Sovereign

“Two hundred missiles were intercepted in the Asanaian airspace over the last day, with multiple conventional ballistic missiles hitting major cities originating from the Republic of Hebei and the Confederation of Larissa. So far, civilian fatalities have reached the low thousands, but the Asanaian Government has taken it as a ‘victory’ due to the amount of missiles intercepted. While the attacks had caused great terror, the damage had been so far manageable.”

- Geopol Press

“Parliament finally passes the Women Mobilization Bill in response to the multilateral CFN war declaration to all MN-member states. The Heiss Government has welcomed this development in full, with the OAF and the RGO vowing for a ‘quick and decisive’ mobilization of women to the frontlines. Recruitment stations are now being set up. Any woman subject to the mobilization who refuses or avoids the draft will be penalized the same way male draft dodgers have been penalized. It is expected that hundreds of thousands will join the frontlines within the next few months.”

- ROCN News

+++

Northeastern Gallia

April 22, 2025

I OEF Corps

C/4-5 Light Mech Brigade “Donnergrollen”

“Fuckin ass,” someone shouted over the company-wide comms. “Why the hell are we stuck in an ambush alley?”

“Technically, they’re the ones on the offensive so it’s them who’ll get ambushed,” another retorted. “Or not.”

“Gentlemen, would you please stow away your nonsense?” Captain Niko Steinhauser, the CO of C Company, 4th Mobile Assault Battalion under the 5th Light Mech Brigade “Donnergrollen” replied on the radio with a grunt. He was on top of his M2 LSS Mech’s turret hatch, watching as his entire company’s column was stuck in a traffic jam that wasn’t supposed to happen. Immediately, the comms went silent. “Thank you.”

Quite frankly, they were already late to the fighting. It had been hours since the Coalition’s initial push. GAF formations near the DMZ already began melting like butter to the pressure they faced, but at the very least, allied air kept a semblance of air supremacy to prevent full collapse.

Now, it was up to the I OEF Corps, and thus, his unit, to prevent five Pozneki and Larissan divisions that attacked the towns of Mileron and Montamas up north. Apparently, three GAF mechanized infantry brigades that held those two towns were now cut off from the rest of the allied lines, after a few battalions of Pozneki airborne troops with a few dozen DMB-5s airborne IFVs dropped from the air on the roads to Mileron and Montamas.

Thus, the three companies of the 4th Mobile Assault Battalion would face quite possibly more than a thousand airborne Pozneki troopers who had set themselves up in ambush positions to relieve the Gallians before they were overrun by the combined Larissan and Pozneki force.

Then, they’d have to fight a twenty-kilometer retreat to the defenses set up just behind them in the small city of Villneres. They were, quite frankly, in a screwed-up situation.

Niko looked down at the final groups of civilian vehicles that passed by them. Immediately, he pulled his radio to command the forward platoons to finally resume their drive—and so they did.

“You know,” his gunner spoke underneath. “Ain’t Lieutenant Hetzer's too shifty nowadays? Man’s going to compromise this unit.”

“Just the effects of Gallian deployment,” Niko laughed. “Can’t blame the man. I mean, his platoon is first on the crossfire. He’s going to get all shifty.”

“He sounds like he’s about to cry on company comms, sir.”

“So long as he does his job well, I have no problem yet,” Niko said, as he pulled out his binoculars. Already, their LSS column had begun spreading themselves out on the road as they drove at sixty-five kilometers per hour. Up above them, the constant stream of allied jets passing by gave Niko a sense of safety.

If there was one thing good about their conditions, it was the supremacy of the Orlish, Lorathian, and Gallian air forces against the CFN’s air force. Word was, they already downed more than fifty in just the first few hours. That was a lot. Hell, their missile barrages on allied staging areas, logistical depots, etc utterly floundered, intercepted by the Queen’s REGAL SAM batteries that she deliriously spammed over the course of the civil war.

In fact, in the distance, they could see three pillars of smoke rise from the ground, causing a Larissan plane to fall off from the clouds in just seconds.

“You know,” Niko said. “I really half-expected that we wouldn’t be able to drive like this.”

His gunner grunted. “Dunno, Captain, but they have like hundreds of launchers from the DMZ to the 2nd Defense Line. That’s crazy.”

“Damned crazy indeed,” Niko said. “I really wonder what the hell these fools are hoping for. I mean, they probably outnumber us three-to-one, but how are they going to fight in these conditions?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“Yeah…” Niko watched as they slowly climbed an elevation. “Still can’t get too overconfident.”

Within just five minutes of their drive, however, the first shots from the Pozneki airborne opened up. Immediately, two ATGMs, most likely fired from their DMB-5s, slammed into two of Niko’s leading elements, leaving two Orlish LSS Mechs burning on the road. Naturally, he ordered his platoons to spread out quickly, while the two mechanized rifle platoons carried by their IFVs dismounted in the rear.

Unlike normal formations, C Company was a reinforced formation. He had with him six total platoons—he had three light armor platoons, manned by six LSS Mechs each. Alongside that were the three mechanized rifle platoons, composed of four M8 IFVs each, and of course the infantry squads they carried. It was a formation that was generally used in most subordinate units of the Donnergrollen Brigade.

