Race to Warsaw
3 months, 3 long months had passed since the declaration of ceasefire had been announced, ending Birkaine's Operation Nulya combat operations. 2 months since the signing of the Non-Aggression Treaty with the Birkainians which formally ended the 4th Belko-Birkainian War. As well, the payment to the Roman Empire for their assistance had been finalized with the handover of the Anfang Palace to its new Roman Governor, the Belkan District of Anfang was now a Roman Provence. However, peace was not yet at hand.
During the war, a second nation invaded Belkaland, the so-called Grand Empire of Poland. The Polish had sent a force through Stier Valley in an attempt to take advantage of Belkaland's perceived weakness with the Birkainian invasion during the 2nd Belkan War of Royal Succession. Unfortunately for them, the Polish Force's route was just within range of Avalon's rocket & heavy artillery fire, most having been ironically installed under Birkainian help years prior in a vast upgrade of the facility. In response, the Polish had tried to counter the attacks, but failed. With a constant barrage on their position, the Polish Forces had been forced to fall back out of range of Avalon, back into Polish lands.
Precious few nations could take on Belkaland and not expect repayment. Sadly, Poland was not on that short list...
Abfall 3 Forward Operating Base
Stier Valley, Belkaland
0138 Hours
“Gah... I hate the cold!” snorted a Corporal as he looked out across the snowy valley from his watch tower on the north corner of Abfall 3 FOB. “Hey, don't worry Corp. Biermann. Our shift ends in 20 minutes, then we can get back to the warm barracks and sleep.” Grinned the Corporal's partner in freezing, a Private Gratz according to his rank insignia & name tag. “ Yeah, filling out paperwork for an hour, then maybe an hours of sleep before we get our asses up and into our tank, then proceed for who knows how long towards the Polak's capital.” Grumbled out Biermann as he rubbed his gloved hands together. “Damn bitch's gonna get us all killed...”
“That “Bitch” is now GroßKaiserin, and you're lucky you got to stay in the military“ Retorted Gratz. “I was in your Battalion during the Succession War, if you don't remember.“ “Yeah, yeah... whatever...“ Mumbled Biermann, “Still hate the Bitch, she executed half the Generals on our side, imprisoned the rest, then Dishonorably Discharged every officer above the rank of Major, and the rest she bumped down to NCO ranks.“ Gratz chuckled at that, “Yeah, at least we weren't Generals. I heard she had them dropped into the crater at Stier.“ “Nah, too flamboyant. She likely just had them all shot and their bodies dumped in the middle of nowhere... Hey, check it out!“ Stated Biermann, pointing out towards the Polish border. “Looks like the Recon helicopters are back early.“
As the Corporal had pointed out, a trio of semi-stealthy Hf-223 Waspe Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters circled around the FOB before coming in for a landing. “Tower, this is Kolibri 2-1, coming in for an emergency landing on Pad 4. I have an high-priority update status of the Polish forces in the valley for command, get me a Technical Officer to get out the video feed and have Col. Rommel report to the Primary Briefing Room, as well as set up a secure link to the other commanders.“ Ordered the pilot of the Waspe, to which the Tower responded “Roger that, Kolibri 2-1, you're cleared to land and your orders have been sent out.“
The Hf-223 then proceeded to come down upon Helicopter Pad #3, stirring up a small blizzard of snow in its downdraft as it's 5-bladed main rotor was pitched to provide max downward thrust to slow the helicopter's decent to a stop. As its main rotor blades slowed to a halt, a group of technicians came running out of the portable hangers that had been set up for the helicopters operating out of the FOB. Pulling off her helmet, the pilot disconnected the air hoseline from the panel to her side and opened the canopy door. As she did so, her co-pilot & gunner called out to her, “Hey Alessia, you better be more careful next time. You almost got our cover blown by that stunt of yours, flying down the highway below treetop level! You could have crashed the helo and we'd be stuck behind enemy lines before the invasion even began!“ “Look Alphonse, we didn't have time to take the long route back the way we got in, so I made a call and decided to run the gauntlet under the enemy radar, which the highway provided. Now, work with the maintenance crew and get this bird ready to get back into the air.“ Retorted Alessia, who then proceed to climb out of the Waspe. When she touched the ground, she turned to the Technical Officer and had him pull the video feed recorded in the helicopter's hard drives. Once she had the video feed, she started running for the Command Building.
