escort carriers. In addition, there were plenty of screens and surface combatants to protect these fine vessels, the amount of firepower would be enough to 'Epicly PWN' any naval forces that were likely the enemy was likely to deploy. The first order of business would be to seize an island sixty kilometers off of the Kahanistani mainland, there engineers would happily construct several airfields for the deployment of purpose-built air superiority fighters and heavy bombers. The task of seizing the island of Los Libretos would fall to 1st Marine Division supported by naval gunfire and fleet air power.

After several weeks of sailing, the armada was now nearing combat range. They were a mere day away from being within three hundred kilometers of Kahanistan, whereupon they would transverse from international waters to Kahanistani waters. Then they'd have to deal with the Kahanistani navy, but Grand Admiral Winston was confident that the Sixth Armada could easily defeat any attempt by the Kahanistani's to intercept them. The armada itself was actually well spread out, they had split into fleets, this would make it harder much harder for the enemy to fight them all in one area, and each fleet had the firepower to take down the significantly weaker enemy navy. Soon enough, the war would begin.

OOC: I could have done a huge intro-post, but I figured we might as well get it on, as I couldnt really create a backstory for the invasion.

The parameters of the war simulation gave Kahanistan its pre-Doomani Wars projected population of roughly 5.3 billion. However, most of Kahanistan's new navy was in the future, so specifications for the ships were unavailable until shown feasible.

Wunderwaffen (something that's crazy but may or may not work), more mainstream designs, and stuff that just plain won't work. "Shown feasible" is a reference to Draftroom approval. The fleet will therefore have mostly designs from Isselmere, as the swing towards a more domestic force is still in progress. However, it will be arranged in accordance with principles developed after the last war.]

Therefore, the Republic Navy numbered some 3,500 warships (slightly less than 2,000 surface ships, 1,000 submarines, and over 500 coastal defence craft - mainly in the form of missile boats and riverine patrol boats. Intelligence suggested T.P.F. planned to use this island as a staging ground to invade Kahanistan, kill its leaders, and convert its people to Christianity.

"Let me get this straight," said the admiral who had just been told to take command of all five of Kahanistan's War Armadas, 1,965 ships in all, and all of its 400 attack and 400 interceptor submarines, leaving but 200 ballistic missile submarines, 300 missile boats, and 200 riverine and coastal patrol boats in the water. "You want me to take the ENTIRE navy and throw them at T.P.F. Our navy that we need to keep TPF from hitting us HERE?"

"Admiral, are you familiar with the concept of defeat in detail?" asked the President. "The enemy sends a massive contingent of its forces and systematically, one at a time, eliminates large forces and eventually does damage many times their own strength. We have five War Armadas assigned to five points on the map. TPF will, if allowed to hold this island, will turn it into a base of operations from which to attack us. On top of that, Lord only knows what they're doing to the natives. If they attack us, they will destroy one War Armada at a time and leave us defenceless, then they will blockade us and starve us. We must strike now, and strike while they are still building."

The President's aide spoke up. "We should verify their intentions. If they are unable to provide a peaceable explanation for this land grab, then we should see it as an act of hostility, then take it out with nuclear weapons."

"Nuclear weapons are not an option, not until they attack us with them first," said the President and Admiral. The President continued. "If we waited for the Doomani to use neutron bombs before nuclear retaliation, then we will certainly not use them in a first strike against one of their slave-allies."

Within two hours, orders went to all five War Armadas to prepare for a united operation. At the same time, the President sent a missive to the government of TPF.

We are deeply concerned about the existence of this TPF military base near our waters. If history has taught us anything, those who build bases near our territory generally seek to attack it.

We have never threatened TPF forces and ask that they allow us to inspect the bases, or at least provide an explanation for constructing them so close to our soil. Any classified documents can be placed in a secure vault(s) that is / are too small to hide weapons.

OOC: From what I understand from your post, you're letting me land while moving your navy towards the islands. If I am wrong, just correct me. Also, TG me your MSN. I also apologize about these short posts, I promise they'll get better when the war actually begins.


On The Island
The operation to secure the island had gone quite smoothly. The Marines had landed, facing no resistance, as there were no enemy troops on the island. However, there were several native villages, a surprise to TPF. Many native women walked around topless, guarded angrily by their male guardians armed with bow or spear. It was easy to subdue the natives by showing them chocolate and weapons.

Only a few hours after the operation has begun, there were several large construction projects underway, the jungle was thick and needed to be cleared. Several casualties were sustained by men getting killed or hurt by animals or strange plants. Despite this, the work went one. SEABEES and Army engineers has already constructed several rough airfields, and this allowed for the first Atlas transport aircraft to arrived, brining supplies and more troops.

