Ocidenian Civil War (Ended)

[Ocidenia]

In northern Ocidenia, the government naval fleets resumed continuous shelling of the ONLF positions to great success, however, the latest missile strikes seem to have been not as effective, as there were basically no fatalities generated on the rebel side. The fleet commanders soon understood that the rebels had managed to come up with a strategy how to avoid the missiles, while still keeping up presence on the shores. This meant that should the warships attempt to produce more strikes, the Ocidenian Naval Forces would only be wasting valuable ammunition to no effect, meaning that they would have to stop firing in order to save up on the missiles. However, the naval fleets could not cease their fire as their objective was to clear the country’s northern shore of any ONLF positions, so that the government forces may gain way into the country through the north.

Knowing that they would not be able to successfully resume their mission individually, the commanders of the government naval fleets requested that the Ocidenian Air Force circling the skies above them, head for the shores and launch air strikes and bomb the rebel positions there, in order to help the navy resume fulfilling its objective.

[Ocidenia]

Following the request from the naval fleets, the Ocidenian Air Force circling the skies above the country’s territorial waters, split itself up into two groups with some staying and resuming patrol of the airspace, while others would head and launch air strikes and drop bombs on the rebel positions at the shores. Upon approaching shores, the jet pilots stayed cautious as they knew that the insurgents might retaliate with anti-aircraft attacks.

[Ocidenia]

As the ONLF forces spotted the Ocidenian jets in the sky, that have revealed their presence by launching the first missiles and dropping the first bombs, the rebels immediately took cover and launched a response fire attack. The insurgents set up anti-aircraft weapons began firing from them, while also blasting rocket launchers into the skies. Seeing that the jets were already receiving counter-fire, the naval fleets were able to determine the location of the rebels on the shore by seeing which locations was the fire coming from and launched their traditional shower of missiles onto those spots.

[Ocidenia]

The Ocidenian Military managed to push its way through and infiltrate the OPLF-held territories even more. After resuming their massive combined ground and aerial assault onto the insurgent forces, the regular army managed to clear a path for itself into the westernmost half of southern Ocidenia. The government forces now felt super confident and joyful as they knew that they had made massive progress and that their mission has finally reach its second and most important part – liberating the cities in southern Ocidenia from the secessionist occupation. Although the current army units knew that they would not be able to liberate all the cities on their own and that they would eventually require additional reinforcements, the army was definitely confident that the current units would be able to take back at least 3 cities if they put in hard work.

The army knew that the closest rebel-held city to them was Aestia, which is the city right next to the border. Since southern Ocidenia has been under the occupation of the OPLF for a long time now, the Ocidenian Military expected that the city would be heavily filled with the opposition forces and thus were preparing to strike without a warning, hoping to somehow be able to catch the OPLF fighters off guard. The massive colons of tanks starting rolling to the southern direction, heading towards Aestia, while the Ocidenian Air Force jets and helicopters followed them.

Meanwhile, the OPLF forces back at Aestia received messages that the government forces were heading towards the city. This messaged was transferred to them by a group of OPLF scouts that managed to pick up the next location of the regular army’s advance, as the commanders were telling the government soldiers their next stop and their objective. In order to the fight taking place at the city, the local OPLF commanders immediately ordered for all forces stationed across Aestia to head north and prepare to withhold a government assault, before they could get close to Aestia.

[Ocidenia]

Battle of Aestia

As the Ocidenian Military was advancing forward, the commanders already saw massive and heavily armed numbers of OPLF forces waiting for them on the frontlines. Immediately, the regular army understood that Aestia was close and that they would not be able to reach the city before defeating these particular rebel units. Upon the government forces getting close enough, the OPLF opened fire, which prompted the government forces to launch a counter offensive from the ground and air.

