The Ralkovian War (CLOSED: GD)

[Holy Marsh]

OOC- Written in conjunction with Ralkovia, this thread will also serve as a hub for other involved threads and roleplays connected to events in the war.

What follows is a brief overview of the devastating Ralkovian War, a war which ended the Ralkovian Empire and created several nations in its place while leaving billions dead. It goes into little detail on many matters, matters which at a future point and time will be further expanded upon, while missives and notes from those involved will shed light on each nation's personal experience in the conflict. This volume will expand with time, and one can only hope it leads to a greater understanding of the horrors of this war.

The Metal Sea. January 5th, 2028-February 5th, 2028.

The seeds of the Ralkovian War had been planted for generations amongst the soon to be Alliance, whose largest member states of the Romani-Mar'si Union, Lamoni, The Commonwealth of Morrdh, and the Timocratic Republic were all opposed to the act of slavery while Ralkovia was the largest slave-trading nation in Greater Dienstad. It was decided in 2025 that after generations of growing power and greater ability to move in the region, it was time to strike at the heart of the Ralkovian Empire. At a meeting in the Romandean capital of Vesta, more than a dozen nations signed a secret agreement to cofull-blownl blown combat operations no later than December 31st, 2027. This set up the initial phase of the war, the growing anti-slaver naval operations of the various Allied forces.

For years before the official outbreak of the Ralkovian War, blood was being spilled in the name of slavery across the seas of Greater Dienstad. The Romani-Mar'si Union had open bounties for all slaver vessels and had a shoot on sight order, while allied nations such as Lamoni would intercede against Ralkovian traffic as well. Thousands of ships annually would be captured or destroyed every year. This represented only a small portion of Ralkovian shipping but a still significant amount of loss every year. Likewise, Ralkovian naval assets were tasked with responding to such threats and many small, unnamed naval battles happened over these shipping lanes in an undeclared yet decidedly bloody naval war.

The first moves of the war were to increase the intensity of such operations slowly, and to lead the responding Ralkovian forces into a series of traps in the high seas. This slow build-up of Allied naval forces was noted by Ralkovian naval command, but it was believed to be a commitment to already started objectives than anything else. By the time December 31st, 2027 was reached, the Allied forces had been able to achieve a degree of naval build-up across Western Greater Dienstad that was considered an optimistic ideal at best. The Allied forces started a full-fledged anti-naval interdiction campaign and announced that a state of war existed on January 5th, 2028.

The Ralkovians responded to the Allies' naval initiatives without full knowledge of the size or scope of the enemy they were about to fight. This was an intelligence failure, but as post-war records have shown, early war Ralkovian decision making was plagued by an inability to grasp the threat they faced. As such, their naval forces were dispatched with less than ideal knowledge of their enemy. In a series of increasingly devastating engagements, the first wave of Ralkovian responses were overwhelmed and annihilated. All the while, Ralkovian shipping was consumed with increasing ferocity. 'Safe lanes' were left open only to shuttle together large elements of Ralkovian shipping, to be struck by subs, carrier battle groups, and swarms of small missile boats. The colonies, already undergoing extreme strife due to the Marshite demands, were cut off in due time.

The Ralkovian Navy would recover from these setbacks quickly, their skill, determination, and professionalism coming into play. They would respond en masse to try and force one-half of the Allied force into an open battle to try and defeat it, then pull back, regroup, and defeat the other. Their knowledge of the waters and their desire to wipe out the allies was strong; their intelligence, however, was not. The Marshites alone had tens of thousands of combat vessels out by now, with the forces of Lamoni and other Allied forces bringing their significant forces to bear as well. Romandeos and other Union States were were also deploying naval forces en masse, with only scant knowledge of their force being known to the Ralkovians. This would become a critical error in Ralkovian intelligence, one that would decide the course of the war.

The Battle of the Slaver Bay was not one large engagement, but dozens, perhaps hundreds, of smaller battles. Many of them are worthy of tomes all their own and are among the bloodiest battles in the history of naval warfare individually. The Ralkovian Navy engaged the Allied Navy with an initial advantage. However, the Allies had far more than the Ralkovians had prepared for and the Ralkovians proved unable to push deeper into allied waters, and indeed found themselves on equal footing. It was then that Marshite and Union naval forces, operating in a wide strike, struck at the rear and supply lines of the Ralkovian battle fleet. The Ralkovian Navy attempted to push back but found themselves surrounded, outnumbered, and increasingly outgunned. Not only were mainland naval bases pressured intensely, but a ground invasion of the Ralkovian Slaver Bay Enclaves cut them off further. These enclaves would be taken in a matter of days and were quickly repurposed into entirely military-operated areas of control.

Vessel after vessel ran out of munitions. Vessel after vessel was destroyed by concentrated fire, while the Marshite and Allied navies were able to keep up a steady stream of fire and were easily resupplied. Ralkovian resupply efforts were repulsed by the Union navies. Breakout attempts were thwarted with extreme prejudice. The skill, bravery, and cunning of the Ralkovian Navy was of the highest quality, but they found themselves pitted against enemies who shared these same traits. Escape lanes would appear in 'disorganized' allied naval lanes, only to be closed like the jaws of a great beast on those who attempted to make good their escape. Over the course of several weeks, in open water, the Ralkovian Navy was erased from the war as an active threat to Allied plans, with the last large combat action against the Ralkovian Navy taking place on February 5th. So devastating were their losses that in some places ships could no longer sail, as the sunken ships at times stacked to create a virtual sea bed of steel and death a dozen or so feet from the surface. So much tonnage was lost and at such volume that the waters off of Eastrn Ralkovia would become a horrifying petri dish of disease for years afterwards, while the sea level would rise to cause small scale flooding in the colonies and Eastern Ralkovia.