It would still be several weeks before the construction had progressed far enough to allow for the kind of support TPF wanted, so they needed to delay Kahanistan at all costs. It was difficult to prove that TPF intentions were peaceful, however, but TPF would try anyway.

Message to Kahanistan
We understand your concerns regarding this matter, however we would like to assure you that we have claimed this island as a strategic military base in Haven. This is vital to our national security interests, and we have no hostile intentions with Kahanistan.

[Check TG's.]

The Republic Navy began to move its fleets closer together. President Khalid bin Abdullah al-Omari, one of the few men to take that office without having served in the military (and therefore lacking in strategic skills) still wanted to continue negotiations with TPF. He was also a bit worried about unnamed "strategic military bases."

Shortly before Kahanistan's disastrous launch of nuclear and biological weaponry against its Doomani invaders, Zukariaa had declared Kahanistan a "threat to its strategic interests." That, apparently, was sufficient to merit an invasion. As such, Kahanistan was very worried about TPF's "strategic interests."

We wish to inspect the airfields that are under construction; unnamed "strategic interests" have in the past been used to justify wholly unprovoked invasions of our nation.

The Republic Navy is mobilising as a purely precautionary measure, and its commanders have strict orders not to fire unless fired upon. One transport ship will be deployed to the island to inspect your forces; the inspectors will carry only their sidearms and if no threat is intended, we would be willing to discuss the deployment of a joint force on the island.

Of course, the welfare of the natives is also of primary concern to us; we would be displeased if any were harmed or displaced.

[OOC: Since this is, after all, a war thread aimed at improving my military tactics, feel free to brush off the diplomatic manoeuvres more vigourously than you normally would.]

State Department Communication
We will not allow you to inspect the airfields. They are military based, obviously, but they are for our uses in Haven. The natives are being treated well, and some are now helping us construct our base. We assure you, their will be no harm done to your nation.

This was suspicious, but what could Kahanistan do? They didn't have national sovereignty over the island. Neither did TPF, for that matter, but that only muddied the waters; neither side had any real claim to the island, which meant that Kahanistan wasn't about to fight for it unless they had a good reason to suspect the natives were being mistreated.

A first strike was out of the question. Kahanistan could not afford to be seen as the aggressor, not after having its ass handed to it twice by TPF's ally, Doomingsland. What if they bombed an airfield and it turned out they were planning to attack one of the QC powers, and then the Questarians or someone occupied the island? They would have just handed ground to the enemy. The devil you know is better than the one you don't. Besides, they had cultural and political reasons to not be seen as the aggressor.

Instead, air defences went on high alert. Cities held air raid drills, in which the civilians ran into deep-earth shelters complete with oxygen tanks, filters, and full NBC gear. AWACS flew patrols off the Kahanistanian coast, to detect anything that looked like a bomber strike. The Air Force readied MiG-31 interceptors for basic intercept missions, travelling in flights of four at a time, to engage any stealth bombers the enemy might throw at them. GLI-76 VTOL fighters, imports from Kriegzimmer, trained taking off from the roughest terrain that the pilots felt it was safe to land on. When not in use, VTOL fighters were covered in tarps with astroturf glued on them to make them look like grassy knolls.

The Kahanistanian Air Force did not have many long-range strategic bombers; the B-2, some fifty of them, was the main bomber, and it was mostly used for leveling concentrations of ground troops when they didn't want to risk a CAS craft to enemy fire. During these drills, combat aircraft kept their distance well away from the island, so as not to provoke TPF, but to make it perfectly clear they were capable of defending themselves.

OOC: Would it be okay to speed up time till when the airfields are done?

[OOC: Sure. What's your MSN? I have several dozen NS'ers' MSN's on my list.

Also, since you're referring to Haven, let's say the war simulation parameters are still focused on a defence of the Havenic Republic, not having been updated yet, so let's use its map.]

OOC: I am the counterstrikefreak one, Andy_ U.S. Marines. Ill get a post up in the next hour or so, a little busy currently.

The Island
It had been six weeks since the first troops had landed on the island, and while their had been many ups and downs, the airfields and supply depots, along with various other structures, had been completed. Now it was time for the invasion to begin.

The plan called for Sixth Armada to move within striking distance of the enemy. This would hopefully provoke them into sending their navy, which would be crushed by superior naval forces. Then it was just a matter of landing the Marines and following up with the Army.

Now it was time for the enemy to move.

OOC: I am the counterstrikefreak one, Andy_ U.S. Marines. Ill get a post up in the next hour or so, a little busy currently.
[Don't think I have you. Feel free to add me; I TG'ed my MSN and it's in my profile if you didn't get / deleted it.]