Due to the fact that they were going to be the best maneuver unit of the I OEF Corps, all formations were prioritized to be filled with equipment, and armor, and reinforced to the full. And that was something Niko was thankful for.

“2nd platoon, take down those bastards up ahead, two thousand meters. 3rd Platoon, cover 1st Platoon’s retreating elements. The rest spread out to our flanks! They’re trying to surround us!”

Each of his officers responded with quick ayes on the comms as the gunfire around them intensified. Already, the area in front of them was covered with thick WP smoke to cover them in the flat, exposed fields, as 1st Platoon’s pinned LSS Mechs began backing down.

And while his command vehicle and his XOs LSS mech were behind it all, they rapidly drove into a good area where they could use a slope to hide their hulls, popping thick smoke above them as ATGMs flew left and right.

Soon, he tapped his gunner’s back as he spotted one of the enemy’s IFVs. It was hiding on a bush line, its 25mm autocannons spitting fire sporadically at his troops. His gunner sighted the target, and with one order, a shot rang from his mech—silencing their Pozneki foes.

Thus…once again, Orlish and the Pozneki soldiers fought and died in Gallian territory, a tale as old as time.

+++

West Orland

Site-07A

April 23, 2025

“First rounds of casualties are in,” General Albrecht declared over the assembled OAF and RGO officers inside the meeting room. “The Kingdom of Gallia reported fourteen thousand KIAs. Lorathia, seven thousand KIAs. Hebei, fifteen thousand KIAs. The Empire of Larissa, eight hundred KIAs. The Asanaians…two thousand KIAs. The number becomes harder to read for our more minor allied nations, but right now, we approximate that at least twenty thousand casualties from other MN member states have been inflicted by the CFN in the last three days alone. Mostly in our Central Vaeyoxan allies.”

Murmurs grew across the meeting room. The sheer scale of the fighting in just the first day was destructive. Amelie herself was still buried in the endless reports that clogged her office in the November Palace, unable to read every letter and plea sent by the numerous MN states under attack pleading for Orlish military assistance.

At all corners of Pollos, conflict had finally erupted. There was no more lying about it. International media even made it clear. The Second Great War was now the name of this war. Officially, it was called the MN-CFN War. Of course, the MN media called it the war against CFN aggression.

And Amelie believed that. Truly, the CFN was brutal in the last few days. Almost all capital cities of minor MN nations were struck by at least one conventional ballistic missile attack. The Pieran continent especially suffered badly, since many underdeveloped nations there had absolutely no air defense to speak of.

On the other hand, the Confederacy demolished at least ten major cities with their strategic bombing raids and missile campaigns in Central Vaeyox, where the more minor MN allied nations failed to mobilize their air forces in time to counteract the attacks. Only now that the Orlish Air Force and the Imperial Asanaian Air Force tipped the scales in both Hebei and Central Vaeyox did the situation somewhat stabilize.

But still…both South Hebei and the minor Central Vaeyoxan nations were in dire straits. The combined armor of the Confederacy and of the North Hebeian Republic was now blitzing through their lines with wild abandon. It was especially bad when nearly an entire South Hebeian corps-sized formation was almost encircled yesterday in the Ginzhu province, only saved by the desperate round-the-clock air support from Asanai.

All in all…the Vaeyoxan Eastern theater was going bad. Very bad.

“General, what of the civilian casualties?” Amelie asked. “How bad is it?”

“Orland fared relatively well. We actually stopped the bombings of the Federal Republic in our cities in the Archduchy completely. Right now, they have lost so many air assets that contesting our control outside of the frontlines has been temporarily nullified. No ballistic missile attacks were sent into our air space as well outside of the constant ones from the Federal Republic itself. All in all, we have actually ended most threats to Orlish civilians, and we suffered no casualties on the home front in the last three days. Minister Thell can confirm that later on.”

“Goddess…that’s good news,” Amelie said. “I knew prioritizing air defense was going to pay off.”

“Quite frankly at this rate, your policies will soon lead us into a path of safety from nuclear threats,” the General said. “Even in Lorathia, we shot down the majority of the Confederacy’s ballistic missile attacks. Same in Gallia. Same in Asanai. Even South Hebei fared relatively well against the enemy’s missile attacks. We do have problems with the fact that our allies have now depleted at least half of their interceptors' stockpiles, but it's not so different from our enemies. We don’t expect them to pull another one of these stunts within the next month.”

“I see then,” Amelie said. She then stood up from her seat. “In that case, I order you all to immediately begin shipping off any excess interceptors and air defense equipment that we have to our allies. I want to solidify the defenses of our most important allies. Hebei, Asanai, Lorathia, and Gallia.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“...And…from now on, as I’ve said, we’re going to focus on the global war first and foremost. If we aim to beat the Federal Republic, then we shall isolate them first from their allies across the sea. Thus…I order you all to do everything that you can to hold them off, in every inch of MN-held territory. May the Goddess be with us in these dark times, because from here on out, I don’t think this war will end with a quick resolution.”

She looked at everyone in the room.

“We’re in this one for the long haul, ladies and gentlemen. We have to outlast them, or darkness will consume this world.”