Allied losses were devastating as well. Several hundred carrier battle groups were crippled while submarine forces suffered crushing losses, to name just a few of the notable . Luckily, they had the numbers, and the main battle groups who had been prepared for the battle were pulled back and replaced by the second stage forces of the War in Ralkovia: The securing of the skies over Eastern Ralkovia (Operation Dawn Compass) and the Marshite invasion of the Colonies (Operation Riptide).

[Holy Marsh]

Operation Riptide. January 20th, 2028-February 17th, 2028

The Marshite invasion of the colonies was proceeded by two things that made it an overwhelming success. The first was the cutting off of the colonies from the mainland. While some colonies were more than able to sustain themselves on their own, many others could not. Even those that could sustain themselves suffered a psychological blow when they finally understood they were on their own, magnified by the victory of the allied forces in the titanic naval struggle off of Ralkovia. There was little the colonies could do. The colonial defense fleet was mighty as far as defense fleets go and the waters around the colonies would need to be taken, but it cannot be overstated that the psychological impact of the allied victories at sea caused a wave of defeatism to devastate colonial morale.

The second was the Marshite ultimatum. Many colonies were already free states with only limited ties to their Ralkovian masters. Cut off from Ralkovia and facing destruction, many of the colonies agreed to the ultimatum and would round up Ralkovian officials and those who supported them. Others were split, with a number of colonies devolving into internal strife and civil war. Colonial armed forces as well as the defense fleet would suffer vital fractures. Long before the first Marshite boots hit the shores of the colonies, blood wasspiltspilled over the ultimatum itself. It is doubtful that even an entirely united Colonial Front would have lasted long against the invasion, but with a good many of them outright abandoning any Ralkovian pretext and many others being torn apart by civil war, the incoming Marshite invasion would face little initial opposition.

The first part of Riptide was the controlling of the seas around the colonies. Outnumbered and torn apart by strife and issue, the colonial fleets were swept aside by the Marshite attacks. Indeed, a number of vessels and battlegroups even joined the invaders in a number of sea battles tied to the civil war. Then one by one, Marshite forces landed in the colonies. The first colonies were the friendliest to the Marshite presence, having taken the ultimatum by heart. Marshite forces were greeted by Ralkovian officials who had been rounded up as well as their supporters, who were quickly whisked away. Marshites would establish a series of laws and then move on to use local military bases where possible; they otherwise left these colonies on their own, with Union states starting new resupply efforts.

The next colonies struck were those undergoing civil strife. Marshite forces would aid the friendly forces and in each and every instance, regardless of pre-existing situations, Marshite forces made quick work of their colonial opposition. The skill and bravery of Ralkovian loyalists was not questioned by any, but thy were simply overwhelmed by the situation. The colonial situation quickly turned against the loyalists as the days ticked by and one colony after another was captured. Some of these were to be the site of long-standing insurgencies, countered at first by the draconian responses of the Marshite Church against loyalists and their families, and then by other Union states when the Marshites found more important targets to attack. The various insurgencies were mostly put down rather violently in this time, though a number survived, though depleted and robbed of significant ability to affect change.

The final stage of Riptide was the attack on the islands that had by large resisted the ultimatum's temptations and retained loyalty to Ralkovia. The Marshites, deeming these islands full of heretics due to their practice of slavery or willing engagement with those who did, unleashed the full and brutal power of their war machines. Every weapon in the arsenal was used. The Ralkovian Loyalists resisted fiercely and desperately, but as hours became days, collapsed under the titanic weight of the firepower brought against them. This collapse would become an unmitigated genocide as Marshites did not distinguish between civilian and soldier. Only those that came forward to denounce and name slavers or otherwise actively help the persecution of those involved were spared what would be a multi-month unceasing slaughter. Resistance proved desperate once the slaughter began as they fought to protect friends and family, but there was increasingly fewer and fewer left to fight. Post-war, the most loyal of Ralkovian colonies were reduced to corpse-laden deathlands of chemical and biological weapons with only a faint shadow of the prosperity they once had.

There is some debate as to the merits of Operation Riptide. Critics of the policy believe the forces dedicated to this should have been dedicated to other actions. The invasion of Eastern Ralkovia proved to be slower than many would have liked, leading a small contingent to believe that had Riptide not taken place, the post-war would have looked different. Proponents of Riptide point to the psychological blow the loss of Ralkovia's colonies would lead to, as well as cratering Ralkovia's ability to export slaves. It also gave the Union much needed military bases across the world to launch further Crusades. This is the official position of the Union, and one shared by most who support their cause.

There was still one island that stood like a rock against this tide of blood and was a beacon of Ralkovian might and strength. The island of Masada and the battle fought there would become the first great land battle of the war, and a testament to the fire and fury that would consume untold billions before the conflict was over. This battle, known as the Bloodletting of Masada, which ended on February 17th and was the end of Operation Riptide, will be detailed in depth in a later part of this series.