The Republic Navy waited in the western shore. The plan for an invasion of the island had been scrubbed weeks ago, so only the Third War Armada, 385 ships strong, stood between TPF and the shoreline, watched from under the sea by the Fourth Submarine Assault Group, 100 Nowotny (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11023528&postcount=16) class attack submarines. The fleet began to fan out and wait within its territorial waters for TPF to strike first.

1x Chuck Norris class super dreadnaught
64x Court (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11023265&postcount=5) class light carrier (each equipped with 4x F-14, 4x F-35, 12x GLI-76, 4x E-2)
64x Castle (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11023391&postcount=11) class missile cruisers
96x Sianach (http://www.forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11674066&postcount=178) class GP destroyers
96x Bullfinch (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11023487&postcount=14) class frigates
64x Type AOE-6 supply vessels

The fleet commander hailed the TPF fleet from the bridge of his super dreadnaught.

"TPF warships. You are approaching the territorial waters of the Republic of Kahanistan. Please alter your course; we are on high alert at this time."

Sixth Armada
" Sir, the enemy fleet has ordered us to turn around and return to base."
" Fleet composition?"
" Mostly cruisers and frigates. One superdreadnought. Light carriers."
" Light carriers?"
" Ye sir.
" Well, this should be simple then. Scramble the aircraft, and make sure we have plenty of CAP, missile, and ASW coverage."
" Aye sir.
" Start moving the armada to missile range, but make sure the flyboys destroy some warships first.

The initial wave of aircraft consisted of roughly nine hundred hundred warplanes, around half of which was strike aircraft and the rest was air superiority, electronic warfare, and wild weasel aircraft. The initial wave was meant to destroy the screening boats, mainly identifying air defense cruisers and ASW frigates. Once these warships were clear, more waves could easily destroy the rest. The armada may never have to be in missile range.

"Admiral. The TPF fleet is deploying fighters."

"Well, I never expected them to turn back... now, we know who the bad guys are, and the public knows who the bad guys are, and the world knows who the bad guys are. Maintain ASF cover over the screening forces, and get our F-14 interceptors up in the air to hit their bombers. Let the President and Defence Minister know we've been attacked out here."

The enemy strike fighters mainly remained outside of missile range from the destroyers, which were going to be forced to rely on CIWS and RAM's to survive until the fleet closed into missile range, until when they were useless. F-14's from the carriers were disgorged to chase the wild weasels, though they were ordered not to get too close to the TPF fleet, where the enemy would hold air superiority.

"Order the destroyers to close in with the enemy fleet. Get the attack subs to lead the path, we don't want one of their subs taking us by surprise, or hitting our carriers, chas v'chalila, God forbid. Have the Castles follow close behind, if they pull anything, I want every missile the Castles have to blow them to Esh Gehennom, the Fire of Hell."

In The Air
Flying gracefully in the sky, the Seagull Electronic Warfare aircraft banked to the right. Piloting the bird was Captain Alexia Androv, and her co-pilot was Davis Jefferson. " Bring her down a little more, Jefferson, we have to make sure we can maximize our advantage here. Golden Eye, we are ready and prepped."
" Roger Oxen, you are clear to begin jamming enemy radar."
" Roger, Golden Eye, jamming radar."

With the radar jammed, the enemy would not be able to see exactly where the planes were, even if the SD's radar burnt through the jamming, it couldn't see all the planes, they were smart enough to fly well apart and at varying altitudes. This would ensure that the enemy would be unable to scramble interceptors and organize them well, and they couldn't use the screen to their maximum effectiveness.

The first planes were nearing striking distance. It was stand-off range, as the fleets were around 400km apart at this point. As they entered striking distance, the four hundred and fity aircraft began to fire their four MLSS-21's 400mm version (http://z4.invisionfree.com/NSDraftroom/index.php?showtopic=1223) at the destroyers and cruisers. Once this was done, they turned back. The second wave was en route.

"Fuck! I can't see a damn thing through this jamming!" bellowed the commander of one of the F-14 wings. The jamming meant something nasty - the enemy was bringing in either a ship with a BIG radar (which would be a HARM magnet) or they were bringing in electronic warfare aircraft.

The E-2's could burn through jamming within a radius around them, but weren't going to move too close to a potential threat, and certainly weren't going to trust their survival to F-14's that were more interested in getting a shot off at an enemy Wild Weasel or EW aircraft than in protecting a cumbersome escort.

"Take out the EW planes first," said the captain aboard one of the E-2's. "The ships won't be able to shoot down their missiles or fighters until they're out of the way."

The destroyers opened fire with their CIWS, but the jamming and stealth of the missiles meant that they only detected the missiles at ranges where the guns had but split seconds to turn and fire on approaching missiles. Many guns could not turn fast enough, and dozens of destroyers began taking serious or even fatal hits, their crews bailing water as fast as they could in order to allow them to expend their active radar, knowing it would only be active for a few minutes before the ship sank or the radar was targeted by an ARM, in which case the ship would try to return to port and save its sailors (most unessential of whom had jumped ship when the captain warned it was sinking and ordered lifeboats lowered.)