Abfall 3 Forward Operating Base
Stier Valley, Belkaland
0205 Hours
In the FOB's Primary Briefing Room, a bank of 7 decent sized computer monitors had been set up along a wall facing a Conference table. At the head of table sat Colonel Friedrich Rommel, a twig of a man, and not very well respected. He was considered a military politician, feeding off the legacy of his grandfather, a famous Tank Commander during the Second Rostilian War, having never faced combat til the Succession War. Even then he was loath, as he would just throw men & troops til something broke. Usually the enemy, but still his own forces too often for their comfort. Along the sides of the table sat various officers, including Major Alessia Ormanni to the right of Col. Rommel. On the screens were the other field commanders plus their leader, Field Marshall Lt. General Anton Burghartswieser. All of them were sorta shocked at what the Major had just reported.
“Again, as I said, while the Polish forces have a large numerical advantage over us, bolstered by the resupplied ahead of schedule Polish Invasion Force, they lack an Integrated Air Defense System. As such, our stealth aircraft should be able to operate with little worry about ground fire. The main threat will be from their fighter squadrons, specifically their Typhoon fighter jets.” stated Alessia as she pulled up pictures of the various targets of interests she'd taken, either in her helicopter or a small drone controlled from her helicopter. “Unfortunately, we have no idea what Tranche the Typhoons are. They could be the basic Air to Air Tranche 1 Typhoons, or the full-on Tranche 3B Typhoon.” One of the commanders on the screens, an Luftwaffe Colonel, spoke up first, “Are we sure this is accurate? Such inadequate air defenses is hard to believe with this being their primary defensive position in the valley pass. I would have expected SAM sites, or at least SPAAGs on the ground.” Alessia nodded her head and replied ”Well Col., if they have them, they hid them far too well for us to even pick up a trace of them. As such, I recommend we launch the air campaign an hour ahead of the ground assault with 2 of the reserve Divisions moving in with the main force to counter the now reequipped Invasion Force.”
Once Alessia had finished, Col. Rommel cleared his voice and snidely spoke. “Sorry Major, but that's not up to you. So, if that's all you have, please leave us.” “Yes sir.” Droned out Alessia as she gathered her things and left the room. Once the Major had left the room, Rommel spoke up, “I apologize for my Officer's Out of Line recommendation, I shall make sure she is properly reprimanded.” Before Rommel could go further, Field Marshall Burghartswieser interrupted the Colonel, “That won't be needed Colonel, as I find myself in agreement with Major Ormanni's recommendation. If the Polish forces lack the air defenses to hinder our air power, we should use it. The Polish Army has a large amount of artillery at that fortress of theirs, if we can knock it out before it becomes a direct threat to our ground forces, the better of a chance we have. Do you commanders agree?” All the commanders responded positively, though Rommel's answered seemed slightly forced. “Very well, we'll go with Major Alessia's recommendation. I'll inform the Roman Commander the slight change in plans in Operation Rasse-Tag. You've got a good Officer in the Major, Col. Rommel. She'll go far if she survives this. Good day Gentlemen, and good hunting.”
An hour later across Belkaland, aircraft began taking off from their airbases, some of them still showing signs of damage from Op. Nulya where the Birkainians launched Cratering Ballistic Missile strikes. All the aircraft taking off showed 1 common element, stealth. 72 Hr-267 Wraith Stealth Bombers flew towards the twin valleys, half heading for Stier, the other heading for Ragnar to support the Romans in their assault. As well, 134 Hf-12 Wyvern Stealth Fighters flew towards Stier Valley, 48 of these fighters were armed not for possible Air to Air Combat, but armed with bombs, specifically, they were armed with the new heavy bunker busters & thermobaric bombs, developed by the Grunder Faction during the Succession War.
KMV Hans-Günther Lange, U-777
International Waters, Athenian Sea
Schweigen ist Seligkeit, Geräusch ist Tod.
Silence is Bliss, Noise is Death.
Thus was the motto of the Belkan Walther Forstmann-class Nuclear Attack Submarine KMV Hans-Günther Lange, and they were following it to the letter. 3 weeks they had been out here, looking for potential targets, and they had themselves a whopper. 1 Bismarck-class battleship flying the Polish Flag, escorted by a trio of ships, a Ambroziak-class Air Defense Cruiser & 2 Pułaski-class General Purpose Destroyers. Additionally, sonar had been picking up the odd noise, suggesting the presence of another submarine, likely another escort for the Bismarck-class Battleship. With a good target picked out, the KMV Hans-Günther Lange stealthily slid in behind the battlegroup, tracking them as they made their way across the Athenian Sea. Her and her sister submarines would clear the seas for the main naval taskforce to come in, the Belkan Battlefleet Valhalla. All she needed was the signal...