[Ocidenia]

As usual, the OPLF forces were generally shelling the advancing government positions by having a collection of mortars aligned on the path leading to the city. The weapons were spewing a storm of fire right at the Ocidenian ground forces as both a lethal attack and a distraction tactic. As the regular army was forced to fend off the oncoming attacks without even being prepared, the insurgents already understood that they had an advantage at the current moment and starting firing all the weapons in their arsenal at once. Every rebel soldier opened rifle fire at the government troops, letting out magazine after magazine. Meanwhile, several militants in the center of the opposition forces opened fire from machine guns with some firing the weapons straight out of their hands, while other set them up on tripods for a more comfortable shooting. Finally, several rebel fighters took positions in the corners away from the regular army’s sight, firing rocket launchers and grenade launchers at both the soldier positions and the tanks.

Although the government forces were taking a hit, the opposition still did not entirely catch them off guard. Once the first shells, bullets, grenades and rockets started coming their way, the Ocidenian Military immediately took cover and waited for the shelling to tone down in order to finally give an effective response. While the rebels were blindly firing and carelessly wasting ammunition with no strategy, the professional army instead took a step down and waited for the best opportunity to launch a counter-offensive. Once the rebel fire slightly stopped as the OPLF fighters needed to reload their weapons, the local commanders of the regular army ordered the soldiers to strike, while the enemy was still vulnerable.

[Ocidenia]

As the OPLF forces were reloading their weapons, they saw fire incoming towards them from the government forces. Although the official goal of the rebels was to strictly stand ground and not permit the option of the government forces making an advance any closer throughout the road towards Aestia, the militants could not remain at their place as all kinds of firepower was coming right at them. Moreover, a colon of government tanks was still advancing towards them with the vehicles already launching shells from the distance.

Since they still needed to reload their weapons, the rebels pulled away from the frontlines and took cover at the closest spots they could find, where they could prepare their artillery to resume the firefight. Meanwhile, seeing an opening, the government forces resumed their advance and continued pressuring the still visible opposition with more lethal attacks.

[Ocidenia]

Although the Ocidenian ground forces were freely advancing forward without facing obstacles, the regular army still wanted to ensure that the opposition was suppressed powerfully enough and prevented from launching an effective counter offensive. The Ocidenian Air Force that was following the land units from behind, was requested by the commanders on the ground to begin launching air strikes at the OPLF positions that were reloading their weapons, while taking cover. The jets did as they were requested to and soon the OPLF were having a collection of missiles coming right towards them.

[Ocidenia]

As the OPLF had a first round of explosions shattering the ground all around them, the rebels immediately starting changing their position. It was obvious that these airstrikes were the regular army’s strategy to keep the rebels avoiding getting hit and constantly taking cover, while the Ocidenian Military advances forward and eventually takes all the militants down from up-close, while finally entering the city of Aestia. In order not to permit the government scheme to work, the fighters split themselves up into groups on the spot with some resuming the fight with the Ocidenian Military on the frontlines, while others would focus on taking down the jets from the ground.

While taking cover, some OPLF fighters started firing their rocket launchers at the jets of the Ocidenia Air Force, while the local rebel commanders contacted the opposition forces located in Aestia, requesting that reinforcements arrive with anti-aircraft guns.

[Ocidenia]

Meanwhile, the government tanks were advancing forward and firing shells at the OPLF positions that were trying to withstand the assault on the frontlines. Since the rebel forces only consisted of militants and no vehicles, the tanks were almost confident that they were invulnerable to any enemy strikes, however, it was not so. The insurgents were constantly aiming for the tanks by firing rocket launchers and grenade launchers at them, hoping to take down their armor. Although the government tanks were powerful enough to withstand a lot of attacks with their armor, they were at risk to eventually receive such damage that would pierce right through them and destroy the vehicles. Therefore, the soldiers knew that the tanks required cover and thus jumped into armored vehicles by which they pursued the colons.