No plane is stealthy when it is retreating, and even through jammed radar, they did appear as plain as a flaming cross on a Catholic churchyard (a common symbol of militant extremists in Kahanistan.) Some F-14's launched AIM-120 AMRAAM's, hoping to score hits, then turned without bothering to see if they had hit or not. Others, three-quarters of them, sought out the biggest radar signatures there were, which had to be EW planes, and sent AMRAAM's in their general direction as well before retreating.

The submarines, unaffected by radar jamming, began to close the distance and engage the hostiles. Only when they saw no submarines in their vicinity would they fire on a ship unless that ship posed a threat, e.g. by firing an anti-submarine weapon at them. They were ordered to hunt targets in descending priority: submarines, anti-submarine vessels, large vessels (presumed to be carriers.)

In The Air
" Fuck! Incoming missiles!" Jefferson screamed. Cursing, Alexis put the plane into a deep banking turn, deploying chaff and flares to confuse the missiles, while at the same time trying to jam them. " Shit! It's not working!" A missile, screaming with rage, slammed into the tale of the aircraft, it started and it started to go down, fire coming out of it. " Eject! Eject now!" Unfortunately, as they ejected, the cockpit glass shattered, it impaled Jefferson and a red mist filled the cockpit. Alexis made it intact, but now she was in the cold ocean, and she was not sure whether or not they would make it to her in time.

George hustled to his waiting helicopter. It was especially equipped for anti-submarine warfare submarines, and that's what George was trained to do. He soon strapped into the cockpit and did his pre-flight check. George was to replace the previous helicopter which was running out of fuel. No submarines had been detected quite yet, but that did not mean they weren't out there, lurking. Sonar buoys had been deployed around the fleet, this allowed for active sonar to be established without the frigates and destroyers having to be lit up like a Christmas tree. As the helicopter pulled up from the flight deck, George mentally checked what he had to do. He was to replace some sonar buoys, and also be prepared to intercept enemy subs.

By now, the second wave had arrived. Replacement EW aircraft were now operating, the previous ones having been shot down. One more wave would be needed after this to finish off the screens, then it would be time to start attack carriers and their aircraft. As the wave came into range, they fired yet another volley.

OOC: Get on MSN, if you'd like. I cant point out some things.

The screens took advantage of the time it took to replace the EW aircraft to get a clear idea of what they were up against, close some distance, and get off some pretty good shots at incoming missiles from a reasonable distance (which was reducing as they continued their advance, though the ships were still taking major hits), and F-14's took off, those that still had missiles, to chase after Wild Weasels and force them to break off their attacks to either flee or fire on the interceptors instead. When the fresh EW arrived, it was of course a priority-one target.

By now, the GLI-76 crews were hungry for battle, and knew that once the fleets closed in, they could get in some decent enemy kills in dogfights, and the F-35's would be in position to fire their own anti-shipping missiles.

Attack submarines kept slow, looking for targets to engage with passive sonar, but not engaging active sensors or firing weapons at buoys so as to preserve stealth.

In The Air
The second volley had once again done its job, many more screens were destroyed. The flag officers soon decided that it was time for the more serious blows to occur. This new wave would be twice the size of the previous waves, mostly fat with air superiority fighters, and they would target the enemy carriers, sinking them. The armada, meanwhile, continued to close in on the enemy fleet.

Colonel James McCormick piloted his F-25 smoothly, he had to be careful, the fly by light systems of his aircraft would make it move like a swift bird with even the most minute movement. His, and his " Black Eagle" squadron, job, was to protect the strike aircraft while they assaulted the carriers. There would be plenty of enemy warplanes about, so they would have to be dealt with. The F-25 was mostly equipped with medium range and short range anti-air missiles, it wasn't primarily designed for BVR combat. That was the job of the Blackbird, which was just now coming into service. In addition, the F-25's carried a couple of HARM missiles each. If there were any surviving screens left, they would be blinded by them. As the aircraft moved within range, the colonel had to remind himself to relax, he could already feel the muscles tense up in his body.

Fully half of the destroyers and frigates, and over a third of the cruisers, had taken hits ranging from loss of RADAR capabilities to gaping holes in the hulls that would sink them within minutes or hours. The carriers were still further back, so as to be hypothetically immune to attack until the screening force was destroyed (and the GLI-76 BARCAP neutralised.)

