Sovereign

“Forces of the Federal Republic of Orland crossed the Orland–Lieplatz border at three o'clock this morning. Rows of Federalist tanks and armored vehicles are now en route to the Lieplatzan capital of Monpleitz. Sporadic air battles have been noted, with some positions holding a stiff resistance near the border over the early hours of the fighting, but the II Corps of the Federal Army is now sighted to be at merely one-hundred-twenty kilometers from Monpleitz, after a forty-kilometer breakthrough. Reports of Lieplatzan Army units surrendering or defecting to advancing Federal Army columns had also been noted, pointing to the rapid disintegration of the Lieplatz Armed Forces. It is unknown if the Lieplatz Junta will evacuate Monpleitz.”

- Geopol Press

“Regular Federal Troops accused of treason! Soldiers of C Company of the 103rd Infantry Battalion reportedly engaged and ‘fired’ on III Liquidation Corps members of the Republican Guard. The accused soldiers reasoned that ‘those RG pigs’—quoted from their currently demoted commanding officer, were ‘raping and executing innocent women’ over alleged counter-revolutionary activities when C Company was transiting in the small village. The brief firefight resulted in fifteen men dead, and twenty-two wounded on both sides. Local officials are still investigating whether these soldiers fired for no reason, or if the members of III Liquidation Corps engaged in ‘excessive activities’.”

- Wuringen Updates

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State of Lieplatz

II Corps

98 Kilometers from Monpleitz

February 1, 2025

1100 Hours

General Kluge was now back on the fields, one could say. His command vehicle was once again taking the role of coordinating the rapid advance of the II Corps, a fifty-thousand-strong spearhead force of the 1st Northern Detachment, the one hundred fifty-thousand-strong Army sent by the Federal Republic to depose the “uncooperative” Lieplatz Junta led by General Richstoff.

He rose from the hatch of his command vehicle, which was speeding along the secured Seven-Two Highway, famously connected to the city of Eirhow and to the city of Monpleitz. Around the road as well were multiple high-speed railway lines, each connected as well to Monpleitz. It was originally built as a sign of Orland's and Lieplatz's unending sisterhood, which connected the major industries and cities of East Orland and East Lieplatz.

Now, it was a road for Orlishmen to pass through as a race line—for a race to the Lieplatzan Capital. General Kluge looked to the side of the highway, littered by multiple abandoned wrecks of Löwe Mod-2022 MBTs, the Lieplatzan Löwe tanks modified for their use, exported by Orland to them during the days of the Great War.

The lines of HMLVs speeding through the highway behind and ahead of them were unending, alongside the stream of logistical trucks and utility-type HMLVs that had no armor. Quite frankly, if they weren't careful, the road to Monpleitz could easily turn into a traffic jam that would be a slog for the Federal Army to pass through.

It's a testament to Orland's air superiority though. Unlike the Royalist Air Force, the Lieplatzans could barely manage to stem the tide. In fact, resistance from their nominally large Air Force was light, with most of their stealth assets that were expected to be a headache gone from the AO of the advancing Federal Army units.

I still have to be prepared for the unforeseen. But he wondered why. Why would the Lieplatzans not dedicate more of their defenses in East Lieplatz? Their capital was here. The main punch would be devastating here. Their major cities were here. West Lieplatz in comparison was sparsely populated, mountainous, and frozen, with barely any industry or population centers to speak of. Perhaps that's why…planning for a stubborn holdout.

It was certainly possible that they were merely facing the token force of the Lieplatzan Army. Just enough to put up a fight that would make it look as if they didn't truly abandon the flatlands of the East. While each town and small city and kilometer had been costly for the Federal Army, with their spearhead divisions already suffering twenty-percent casualties to ambushes, hit-and-run attacks, and stubborn defense lines, it wasn't that bad overall. They were cutting through their lines like a hot knife through butter.

“Battlegroup ‘Piper’ has now breached their third defense line,” the radio transmission from one of his subordinate Generals said. “The 9th and 4th Combined Arms Brigades are punching through the gaps. Armored forces of the 3rd Light Mech Regiment also broke through the defense lines and are now pursuing hostile armor.”

“I want Battlegroup ‘Piper’ to continue. No rest. Attempt to cut them off, encircle, and eliminate them. We don’t need to fight their armor in Monpleitz…”

More LF-12s zoomed past above them. The State of Lieplatz was no joke militarily, with a total combined force of nearly one thousand five hundred armored tanks alone, about a quarter being Orlish Löwe MBTs. Of course, the rest was the older M44-Nörd MBTs that the Lieplatzan Army modernized with modern sensors, guns, and ERA (Explosive Reactive Armor) since this Orlish MBT design was five decades old at this point, but still, the fangs of the Lieplatzan State would bite if the Federal Republic underestimated them.