[Ocidenia]

Meanwhile, reinforcements carrying anti-aircraft weaponry arrived from Aestia and joined the fight along with the other OPLF forces. While taking cover along with their brethren, the reinforcements started setting up anti-aircraft guns in a line, while the rest of the opposition forces fired rocket launchers at the government jets with a pursuit to distract them, rather than shoot them down. The OPLF did not wait for all the guns to be set up in order to start firing them. Once the first guns were set up, the rebels already started firing them at the Ocidenian Air Force.

[Ocidenia]

Once the Ocidenian Air Force saw that first fires from the rebels were coming towards them, the jets started taking different positions and searching for targets. Since the fires were from those opposition forces that were hiding from the regular army’s sight, it was not exactly easy for the jets to spot them. In addition, since the ground was not entirely covered in fires, explosions and smoke, it was difficult for the pilots to get a clear picture on their radars and thus the jets were simply trying to guess where the anti-aircraft guns were stationed and launched airstrikes in those directions, from where the shooting was coming from.

[Ocidenia]

Although the army had its own battles on the ground, the commanders and troops soon began noticing that the Ocidenian Air Force was having trouble with its own fight against the OPLF reinforcements on land. Although the jets and other aircraft were not suffering any casualties and in fact resumed active bombings and airstrikes, these fires were not actually hitting that many rebel positions and instead only generated a wave of pointless explosions, while anti-aircraft fire resumed rocking the sky. Thus, the ground forces felt that it was their obligation to point out the targets and get the Ocidenian Air Force back on track.

[Ocidenia]

Battle of Paritera

Meanwhile, in northern Ocidenia, the government forces managed to clear a path for themselves deeper into the ONLF-held territories. Despite their best efforts, the rebel forces that attempted to block the path for the regular army, were all crushed by enormous power of the Ocidenian Military. On their way to the northern side, the regular army found out that it was actually closely located to the city of Paritera and thus the commanders decided that their units had a perfect opportunity to win the city back from the OPLF forces. However, the objective would not be as easy to achieve as the army expected, as the opposition forces in Paritera knew that the government was getting close and thus were preparing to withhold the assault, while also getting ready to launch a counter offensive.

[Ocidenia]

After hearing reports from their counterparts in the south that the OPLF were well prepared to withstand a government assault on Aestia, the units of the Ocidenian Military in the north decided to learn from the experience of their compatriots and prepare a better strike before closely approaching Paritera. The Ocidenian Air Force was ordered to carry out several bombing runs on the ONLF positions in the territories around the city, before ground forces launch their land incursion.

[Ocidenia]

The ONLF units stationed around Paritera received fresh reports from other nearby rebel forces, that the Ocidenian Air Force was heading towards their positions preparing to launch airstrikes. Upon receiving this information, the opposition units in around and in Paritera raised an alert and were preparing to withstand an aerial assault from the government forces. Once the first missiles and bombs started striking their positions, the ONLF immediately started responding with by opening fire from the ground.

Although they were putting in their best effort, the rebels were having a hard time in shooting down at least one jet. This helped the Ocidenian Air Force draw a conclusion that the rebels were being overpowered and thus the land forces were being told to prepare for advance.

[Ocidenia]

Reinforcements from Paritera were transporting anti-aircraft guns to the assaulted ONLF positions in the surrounding areas of the city. The rebels were having difficulty in effectively targeting the jets and other aircraft of the Ocidenian Air Force as they were only obtaining rocket launchers that required to be reloaded after every single shot. Considering the fact that only several of the shots fired were actually successful, reloading after every single one of them was only a time and energy consuming activity, which bore almost no fruit.

As a collection of anti-aircraft guns was brought in, the assaulted ONLF positions with the help reinforcements, starting setting the guns up and firing them endlessly, seeking to cover the sky in fires and not leave any room for the government jets to freely fly around.

[Luziyca]

Shjoraski comments on sending arms to Ocidenia, says "detente will not be affected."