There was still one island that stood like a rock against this tide of blood and was a beacon of Ralkovian might and strength. The island of Masada and the battle fought there would become the first great land battle of the war, and a testament to the fire and fury that would consume untold billions before the conflict was over. This battle, known as the Bloodletting of Masada, which ended on February 17th and was the end of Operation Riptide, will be detailed in depth in a later part of this series.

[Holy Marsh]

Operation Dawn Compass. February 5th, 2028-March 10th, 2028

The air battle that developed over eastern Ralkovia after the establishment of multiple air bases nearby was unparalleled in size and ferocity. Ralkovian advantages of its formidable air defense network and capability to deploy more aircraft were not inconsiderable. The Alliance had some advantages of its own- its aircraft were more advanced, pilots more experienced, and had command of the nearby sea, which allowed for the weight of its firepower to be brought to bear at times. FA-15 Cardinals and MAF-50 Pegasi duelled in the skies while wings of Drakes fought through air defenses and ACI-73Ms to reach their targets. Long range stealth bombers from multiple nations were lead in by large numbers of AWACS- some of whom were shot down by any number of Ralkovian fighters, who were in turn destroyed by advanced air superiority craft. Air Superiority Fighters, Strike Fighters, Attackers, Multi-Role Aircraft, Electronic Warfare, SEAD Aircraft, conventional, supersonic, stealth, and even nuclear-powered bombers- to recount a blow by blow of the campaign would end in little more than acronym blindness. Suffice it is to say that low estimates place the number of different types of aircraft deployed at 200 different models, and none of them in very low numbers.

While Ralkovia had local superiority thanks to its ability to quickly turn aircraft around, the Allies boasted a combined air force of many magnitudes more. The strategy was to first engage in tactical battles along eastern Ralkovia in an attempt to gauge their foes. A mostly carrier-borne Allied force engaged Ralkovian aircraft for two weeks. Ralkovian air tactics and habits were studied and assessed. The first real Allied counter came only at this moment, when more ground-based aircraft of superior quality and pilots of great experience led several titanic air battles. While the Ralkovians could be said to have been winning the air war before, the next phase saw the arithmetic of war shift heavily in the Allies' favor. Ralkovian pilots learned quickly; Aces were being made on both sides daily. But as Allied victories came in quick and heavy, they were able to dedicate time and effort to clearing away ground defenses.

Massive conventional bombing campaigns, the like not seen in such numbers for decades once the initial high concentration of defense were thinned, rocked the land. Some attacks came in unrelenting waves of thousands of heavy, but cheap, bombers who were unmolested and unconcerned about enemy air attack. Still others came from more specialized and extreme aircraft, Such as the Dragonhawk and Mailed Fist, who combined could in small numbers level a series of bases in a single bombing run. Smaller enemy air bases were simply erased from the map, forcing the resourceful Ralkovian air force to utilize other bases, highways, or fields. This was not without loss; while the Allied air strategy was considered to be working overall, there were signs on all sides that the effort was draining pilots on all sides as well as resources.

Ralkovian pilots were being pushed to the brink. A single pilot may have conducted multiple high-tension life-or-death sorties in a single day, with little or no rest in between. Some pilots died from exhaustion after having landed, while the erosion of skill and reaction time was noticeable to anyone familiar with the nature of Ralkovian pilotry. Alliance pilots meanwhile did not face such concerns. Air Wings were moved in and out for rest and reformation. As the weeks dragged on, the Ralkovian situation became more pressed than ever.

However, the Alliance was not without serious issues of their own. Supplying the forward air units engaged with the Ralkovians was taxing due to the great distance between the nations of the Alliance. Local commanders had to make hard decisions about what to send where as supplies dwindled. For every day of supply they received, they were consuming a day and a half and the vast reserved prepared pre-battle were dwindling. The Ralkovians faced little issue there, as they had quick and easy access to the vast and immediate stores of their homeland. After a month and a half of devastating air battles, both sides were staggering. The Ralkovian Air Force was almost physically incapable of fighting while the Allies had a swiftly dwindling stockpile.

Yet they had both done exceptionally well to hide this from the enemy. Both made plans to achieve a lasting victory in the air war. The Ralkovians planned on launching a massive aerial assault on the bases constructed by the Allies nearby. This would not end the air war, but would force the Allies on the defensive long enough for the Ralkovian air force to recover. The Allies planned on simultaneously destroying all major aerial bases in the east. The Ralkovians had over time moved most of their operations to two dozen major airbases and, while heavily defended, were still capable of being destroyed through heavy bombardment. If destroyed, they would be hard-pressed to defend eastern Ralkovia's airspace much longer.

The Ralkovian operation had four stages. First would be aerial feints, two near the northern coast of eastern Ralkovia and one near the southern coast. Both would be accompanied by a mass flashing of electronic warfare aircraft and signals meant to make the attacks appear much larger. The hope was that the Allies would respond to these attacks strongly, and allow the center strike force which comprised of the majority of aircraft to punch through the Allied navy, strike the bases, and fight their way home. It was a desperate plan and many considered it a suicide mission. It is a testament to the bravery of the weary, bleary-eyed Ralkovian pilot that thousands of them climbed into their cockpits and prepared for this mission.