Already, reports of several towns and cities holding out had been confirmed, as Orlish forces really mainly bypassed other cities and major cities instead of clearing them. There, the M44-Nörd would be able to fight the Löwe MBT on almost equal terms, as armor mattered less in urban close range.

This was why General Kluge prioritized the liquidation of Lieplatzan Armor outside of cities. On the flat lands of southeastern Lieplatz, these tanks were completely inferior to Orlish Armor, and they lacked air support. Much of East Lieplatz’s air defense was also knocked out during the early SEAD (Suppression of Air Defense) operations of the Federal Air Force, alongside many of their HQs, communication hubs, and even some of their air bases. And again, the aforementioned lack of their air force…it seemed that the East Lieplatzan Campaign would be a true lightning campaign that many Generals since the Great War could only fantasize about.

General Kluge hoped that it would be true. Nay, he would ensure it.

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Ostbreck City

“FORTRESS OSTBRECK STANDS!”

These words of propaganda filled the badly damaged streets of Ostbreck City. Lying merely ten kilometers from the Orlish–Lieplatz Border, and the first stop of the Seven-Two Highway for the advancing Federal Army forces, Ostbreck was one of the first battlefields since hostility started.

About half of the battle-torn city, the areas where the Seven-Two Highway passed through, alongside its surrounding blocks had been rapidly occupied over the morning. But the remaining areas of the city still flew the Lieplatzan flag. And so, both Federal Army troops and Lieplatzan Army forces continued skirmishing over every block, street, and building.

Nowhere was that clearer than in the ruined boulevards near Ostbreck’s major schools. Two Löwe MBTs were parked near an abandoned retail store, their turrets aimed at the rooftops of one of the elite schools held by Lieplatzan forces. Civilians cowered and ran through the boulevard from one of the restaurants, their heads lowered just before the first shots rang. The Federal Army soldiers didn’t pay them much heed, merely shouting at them to “run faster” and “get out of the way” while they aimed their rifles at the Lieplatzan soldiers who seemed to be holding fire due to civilian presence.

Once the last of them were out, the 120 mm main gun of the first Löwe boomed, decimating the edge of the rooftop of the school building. Gunfire from them rained back, forcing the Federal Army soldiers to take cover, just as they too returned fire. Three Federal Army APCs also arrived just behind them, unloading multiple squads of Federalist soldiers that fanned out into assault positions in the school.

Two ATGM missiles were then launched from the rooftop, one of them slamming into the roof of the turret of the stationary Löwe MBTs, creating a firestorm as its blowout panels cooked, while the last one returned one last fire from its main gun before it engaged its reverse gear.

That was when a reporter from Wuringen Updates, one of the new news outlets of the Federal Republic that championed “democracy, equality, and the truth” arrived to order her cameraman to aim at the dismounting crew of the downed Löwe MBT. Unlike “the Front”, Wuringen Updates served as the unofficial mouthpiece of the opposition inside of the Federal Republic, with affiliations to the ORP. As such, many female journalists who found themselves without jobs due to the Federalists banning any outlet remotely associated with the Royalists flocked to Wuringen Updates and other news networks that resisted the Federalist takeover.

The two of them captured the scenes, as the dismounted platoon charged forward into the hellstorm. Above them, a Falcon AH-22 Attack Helicopter swooped in, launching a hail of unguided rockets at the building, before its miniguns opened fire. The AH-22 hovered for a few seconds, raining suppressive fire at the Lieplatzans and allowing the infantry below to cross the school gate, and reach the building’s entrance. Two anti-air missiles flew from the building, forcing the AH-22 to retreat while leaving a barrage of flares from its tail.

But the breach was fully opened, and the Orlish troops had already stormed the building. Within minutes of heavy fighting, with the occasional fire support from the remaining Löwe MBT and the APCs below, the two journalists finally witnessed the end of it, as rows of Lieplatzan soldiers, mostly badly injured, finally left the building with their hands in the air.

The woman frowned while watching it, as it seemed that the Federalist soldiers that were escorting them out were treating them harshly. The Federal Republic claimed that they were fighting a just war of liberation. Instead, it seemed to her as if they were just fighting a war to invade their neighbor.

The young woman wouldn’t make any comments, merely smiling at the passing Federalist troops in order to not acquire attention. Regardless, the world would see what was happening down below.

And they would be free to form their own views on the Federal Republic’s intervention in Lieplatz.