The Leader of the Free World

BETHLEHEM, F.C. - Today, President Breuvi Shjoraski has held a press conference in regards to the situation in Ocidenia, as its civil war starts to resume, and the Luziycan nation comes under scrutiny for sending arms to Simeon Brozhav's government within Ocidenia. At the Presidential Palace, press from all over the world have gathered to hear the leader of the free world say his thoughts.

"My fellow Luziycans," Shjoraski announced, "in recent days, our government has decided to send arms to the Ocidenian armed forces as separatists attempt to fight against the government in Paradisia. The separatists have violated a covenant: an agreement between the Ocidenians and themselves to maintain the peace in this unstable region. Inside Ocidenia, people are starting to protest against the government of Simeon Brozhav: while peaceful demonstrations are acceptable and the hallmark of any free society, it is not just to deliberately incite a rebellion against a government which has the support of the Ocidenian people, and is recognized by many countries as the legitimate government of the Ocidenian nation."

He said, "Our partners in the Ocidenian Department of Defense have contacted us to expand our partnership, and to this end, we are planning on authorizing the usage of the Central Intelligence Agency to gather intel in separatist-controlled regions to help Ocidenia retake the separatist regions, and expanding monetary aid to the government of Ocidenia to ensure that they will maintain territorial integrity. In the future, we may send advisors to the country, if the situation necessitates it."

When asked about the criticism and support for the opposition, Shjoraski explained, "The resolution that Namor had passed is merely symbolic and is essentially an internal policy. In any case, detente will not be affected by the differing foreign policy aims in regards to Ocidenia. But the action that New Zepuha is taking against the government in Ocidenia is concerning, and we shall monitor these recent developments within the region."

"If I may quote the Commissioner of Solned, Jaan Torbjörnsen, 'what's the least worst option? Prolonging the Brozhav regime or letting the rebels go on a hunting trip?'" Shjoraski concluded. "It is way better to prolong a government that was brought into power by a revolution than to let rebels run around the place, which is what has happened in Kraq and the surrounding region in the Notasian continent."

However, leader of the official opposition, Sera Svensson of the Liberal Party has criticized the decision, saying "while nations have a right to territorial integrity, the peoples also have a right to self-determination. To try and ignore the wishes of the people of Ocidenia will not only be dangerous for our reputation, it will result in increased anti-Luziycan sentiment and likely intensify the conflict there."

A small protest with 1,550 people was held at the Square of Nations in Gijirokastra expressing support for the separatists and criticizing the decision of Breuvi Shjoraski to send arms to the government of Simeon Brozhav.

In other news

• Vyvland - First nation to win the Chaska i Esquarium for the second time after defeating the Pavons.
• Unolia - Alicia Reinmen the last leader to visit Jarrod Thuman's urn before it gets scattered in the strait of Roubao alongside his wife
• Peitoa - Anti-Tzishin protesters occupy legislative building
• West Cedarbrook - OMABA to be declared a terrorist organization

[Ocidenia]

Battle of Paritera

As a wave of anti-aircraft fire started intensely coming towards them from the ground, the jets of the Ocidenian Air Forces immediately split up into groups in the sky in order to avoid getting shot down. Once the groups separated, they immediately devised different strategies as some jets would be launching air strikes and dropping bombs on the rebel forces, while others would distract the ONLF positions by constantly circling the sky above them, knowing that insurgents would attempt to shoot down the jets to ensure their safety.

This strategy seemed to be working very well, as the rebels were getting quite distracted by the vast flock of government aircraft above them, never knowing which one was preparing to fire and which one only served as a diversion. As the Ocidenian Air Force was cleansing the regions around Paritera of any rebel forces, the pilots contacted the ground commanders in order to warn the army that it was about the right time to start moving in.