The Allied plan relied on far less trickery but, oddly enough, had some similarities. They would push into Eastern Ralkovia across all three vectors in equal measure and hopefully drag the Ralkovian fighters out. Then, the single largest bombing attack in human history would 'bleed' in from the borders and strike at the depleted bases, escorted by their own air wings of fighters. If the Ralkovians responded to the bombing strike, they would be pursued and destroyed in the air. If they did not, then the Ralkovian ability to continue strategic aerial warfare was gone regardless. A lot rode on this operation. Failure would certainly force the Allies on the defensive while they restocked and rearmed, and put the entire Crusade at risk. The effort alone to refuel the bombers en route is worthy of a logistical time all its own- failure was a waste of resources not even the vast Alliance could disregard easily.

As war reminds us, the true master is fate, and as chance would have it, these operations were conducted at the same time. Early Friday morning on March 10th, across the coast of Eastern Ralkovia, Ralkovian aircraft appeared and undertook their feints. They ran into superior enemy opposition and were pushed back. The Ralkovian center 'punch' took off, believing their plan was working. They ran into Allied air forces deployed en masse around the coast, much earlier than anticipated. Fierce engagements saw the Allied air force take substantial losses from an enemy outrageously determined to push forward despite the naval anti-air chewing them up alongside Allied air.

It was at this time that the bombers arrived. The first wave were light, medium, and heavy stealth bombers that eliminated defenses and communication. They were followed by super-heavy bombers of all stripes who laid waste to entire bases in moments. Following them were waves of conventional heavy bombers which saturated the earth so heavily with bombs that morning that they fell like droplets of rain in a storm. The fighter escorts found few enemies worthy of their attention and broke off to engage the retreating Ralkovian forces from the feints in the north and south, joined by some stragglers who had broken off from the center when the bombing had started. This allowed the entire local Allied air force to turn towards the center, where the surviving Ralkovian aircraft had bloodied the Allied center enough to get closer to Allied bases.

Realizing that they were doomed, General Rochstein, commander of the Ralkovian air forces deployed to the front, commanded all pilots to cease operations against Allied aircraft and focus all munitions on the airbases. They did so and while every Ralkovian aircraft was shot down, half of all Allied airbases and airfields targeted were either destroyed or damaged and in need of repair. It was a moment of selflessness that even their Lamonian captors admired, with General Rochstein becoming one of the few Ralkovian leaders during the war to receive positive coverage in Allied press.

The result was nonetheless poor for Ralkovia. They had suffered catastrophic aerial losses in men, material, leadership, and positioning. Many of its best aerial commands and formations had been rendered combat ineffective or been all but erased from the field in that one attack, with its overall combat losses making event its most effective formation a crippled version of its worst self. Its air defense network was a pale shadow of what it once was. It lacked the proper facilities to continue engaging effectively in the east, while the remaining elements of the Ralkovian Air Force were driven to the marrow by exhaustion.

Allied air losses had been exceptionally light overall in comparison (though still quite heavy by any normal accounting) and while losing to one extent or another half of their available local bases was troubling they nonetheless emerged the clear victor. The Ralkovians had actually destroyed the single largest stockpile of munitions the Allied air forces had left as well as several smaller ones, but the Ralkovians did not know what desperate supply situation the Allies were in.

The Head of the Ralkovian Air Force was not alone in wanting to stick it out and fight, however. Indeed, he believed that while they had lost the battle, the campaign as a whole could be won by outlasting their opponent. Logistics said so. But he was overruled in this critical decision. It was decided that defending the skies over eastern Ralkovia was no longer tenable- at least for the moment. They would withdraw behind areas of its aerial defense network in the west which were untouched. They were not abandoning the war- they were simply gathering themselves up for a future deathblow.

When the Ralkovians ceded eastern Ralkovia's airspace after a last week of small aerial engagements, the Allies breathed an enormous sigh of relief. Active Naval Air Forces were reduced more than 95% since the start of the war and wouldn't play a considerable part in the war again until the very end. Losses in bombers, fighters, and specialized aircraft were terrifying. They had taken the skies and broken the air defense network, but they had paid for it in storms of blood and metal. Allied forces had time to remake themselves for the future of the war, but the shadow of loss would hang over them. On March 24th, the Allies established aerial dominance over Eastern Ralkovia.

Ralkovia was determined to ensure that the next time they committed their air force to battle that they would be masters of their own fate. They would recuperate, reconfigure themselves, and go to war again once the enemy ground forces were dealt with.
Everyone knew the invasion was coming. It was just a matter of, as far as the Ralkovians were concerned, how many would be killed before contact was ever joined.

[Holy Marsh]

Operation Sledgehammer. April 10th, 2028-May 13th, 2028

The next several weeks saw relatively light combat. Relatively- air losses on both sides continued, and the Allied naval forces started mass bombardment of targeted zones. Missiles reached far but naval guns, free of threat thanks to the active allied air forces above, also found their rare usage brought forth on great quantity once again. The firepower directed such was tremendous and accurate, with Ralkovian fortified positions and ground forces receiving devastating barrages around the clock, while selected landing zones and cities received even heavier and more indiscriminate bombardments. The net effect was that the Ralkovian defenses of Eastern Ralkovia within range of the concentrated power of the fleet was reduced again and again, with a focus on any possible entrenchments and on indirect firepower. If the Ralkovians had wanted to defend the landings with great force, they would have taken great loss.