The remaining cruisers let loose with anti-shipping missiles, mainly aimed at the enemy destroyers, as the fleets closed in, the GLI-76's concentrating on defending the carriers and those escorts still close to them, while the F-14's did the heaviest fighting - fighting for which they were not armed or intended as they were forced to engage the enemy fighters or be shot down. This, of course, meant that the task of engaging the enemy strike fighters fell to the rapidly dwindling destroyer forces, which had their hands full dealing with the volume of missiles that were rapidly pounding them into abject defeat.

The submarines, still largely intact, closed with and fired upon enemy forces in accordance with their priority orders; enemy subs, then smaller ships, then larger ones.

In The Air
McCormick pulled hid F-25 up from near sea level, so far things were doing well. TPF was taking casualties, over one hundred F-25's had been lost, as well as dozens of the strike aircraft, but they had done much more damage to the enemy. The F-25's were could maneuver more and were slightly faster than the enemy, thus giving them an edge. A number of carriers and cruisers' radar was destroyed due to the HARM missiles. The enemy fleet was on the brink of defeat.

Klaxons blared as a shrill voice screamed "incoming missiles!" hundreds of enemy anti-shipping missiles were now barreling towards the armada. CAP patrols were the first line of defense, they targeted the incoming missiles and intercepted some of them, but the majority kept coming on to the second layer, the destroyers, cruisers, and frigates. Mogami class cruisers were responsible for most of the kills, but even so some went on. The final layer, consisting of RAM and CIWS, intercepted some of the last missiles, but the reminder, only around 20% of the original spam, got through. One light carrier went down, its kneel split, while destroyers were sunk and several fleet carriers were damaged. The armada quickly responded, targeting surviving enemy ships and letting loose a volley of 2,142 missiles. It was overkill, the enemy had no interception left, so it would finish them.

A new threat emerged, as torpedoes slammed into the picket line of destroyers and frigates. Dozens were damaged or destroyed. The rest switched to active sonar, quickly finding a lot of the enemy subs. ARSOC's took care of these, while ASW helicopters chased some, targeting them and firing sonar-homing light torpedoes.

The submarines that managed to detect the torpedoes closing in on them turned off active sonars, hoping the torps would be confused long enough to take evasive action; those attacked by ASROC's were pretty much fucked. Some attempted to rise to shallow depth, ten to twenty metres so their crews would survive, even if as TPF POW's. Had the enemy been Doomani, the crews would most likely have preferred drowning to crucifixion or worse.

Even so, twenty submarines were sunk and another twenty damaged. The sixty healthy subs went to lower depth as their Admiral aboard his command super dreadnaught ordered them to target the carriers; at the same time, he ordered his own carriers and surviving interceptors to retreat to save their crews, the BARCAP making a slower retreat to reduce the rate at which the enemy sank his ships. He hoped to give the enemy fleet a little more of a bloody nose before having the escort ships fall back to the shores for a last stand...

Only for about forty or so of the escorts would there be a last stand; the majority of the escorts absorbed multiple hits, enough to sink even a healthy cruiser. The Chuck Norris class super dreadnaught with the admiral aboard was now participating in the fighting, its massive 25" guns opening a dreadful broadside on the enemy fleet. It was not one of the better supercapitals out there, around six million tons but very gun heavy, to the detriment of its missile component. It did, however, have two layers of extremely heavy armour and was the slowest ship in the fleet because of it. On the flip side, it could absorb enormous amounts of punishment before its armour started to buckle.

The enemy was certainly on its last legs, now they Sixth Armada needed to finish them off, the biggest threats being the superdreadnought and the submarines. Active sonar was still picking up submarines, although some were too deep for engagement, so the frigates and destroyers shadowed them. The TPF navy had brought along the 13th Submarine Flotilla, this only consisted of twenty subs total, eight of them attack subs. Even so, they set out to kill the enemy. At the same time, a number of VTOL jets loaded up with anti-submarine gear and set out to hunt the enemy. They had forced a hole in the picket line, now they needed to face the cruisers and battleships before reaching the carriers, all the while being chased by the picket.

Another flight of eighty strike aircraft took off, their job was to hit the enemy superdreadnought's sensors and communications, to effectively kill it. The missiles would be more than adequate, even including the SD's own anti-air and anti-missile defenses. TPF also attacked the SD with the largest guns in the fleet, the 22.5" of the Freedom-Class Command Battleships, of which their were three. More VLS missiles also raced out of their tubes, most targeting the last enemy cruisers and destroyers, but some heading to the SD to tie up its defenses as the strike warplanes moved in for the kill.