[West Cedarbrook]

External Affairs Announces Measures for Air, Maritime Safety in Conflict Zone

Marks Departure from Redpaper Approach; Still Awaiting SOE Decision on Peacekeeping Offer

External Affairs Secretary Vernon Kansky
The Department of External Affairs announced overnight that more active measures would be taken to ensure the safety of Cedarbrookese air travel and maritime commerce to the embattled nation of Ocidenia. In a press release signed by Secretary Kansky, current Cedarbrookese neutrality was stressed. "The Government of the Kramden expects all parties in the current conflict in Ocidenia to respect international law regarding air traffic and freedom of the seas. We expect that all contracts with Cedarbrookese firms will continue to be enforced under Ocidenian law. The policy of this government is that of neutrality in this civil war. But we hold the government in Ocidenia responsible at this time for enforcement of law and order."

Kansky's missive further explained in detail measures for protection of air travel and seagoing commerce. "The carrier group Bardiu will begin deployment in international waters off the eastern coast of Fenslentrra. This action is to be seen as protective of our commerce with Fenslentrra, an ally under the Southeast Oriental Entente. It will also serve to protect Cedarbrookese flag shipping in commerce with Ocidenia. This is being done with the expectation that all parties involved in this conflict will respect neutral shipping and aircraft. It is not our objective to operate within Ocidenian waters or air space. Land side remote monitoring of air traffic will be performed by WCAF AWACS, Geosynchronous SSS9 Recon Satellites, and Landhawk Recon and Surveilance UAVs. Cedarbrookese passenger and freight aircraft will be warned if threats are detected, and will be advised to land at the nearest safe airport. If within range, the WCAF will respond to threats if they stray outside of Ocidenian air space."

The Secretary went on to say "It is our hope that this tragedy for the Ocidenian people will come to a conclusion soon. The Kramden is lobbying the Southeast Oreintal Entente to offer it's services for a negotiated settlement. We would back that up by committing peacekeeping forces, if that is agreeable to the parties. But in any case, these measures will remain in place until the period of danger has passed in Ocidenia.

This approach marks a departure from last year's approach to the fighting in Ocidenia, where an External Affairs "redpaper" was issued, warning shippers to avoid Ocidenia and surrounding waters, and increasing maritime insurance rates for the area. Sources close to External Affairs have indicated that this more aggressive approach is being spurred by the upcoming Antarctic winter, constricting southerly oceangoing trade and funneling more through the Great Esquarian Ocean, thereby exposing more shipping to risk. The same sources report ongoing efforts to bring the conflict onto the agenda of the SOE, and intensive lobbying of Luziycan Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alfhild Amandus to pressure the Brozhav regieme into a framework to restore democracy to Ocidenia. The involvement of the Western powers in the Ocidenian Civil War is viewed unfavorably, both by the Feld administration and in the Senate.

Senate Committee on Criminal Justice Votes to Designate OMABA

21-2 Vote Sends Recommendation to Full Senate: Arnstein to Address on Friday Afternoon

Attorney General Elliot Arnstein
In a late afternoon vote the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice passed on to the full Senate Attorney General Arnstein's recommendation that the Organization for Military Arms Banishment in the Antarctic (OMABA) be designated as a terrorist organization. News of the highly secretive organization recently came to light in the arrest of diplomat Jon Yrrek, and related cases of blackmail against members of Council for Thermonuclear Material Planning and Control (CoTheMPC), the Kramden's organization for nuclear contingency planning. The committee vote was 21-2, with all 13 Conservatives and 8 of the 10 Libertarians voting to pass the recommendation on. The evidence presented to the committee remains sealed, although the Attorney General is working through procedures to share evidence with the Wrycova City Prosecutor in the Yrrek case. Following the vote, Arnstein announced "I will bring the redacted evidence with me tomorrow when meeting with Senate President Douai, and the Conservative and Libertarian leaders there. Moving on a full senate vote is top priority at this time. OMABA has been caught in the process of undermining the security of The Kramden, in fact, undermining the stability of all South Conitia. A foreign power has been identified as a major sponsor of these traitors. It would be impolitic of me to release the evidence to the general public, and that action could hamper delicate diplomatic negotiations at this point. But under the purview of my office, under Cedarbrookese Criminal Law, there can be no questions about the treasonous and terrorist agenda of OMABA. And this I will bring to the meeting tomorrow.