But they hadn't decided to do so, much to the bemusement of the Allied leadership. The area wasn't undefended- several army groups were tasked to its defense and, as such, were getting shredded without air cover and under the guns of the fleet. But considering the size of the Ralkovian military, it was puzzling. The Allies had a notable advantage in manpower that, if allowed to exploit, would allow for the near guarantee of Allied victory in Eastern Ralkovia. Many believed that the Ralkovian Strategy was to sit outside of range of the fleet en masse (missiles could still be used, but the guns of the fleet were not able to reach them) and counter-attack with a newly minted air force when the Allies had committed enough to make defeat painful, but not enough to win. Marshite forces postulated that they might have the same Area Denial 17 Strategy that Marshite cities used: The placement of explosives over a large area, triggered once certain conditions are met. It was decided that the invasion would proceed with caution while the truth of this matter was discovered.

Previously damaged allied air bases were repaired and expanded upon hurriedly, allowing for a short term expansion of air power from them. Naval Air Forces who were withered down to almost nothing were replenished. Dozens of Army Groups streamed into the zone, with lines of transport and defense stretching across Greater Dienstad. Interdiction attempts were made by mercenaries and the scattered remnants of the Ralkovian fleet, and a series of small naval battles across the region created stories of heroism, deceit, defeat, and victory for all sides, though the net effect strategically and tactically was null. The day of the invasion, known as Operation Sledgehammer, approached: F-Day, April 10th. For the Marshites this stood for Fire Day, as they planned to burn their way through the Heresy of slavery. For other, more liberally minded nations it stood for Freedom Day. The Ralkovians considered it the Fools Day, for only a Fool would invade them.

The landings would proceed on five major landing areas, each one subdivided by six major beaches and even more by dozens of zones dedicated for certain tasks. The heaviest aerial and naval bombardment of the past few weeks focused on what remained of various artillery platforms and other ground forces. Allied forces landed en masse, with the opening waves brought into the conflict borne on Tigersharks, Warbeaches, Rocs, Molinors, and a wide variety of other transport craft. Allied forces hit the beach en masse, coordinated not only with aircraft and naval firepower, but with each other. Many of the transport aircraft themselves brought devastating amounts of firepower to the table.

Ralkovian forces who had survived to this point fought bitterly, but were not intended to fight for long. Almost every beach achieved their F-Day objectives. Many achieved their F-Day +1, +2, or even +3 objectives in quick order. A few failed to meet their objectives due to particularly stubborn resistance, though by F-Day +3 all objectives up to +3 had been completed. The Ralkovian armies in the area retreated in good order despite taking significant losses, pulling back to secondary and tertiary defense lines dozens of miles inland. This was part of the Ralkovian strategy to ensure maximum number of Allied forces were within fifty miles of the coast, which was the depth of their area denial system. Then they would detonate it, destroy large elements of the enemy, and counter-attack the scattered remnants.

It was very much the same strategy Marshites used, and as the lines solidified, Marshite engineers went to attempt to verify it. They found evidence and then used ground penetrating radar and other methods to eventually discover the scale of it- across every landing zone, covering the majority of territory. It was extensive, and Marshite forces were impressed. Their findings were shared with other Allied forces. They tested several of the zones in an effort to understand the nature of the devices. They were networked, meaning that interference would be spotted and they could be remotely detonated. Utilizing their knowledge of their own systems as well as what intel they had gathered, Marshites began the mass masking of the signals. This allowed them to slowly but surely cut off more and more of the networked explosives from Ralkovian control without Ralkovian military forces being made wiser. Once masked, they could be removed.

Of course, this was a time intensive process and needed to be done away from the view of Ralkovian forces. They also couldn't simply wait and stay in place, as it would arouse suspicion and would disallow the tremendous backlog of ground forces from landing. Therefore, Allied leadership decided to launch a series of offensives to try and capture several important routes out of the area denial network, while also launching multiple feints in an effort to convince the Ralkovians it was a general offensive and not a directed one. Once the important areas were taken, they could fall back to the safe zones, remove the explosives, and punch out.

What followed was a series of battles, none of which were large in the scale of the war (but still saw thousands of casualties on all sides). Allied progress was steady, but paid for in blood, while the battered Ralkovian forces were stretched thin and suffered greatly, but still followed the overall battle plan. They were pushed back along the major routes but held against the smaller attacks outside of them, creating seven bulges in the Allied advance. By F+10, Allied forces stopped. In their advance along the major routes they had masked and started to remove explosives, while most of the landing zones and beaches had been cleared. Ralkovian forces were none the wiser until F+11, when a captured Allied engineer, wounded fatally, gloated that their 'Gambit had failed'.

It took several more days for the dying words of that engineer to reach the ears of a properly paranoid officer. He reported it, and soon Ralkovian Command believed the time had come. The belief was that the Allies may have just discovered the system and were just now starting to try to find ways to defeat it, and thus the slowdown in the offensive. They made the decision to activate on F+14, and allowed a day for their forces to fall back. They activated the system on F+15.