The Chuck Norris class warship did not exactly live up to its name. It was an older Kahanistanian design, not integrated well with the newer technology that had developed or been imported over the last few years. As such, it merely absorbed missile hits while its primitive CIWS fended off the largest and most powerful missiles. The ship engaged all radars to try and jam the enemy missiles heading for it, as the Admiral wished for as much of the remnants of his fleet to survive as possible for the inevitable landing. Only when the last of his ships either was sunk or managed to escape would he countenance withdrawing his own ship from the battle; in the meantime, he was exchanging fire with one of the Freedom-class battleships, firing heavy shells and taking numerous hits, mainly to the gun turrets, which in many cases blew the entire turret off the deck.

The surviving escorts strained to maintain their networking, which was next to impossible as most of the survivors were now blind, their radars shot out, or out of missiles in the case of most of the destroyers. The cruisers still had a few anti-shipping missiles, but were now throwing what IRST-based anti-air missiles they could, figuring that they would hit something that was outside the jamming radius; the ship's radar was pretty much required to acquire a target readily, even if the missile didn't need it.

Missiles that failed to be blocked by the SD's mass, the retreating BARCAP, or a doomed, sinking vessel were virtually guaranteed hits; the CIWS was down on those ships whose RADARs were out of commission.

The submarines began to slowly retreat, thirty of them going in the direction of the shoreline to protect what was left of the fleet, the other thirty fanning out, their attentions focused on the eight attack submarines.

The Sea
The enemy was now virtually destroyed, only the superdreadnought remained. Its escorts were beaten and battered, the rest were retreating. The submarines were also pulling back, but Sixth Armada would remain vigilant of them throughout the conflict. Missiles had crippled the enemy superdreadnought, it shots were flying wildly now as its sensors were destroyed, and even a turret had been blown off.

One last wave of strike warplanes took of from the carriers, carrying precision weaponry so they could drop them down the turret hold into the ammunition canisters. This would hopefully destroy the ship. It would have to surrender or retreat soon, it was blind and nearly defeated.

The admiral stood aboard the deck of his dreadnaught.

"Soldiers of Kahanistan. Right now, this ship is the only thing standing between us and an epic defeat the likes of which we have not faced against any but Doomingsland and its Satanic ally MassPwnage. Now, we've sustained heavy casualties, our guns can't see for shit, and Lord only knows how much longer we're going to last."

"Now, I am a Kahanistanian officer. I will not force anyone to fight whose stomach is not in it. Defeatists only bring down the morale of the force as a whole. If anyone doesn't have the guts to do what's right for their country, then the lifeboats are right here. Jump ship and hand yourself over as a slave to work on some rich TPF'ian's slave plantation, picking cotton, or digging out coal from some mine with no safety regulations because laissez-faire economics don't allow them." He pronounced "laissez-faire" with English phonetics, not with French ones. Kahanistanians were the type to go into upscale restaurants abroad ordering "fill-it mig-nun" and the like.

"And dying in your slave pens, fifty years from now... wouldn't you rather have stayed here and told our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM?!"

Barely a dozen sailors jumped ship, crowding onto one lifeboat to hand themselves over to pick TPF'ian cotton or worse. The superdreadnaught began to inch back, creeping at thirteen knots toward the shore. (Its normal top speed was 22 knots, but it had been severely damaged by repeated bombing and its propulsion had been dislodged by some well-placed hits sending shockwaves through the superstructure.)

Sixth Armada
Hundreds of broken hulls dotted the sea, oil slicks lit up the now darkening sky, and thousands and thousands of dead bodies littered the sea, going up and down in the waves. As the enemy SD retreated, it would be harrased by warplanes, but it would escape. Frigates and destroyers would pick up the survivors of TPFian ships, as well as any enemy citizens still alive. They would be given medical assistance and food and then would be locked up in the brig. TPF had brought along three hospital ships, they would be busy this night.

Sixth Armada still pressed on during the night, they were near the enemy coastline, so the invasion would actually begin tomorrow, depending all of what the Air Force wanted to do with their planes on Los Murtoes

"What is the meaning of this?!" roared President Khalid bin Abdullah al-Omari. "287 ships sunk, 63 severely damaged out of 385? The entire Third War Armada shattered? The Fourth War Armada more than three days away? Over 35,000 sailors killed?"

"News from the front says the enemy used pre-emptive radar jamming and relied heavily on standoff munitions," said the Defence Minister. "Our forces attempted to close the gap, but were too heavily damaged by the time they made contact. Vessel captains complained their ships' CIWS wouldn't work without radar. Submarine forces are still harassing enemy submarines, but most of the surviving subs are returning to base."

The President was a civilian and didn't understand tactics. He tended to leave that to his generals and admirals.

"Have NBC suits distributed to the civilians in the affected cities. We won't be caught off guard if they use WMD, but we won't use it until they do. Leave only three infantry and three artillery divisions in each major western city... that should be 300,000 troops." Most civilians in Kahanistan owned guns, and it was considered unwise to hole hundreds of thousands of troops inside major cities to simply be firebombed... assuming the TPF'ians were the kind to firebomb civilian populations. Kahanistanian military doctrine no longer made the assumption that the enemy would not deploy WMD first, or attack civilians with them.