[Ocidenia]

Thanks to a cooperation with the Ocidenian Air Force, the government tanks had entered the bombed regions surrounding the city of Paritera. The pilots were attempting to make sure that there are not ONLF forces in the regions and sought to destroy the last of the positions to give the regular army free passage across the regions. As the tanks colons entered the areas, they were advancing across the burnt fields full of craters and observing the perimeter on the lookout for any potential ONLF ambushers.

Although by the observation of the environment it seemed like chances of having any survivors in these particular areas were very slim, the suspicions of the government forces eventually turned out to be true, as heavily armed groups of ONLF militants jumped out of nowhere and opened fire at the regular army positions. The tanks were being shot at from rocket and grenade launchers, while the soldiers were coming under attack by rifle and machine gun fire. The soldiers reacted professionally and launched a counter-attack in order to eliminate the rebel nuisance and resume advance towards Paritera.

[Ocidenia]

The tanks colons were openly shelling the attacking rebel forces without stopping, while the government troops were taking cover behind the tanks to hide from bullets and other fire, resuming the fire from there. Although it worked very effectively at first, the ONLF fighters eventually started inflicting a lot of damage on the tanks with attacks from powerful weapons, which prompted the soldiers to defend the vehicles by taking over the fight. The troops were openly advancing towards the rebel forces, endlessly firing at them, sometimes without even taking cover. Although such confident open advance was risky, the fact that the numbers among the government forces were higher in comparison to the rebels, gave the army a belief that the insurgents will be overpowered.

Meanwhile, with a lot of pressure being laid off of them, the tanks were able to comfortably resume fire at the ONLF positions as support to the assault by the soldiers. As the fighting was raging on, some government attack helicopters circling the skies, noticed the fires sparing in the distance and quickly understood it was from the fighting between the government forces and the ONLF. The attack helicopters decided to do a couple of firing rounds on the rebel positions in these areas, in order to ease the effort of the Ocidenian Military to terminate the insurgent positions.

[Ocidenia]

The first several fly-bys done by the attack helicopters generated a lot of damage and were unexpected by the rebels, thus also generating a lot of casualties among the ONLF positions. The insurgents were already in a though position in their land fight against the government forces and could not devote their attention to having a constant outlook at the sky, thus making it difficult to be aware of all dangers and resume the fight on all fronts. Therefore, the opposition forces attempted to split themselves up into groups, with some resuming the fight against the forces of the Ocidenian Military, while others would be on the lookout for any incoming enemy aircraft.

[Ocidenia]

The government forces, meanwhile, saw that they were having an advantage in their fight against the rebel forces and requested that the fighter and bomber jets, as well as attack helicopters, carry out occasional firing and bombing runs over the areas of ongoing battles, helping ease the fight and clear a path out for the already seemingly winning regular army. The bombings were really helpful in overpowering the rebels and and the Ocidenian Military did not hesitate to use as many of them and as often, in order to raise their progress in their fight. Nevertheless, it was a risky move to take, as the rebels obtained a lot of anti-aircraft weaponry, which was being brought onto the frontlines from the occupied cities. With each strike on their positions, the ONLF forces were more and more on the lookout for a government aerial attack.

[Ocidenia]

Knowing that the government forces were getting dangerously close to the city, the ONLF became more and more concerned, feeling that at any time, the Creperian Military may launch a massive ground and aerial assault at them, which they would later have a lot of problems of holding up against., thus prompting the rebels to think of urgent counter action. Although it reminded of a flawed strategy and seemed like it would only make the opposition more visible for the government forces, the ONLF decided to station as much of their units in and around the city of Paritera as possible, in order to build up strong defenses. Although it was highly likely that a lot of those units would get taken out over the early course of the battle, the ONLF was hoping that it would at least buy them time to develop an effective strategy, while the government forces remain busy fighting these rebel units.