The major routes had been cleared in the majority sense, though some losses were experienced near the forward edges of the advance. Allied forces who had been stalemated had fallen back towards cleared zones by F+14. Landing zones likewise were cleared. This didn't stop the rest of the landmass from going up in a nearly simultaneous explosion of mammoth scale. Thousands of miles of landmass exploded into the sky, blocking the sun and creating a cloud of dirt and death that would roam over the continents of Greater Dienstad for a full year. Forces not caught in the blast still suffered from many issues, such as the overturning of vehicles and thousands of personnel losses due to wounding. The explosion, it was said, could be heard all the way in Potthan. It caused a tidal wave that slammed Ralkovia's neighbors and cause the Allied fleet to lose cohesion for several days. More than a dozen aircraft would be lost in the cloud, with one even being carried aloft for several days before landing the wild lands of the far western continent.

Allied forces still survived this, and the Ralkovian counter-attack that was launched was met with vastly more resistance than expected. Instead of the scattered remnants of a shattered, broken force, they met army groups of dazed but still powerful men and women under arms. The Ralkovian counter-attack made some headway along multiple axis of advanace, but were bogged down quickly. Allied forces then launched several mass offensives, utilizing a bevy of engineering vehicles to slowly but surely bridge the shattered landmass. Day by day the Allied forces grew in firepower and significance. The Ralkovian forces on the ground were at first bled dry, and then beaten down by extreme firepower. Gaps would appear and be exploited. By F+25, Allied forces punched through the area impacted by the Area Denial System and started to envelope some of the counter-attacking elements.

Not wanting to risk annihilation, Ralkovian ground forces attempted to retreat. However, Allied forces had broken through in so many areas that they were able to launch surprise attacks deep in Ralkovian held territory, shattering the cohesion of the retreat. Under dirt-choked skies that browned out the sun, the Ralkovian forces in Eastern Ralkovia meant to engage and defeat the Allies were brutalized in terrible fashion. Dozens of Ralkovian divisions fought with great honor and distinction, with General Feingurg and the Ralkovian Death Guard providing a legendary defense of a series of bridges up until F+31. But by F+32, the Allies had thoroughly smashed the first major Ralkovian ground force and had taken all major first month objectives. On May 13th, F+33, the Allies declared Sledgehammer a success.

The Ralkovians fell back and established a series of defensive lines and strategic strongpoints. The Allies would soon launch the First General Offensive, which targeted the very heart of Ralkovia as well as the cities near the coast who had been left alone up until that point. For the Ralkovian public, the Sledgehammer was a shattering event that sent shockwaves throughout the nation. Mass exoduses were attempted, but many towns and small cities were captured. The dismantling of the Ralkovian government started here. Allied forces also started to broadcast messages encouraging open rebellion. They promised aid in terms of direct combat support, weapons, ammunition, food, and medicine.

The next phase of the war, the First General Offensive, would see the fate of Eastern Ralkovia decided in more than one way.

[Holy Marsh]

The First General Offensive. June 20th- August 5th

The General Offensive was launched with hundreds of Army Groups across a wide front. The goal was the capture of the entirety of Eastern Ralkovia. Indeed, the General Offensive is simply a catch-all term to describe several dozen smaller offensives. Hundreds of battles were fought, and no true accounting has yet been made of the casualties on both sides.

Vast tunnel networks existed underneath Ralkovia. Not unlike the networks underneath Pushania or Marshite territory near the historical frontline of the Long War, these unbelievably vast constructs were the result of billions of slaves laboring for decades. Built with defense in mind, these often had their own power supply, depots to provide for food, medicine, equipment, and vast quarters to house Ralkovian troops. While the benefits in neutralizing some aspects of enemy airpower were obvious, in a strategic sense, it was a far more devastating logistical and campaigning tool. Ralkovian defensive strategy centered on defending the few passes capable of moving large armies through while utilizing the tunnel networks to attack the enemy in depth. As the General Offensive began, this tunnel network saw extensive use.

As the Allies advanced, Ralkovian forces would generally only give brief if intense resistance before pulling back into more defensible locations. However, under the ground, entire Ralkovian army groups awaited the go-word. Once given, thousands of smaller attacks and ambushes would overwhelm their enemy, causing a terrible sense of chaos that would render Allied advantages in airpower, firepower, numbers, and momentum moot. Ralkovian forces that had retreated would sometimes launch a counter-attack. In the mountains and other defensible places of the east, bloody close-range firefights would rob both sides of tactical and strategic capability.

The Allies were not incapable of responding, however. Marshite forces were tunnel fighters by training and experience in the Long War. Utilizing the experiences they had in formulating and executing thousands of battles in the depths of their own tunnel networks as well as the growing amount of human intelligence they had gathered from freed slaves and Ralkovian prisoners, they launched tens of thousands of operations aimed at clearing tunnel networks. The goal was less to engage and defeat Ralkovian forces and more to limit their ability to attack ground forces by destroying the majority of tunnel exits. After clearing a section of the network and keeping Ralkovian forces bottled up, Marshite forces would then slowly but methodically destroy pathways and exits, retreating into a tighter and tighter cordon until they made their exit through one of them. This would then be marked and sensors placed near. While not every operation went smoothly, the net effect was that as the campaign dragged on Ralkovian forces underground were forced into narrower avenues of exit and faced increasingly more immediate and devastating resistance to their emergence, while being less capable of using their numbers.