"In the meantime... I'll demand an explanation from their government. Sun Tzu says the best victory is the battle you don't have to fight."

---

What is the reason for this sudden and unprovoked attack on our forces? If what our Admiral tells me is true, he merely asked that your forces alter course and you responded by firing on his fleet.

We have never threatened TPF or even stood in the path of its "strategic interests" when they became matters of concern. What, then, is the reason for this conflict?

Signed,
Dr. Khalid bin Abdullah al-Omari,
President of Kahanistan

Sixth Armada
The government didn't even bother to give an explanation- none was needed. All the enemy needed to know was that they were under assault, nothing less, and most certainly nothing more.

Now Sixth Armada was waiting of the coastline of Kahanistan, preparing for Operation: Trident, the amphibious invasion of Kahanistan. More accurately, three different landing would be made in unison, spearheaded by Marines, naturally. Each beachhead, codenamed Red, Blue, Green, was separated by about twenty five kilometers or so. At the same time the landings would begin, strike aircraft would begin to gain local air superiority, both warplanes from the carriers and warplanes from the islands would be participating, included the famed Sariel's and ASF-70's. Operatives from Marine Force Recon, along with Navy Special Warfare Teams, would also be inserted via submarine and tilt-rotor aircraft, traveling under radar. Their primary job was to scout out the local area, and report troop positions back to command. Another group would seize a local military airfield nearby, others would also set up roadblocks along key highways, where reinforcements were likely to come. All this would begin six hours before H-hour.

Flying very low, the tilt-rotor Raven Insertion aircraft entered Kahanistan's airspace. Inside its belly were twenty troopers and their equipment of the 13th Force Recon Battalion. Leading the group was Heinze Beck, his job was was primarily to set up a series of roadblocks along Highway 16, one of the highways where Kahanistani reinforcements were likely to arrive from. His team had amassed a large amount of mines, missile launcher, machine guns, and other weapons. It was a large load, so the aircraft was going to get as close as possible. The Raven was specially designed for such insertions, it was very quiet in comparison to other similar aircraft, and was coated in RAM and shaped as stealthy as possible, and its thermal signatures were reduced. It was hoped nobody would spot them, and if civilians did see it, they hoped they would mistake it for a Kahanistani military aircraft.

Air Defence did not see the stealth insertion, and thus ignored it, making no efforts whatsoever at interception. The Central Command now knew what they had suspected all along - that the airfields were a staging point for an invasion. As such, the deployment of ballistic missiles to destroy it was considered, but vetoed on the grounds that it would provoke strategic retaliation.

Artillery began to scatter mines into the water, aided by B-2 stealth bombers dropping every sort of mine they could find in their arsenal; these bombers were under orders to retreat when enemy air units showed up. Infantry was dug in alongside the most likely spots for a landing, into trenches and backup trenches wider than a TPF tank, and razor wire, anti-tank mines, and anti-armour mines dotted the beaches. Concealed machine guns and surface-to-air missile launchers were positioned to fire on invaders, and only one in five SAM radars was on at any given time to make the system resistant to SEAD.

GLI-76 fighters took off to hunt for ASF's and engage strike fighters from bases near each of the two main western cities; Command hadn't reported any ASF's, but no TPF (or even Kahanistanian) general would send bombers without a fighter escort... they had to be stealthed, which was scary. At the same time, F-14's sought out the Sariels for engagement; surface-to-air missiles lacked the range or detection capability to spot them and the bombers would thus be immune to SAM's, though the strike fighters would not be.

Down Highway 16, a column of 100 M7T2 Spartacus main battle tanks, 75-ton heavily armoured behemoths whose armour was so thick that they were reduced to carrying 105mm guns to remain within the weight specification and not be HBT's, and whose speed suffered from their armour, being able to only travel at 54 km/h, ambled down, towards a TPF roadblock. Civilian traffic scooted over to the side of the road as the armoured column approached, while at the roadblock, angry civilians, mistaking the TPF roadblock for one set up by their own military, demanded to know why the Kahanistanian Army was blocking off civilian traffic.

At the Roadblock
Unfortunately, dozens of civilians and vehicles had showed up to the roadblock, creating a bad situation. They were mere yards from the mines, four soldiers were masquerading as enemy soldiers, keeping them back despite their anger, which grew worse every minute. Another soldier, Sergeant Hartmann, called him over. " Sir, from our UAV we have spotted a massive convoy of enemy forces, over one hundred fucking tanks."
" Shit. Mark that spot, call in an air strike."
" Yes sir."
Several minutes later, a pair of F-25's zoomed in, and using laser targeting given to them by the special forces units, dropped four bombs, armed dozens of sensor-fuzed explosively formed penetrators. They would slaughter the enemy tanks.
The assault on the local airfield continued, several companies of men had been deployed to the area via low-level insertion by Atlas VTOL transport aircraft, and they were working under cover of ASF-70's and F-25's.