Despite general success in this operation, the toll was heavy and it lasted until the end of the war and even past it- some sections of the tunnel network even to this day, cut off from Western Ralkovia, resist the new government and Allied occupation forces. Stories of small units of the Tunnel Men as they are called climbing out of small, unknown exits to launch a guerrilla attack are uncommon but not unexpectedly so. Post-War, Allied forces postulate that it would require several hundred thousand men to finally clear out the tunnels in the occupied zone. Such manpower is unavailable but Allied and Union political will to do so currently lacks, and thus sieges of indeterminate nature and length take place.

One of the primary goals of the General Offensive was the securing of ports for the supply of the operation. Razmaki was thus a major target and was struck from both land and sea, with multiple army groups attacking from the land while several Marine divisions landed to capture the port. Led by a large-scale special operations forces, they were able to capture the port facilities and prevent their destruction swiftly. This put the overwhelmed defenders off-balance and after a few hours of combat mostly consisting of desperate counter-attacks in an attempt to destroy the port, local forces attempt to fall out of the city to reconnect with others. They were unable to escape the tide of Allied forces however and suffered catastrophic losses in killed or captured, rendering them incapable of further resistance. Along with smaller ports captured before and after, Razmaki would play an important role in the continued health of the General Offensive.

The river valleys and alpine nature of the terrain made full utilization of their manpower advantage difficult for Allied forces. Tremendous airlift capability and airborne divisions allowed movement and many battles were wide-ranging in nature with dozens of smaller battles making up any significant push. Ralkovian forces attempted to bleed the Allies forces out, attrifying them over time. A sound strategy, but the sheer size of the Allied force meant that for every thrust that could be parried or slowed down, another was able to meet no topside resistance of note. Ralkovian defenses were only ever slowly enveloped and flanked, but enveloped and flanked they would become. Some, entirely given to defense of their homes, would fight bloody last stands. Many others committed themselves to sound strategy and tactics and fell back. Over time however these battles were quicker and Ralkovian forces found themselves having to displace faster and faster. And while Allied forces could rotate in and out, Ralkovian forces were engaged for longer and longer times. Defenses started to become ragged, and then broken, and eventually with the exception of holdouts the Ralkovian army topside was in mass retreat to a defensible location.

Ramkov was overwhelmed by the sheer number of refugees flowing from the east. Existing on a rare patch of relatively even ground near the entrance to Balkovia, it existed as an important defensive stopgap in defensive strategies. Ralkovian forces found themselves using it as a likely defensive strongpoint as they pulled back into Balkovia. However, the many individual armies that made up the Ralkovian defense found themselves almost entirely unable to create a meaningful defense. Hot on their heels were larger, fresher troops who had vast air support. Ramkov and the area around it turned into a slowly churning charnel house, with massive Ralkovian losses mounting as hours rolled by. They were saved by the single largest tunnel-based counter-attack of the entire war which cut off Allied forces and prevented the final strike to surround and annihilate the Ralkovian forces. Gathering themselves, top-side Ralkovian leaders made the decision to abandon Ramkov and fall back into Balkovia, where they were assured by their leadership that the Ralkovian Air Force was ready once more to take to the skies. By the time the Allies had pushed back the Ralkovians into the tunnels, Ralkovian forces topside had been able to pull back into Balkovia with the vast majority of the refugees in tow. Ramkov was taken, and the General Offensive took a deep breather.

[Holy Marsh]

Death At Raumfestung. August 15th-September 10th, 2028

With the Capture of Ramkov, the entire northern coastline was now occupied, allowing the allied forces to drive deep into the heartland of the Empire. Zarakov, Barana, Karava; the three immortal cities fell in quick succession, abandoned by the government as it retreated into the Mountains of the Imperial Spine. With the fall of those three cities, the Eastern heartland was firmly occupied by the allied forces. The famous slave markets of Zarakov burned with the rest of the city, as the Marshites cleansed whatever they could get their hands on.
However, the offensive would need to split to occupy the Southern mountains and swing into Balkovia. The Southern Mountains, remained the stronghold of the Hadiians, the ethnic group that formed the Death Guard. The defeat of the Death Guard, the terror troops of the Ralkovian Regime would be a great victory and would truly sap the morale of the defenders of the Empire.

However, this split would cause the collapse of the momentum, and help end the war. The Allied attack had severely underestimated the manpower held by the Death Guard. At Raumfestung, the Death Guard fortress, the first allied advance into the territory was met with mass decimation, as the terror troops unleashed their hellish arsenals.

Many of the allied troops units would be rendered combat ineffective, sustaining losses above sixty nine percent. The humiliation inflicted in the spines of the south would weigh heavy on the allied command, as they had become aware of a force large enough to plague their advance or even break it. Raumfestung was now an unpleasant distraction for the allies, one that required additional forces to contain the enemy inside. Raumfestung would stand until the end of the war. However, it’s impact was lasting. The allied forces were now split between advancing into Balkovia and the threat of an attack from the rear emanating from Raumfestung.

[Holy Marsh]

Capture of Emperor Raskov II, rise of the Penada Clique. February 23rd-March 2nd, 2029

As the invasion began to lose momentum over the following months, Ralkovia was better able to shift its troops and reconnect the necessary supply lines. Allied miscommunication and disagreement would lacksadasical results in the months between the end of the General Offensive and the Second General Offensive, which would give Ralkovian forces time to rearm and prepare for war.