Meanwhile, ASF-70's and Sariel bombers began to engage enemy air defense sites and fighters. Some several hundred were currently over the nation, and there would always be that many, thanks to the island and its planes there.

Ships also began to begin a preparatory shore bombardment phase, while deploying minesweepers and anti-mine helicopters to clear the mines. Cruise missiles, guided by spec ops or UAV's or warplanes, began to hit enemy positions with precise accuracy. Guns, ranging from 6.1 inches to heavy 22.5 inches raked the actual beaches with fire where enemy troops were. Despite this, they were still some time away from the assault.

The TPF soldiers at the roadblock were about to see first hand what they had likely heard in their briefings - most people in Kahanistan owned guns.

One of the civilians, a man of about 75, went back into his car and pulled out an MP7. "Damn grunts. Think you're the only ones who know what's good for this country. We'd all be better off if we never got into this damn war."

---

The armour of a M7T2 Spartacus can protect it from many things: land mines, RPG's, even top-attack munitions thanks to its APS. But its armour, while mighty among tanks, is next to useless against a bomb dropped from above, and the column suffered over 80% casualties; the mobile SAM launchers were not being brought with this column. Later convoys would bring SAM launchers with them. The survivors scattered, although this meant slowing down for their lower off-road top speed.

At the air defence sites themselves, fixed flak cannons fired 40mm rifled ETC rounds and SAM's at what was visible, and GLI-76's tracked firing patterns and engaged the enemy fighters, which were a higher priority than the Sariels, which would be sitting ducks for the F-14's after the VTOL's dealt with (or chased off) the hostile ASF's.

Buried undersea were numerous VLS cells close to the beach, which fired seaskimming missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and cruise missiles upon the minesweepers and minesweeping helicopters to keep the battleships at arm's length from the defending infantry on the shorelines, who were scrambling frantically outside of the trenches to lay flat on the beaches so as not to be buried by the bombardment; they would return there when, or if, the landing commenced.

Figuring destruction was imminent if the airfield was to remain, the Admiral who had commanded the fleet that had fought TPF now received authorisation from the Defence Minister to launch cruise missiles from the beach defences to hit the airfield and put it out of commission. That would, if successful, get rid of the Sariels, but the ASF's still had carriers...

At Roadblock
"Shit!" The man had mowed down one of the soldiers with a mp7 while all were distracted by the bombs, now civilians were running around like chickens with heads detached, the men returned fire, killing him.

The ASF-70's were much faster and more manverable than the enemy, but of course this cost them stealth, but they could outrun and void them, pulling back to a safe distance and engaging. Even so, many went down to to enemy fighters and SAM's. Sariels quickly attacked enemy SAM's with HARM and cluster munitions.

Meanwhile, a large number of minesweepers and helicopters were lost. Submarines moved to engage the underwater VLS, while replacements were sent out.

Spec Ops forces soon sent word that the airbase was secured, there were around three hundred men protecting it now, waiting for a possible enemy counter-attack.

At the Island, several Lyrsian made air defense systems had been installed, and they were able to down most of the enemy cruise missile, but two landed, taking out two runways, but they would be repaired in a hour.

At the roadblock, the people still did not see the soldiers as TPF'ians; while it was rare, it was not unheard of for a Kahanistanian soldier to shoot a civilian, or for civilians to confront soldiers who they saw as making their lives difficult.

They called in an ambulance, but it would have trouble getting through the cratered roads, past the roadblocks, and down the traffic in time...

The SAM's at the bases had CIWS on them to protect them from HARM, but the CIWS had little effect on cluster munitions, though they could make them detonate prematurely, scattering payloads over a wider radius than desired. Still, the SAM's began to gradually lose launchers. The fighters continued to press the enemy ASF's as their highest priority, even at the expense of allowing the Sariel bombardment to proceed; when confronting a fighter and a bomber, one must shoot the threat or be shot down before being able to shoot more of the bombers.

The submarines that moved in on the VLS would find themselves facing heavy underwater torpedoes once they closed within range.

Within the "secured" airbase, heavy fighting continued to take place between Kahanistanian infantry and TPF Special Forces, including machine gun fire from guard towers and barracks, 81mm mortars with Novichok agents and gaseous nitric acid, WP grenades hurled from behind buildings, and even flamethrowers, previously rarely used in Kahanistan as inhumane, saw widespread use against the enemy.