The most important factor of the post-war consensus was likely the capture of Emperor Joshua vi Raskov II, the ruler of Ralkovia. The Emperor was unable to move safely into Ralkovian secured territory. Instead, he was forced to shelter at his Wintertime castle, Palace de Framatz, with a large section of the Ralkovian High Command. The Palace had found itself as the unwelcome wedge of the Allied Split, protected only by the mountains and a harsh winter.

A large rescue mission, using nearly twelve million troops, the majority of which were conscripts or part of the newly organized Freed Slaves Army, was organized to effectively relieve the surrounded Palace. With little air support, the advance was easily obliterated. Several Marshite attacks had also effectively destroyed the Ralkovian High Command outside of the Palace de Framatz. Allied intelligence quickly discovered the Ralkovian advances aims and the location of the Emperor. He was within the clutches of the allies.

On a cold February morning, the allies convened nearly five million men to advance on the Palace de Framatz. Fighting continued for nearly a week, as the defenders, mostly made up of Death Guard and Traskov Clan Troops, put up storied resistance.
Lamonian troops would reach the Palace sometime in the evening six days later. Rather than attempt escape or surrender, the Emperor had ordered the death of the entirety of the High Command at Framatz, before his capture. On the first day of March, the Emperor of Ralkovia, the living G-d’s capture, was broadcast across the World. Morale was broken across much of occupied Ralkovia and resistance outside of those areas under Ralkovian censorship fell quiet. The war seemed over.

However, with the destruction of the much of the High Command, the Junior Officer’s would take charge of the conflict. The majority of new leadership had graduated from the War Academy of Penada, where they would serve in the Ralkovian bases at UWO. The ‘Penada’ Clique would reorganize the army, drafting slaves, civilians, and clan soldiers; declaring the ‘Death of the Ralkovian Empire’ and the birth of the “New Ralkovian Reich.”

[Holy Marsh]

Great Ralkovian Counter-Offensive. March 6th 2029- July 17th 2030

The allied advance into Balkovia had initially proven successful. Local Balkovian Separatists were willing supporters of the allies, perhaps bolstering allied morale, as they greeted the first friendlies throughout the conflict. The Balkovian Separatists proved very useful in navigating the harsh Southern volcanic steppe that characterizing much of the Balkovian territory. Balkov, the Provincial Capital rung bells at the arrival of the allied forces. Meanwhile, the Ralkovian settled city of Orav and Kranzov, surrendered without much resistance.

In the city of Glory, renamed from its Balkovian name of Zobara, during the fifth century BC, the Penada Clique, anticipating the surrender of the city by the native Balkovians liquidated the remnants of the population. The Ralkovian Reich would put up a bitter defense of the city of Glory. This defense was partially successful, forcing the allied army to head North to attempt to bypass through the Mountains to Barskav. The New Reich would relish the opportunity to inflict heavy casualties on the mountain pass. Yet again, the allied forces would be denied the opportunity to advance.

Hulis Alcandice, a Marshite general, would play a decisive factor in the ending of the war. Her reliance on Balkovian separatist intelligence and desire to restart the momentum to end the war would see her lead an excessively large advance around the valley that fed into Barv Lake, to circumnavigate the Ralkovian held cities. The Ralkovians did not hesitate in repeating what they had done in Raskovia, flooding the surrounding region, isolating the Marshite generals advance. The Ralkovian Reich would inflict devastating losses on the Marshites at Barv. Further still, the Allied rescue attempt for their forces would bog further resources down, and still be met with large failure.

The 90th Ralkovian Crusade Group would launch a final operation that managed to break through Ralkovian forces and allow the Marshite advance to fall back. Hulis volunteered to stay behind with the 66th Crusade Group as penance for her failures. Indeed, Hulis and the 66th would hold out for several months and inflict devastating losses, attacking whenever the Ralkovian forces would seek to turn away and then defending tenaciously their ground. In time, however, they would be overrun and destroyed.

The allied forces would need to move a great deal more troops into Balkovia before they could secure the region, but from that point the allied forces were working from a deficit of troops and supplies. Barskav fell nearly a month later, followed by Victory, Kalemba, and the Golden City of Joshua II.

Kravak was the gateway to what was effectively the largest center of support for the Ralkovian war effort. The Region of Traskov. The Traskov High Clan was the second most powerful family in Ralkovia and had been one of the richest families and regions since the early years of the Empire.

The Traskov Family, now prominent members of the Ralkovian Reich, now pushed to defend Kravak, before they were forced to defend their homes. Nestled deep above the mountain valleys that would allow passage into Traskov, Kravak was also an important objective for the Marshite forces.
A spectacular battle would wage for nearly a month, dragging both sides into a bludgeoning match, before the Reich retreated to avoid an encirclement. Yet, the allied forces, with exception of the Marshites, had largely been demoralized by the dogged defense of city after city.

As the advance stalled outside the gates of Traskov, a particularly harsh winter would drain this will even more so. By February, almost exactly a year after the capture of the Emperor at Framatz, the Battle of Traskov would take place. The Reich dumped every available resource it had into the war. Further still, a coordinated attack with Raumfestung, the rump state of what was once the Ralkovian Empire, had resulted in the cutting off of supplies to the allied forces. Instantly, the weary allied forces in Traskov were being encircled and cut off.

The allied forces began a general retreat, with the Marshite 17th Ralkovian Crusade Group providing a heroic rearguard action to the last man and woman that allowed the bulk of the Allied armies to get away. The desire to avoid the fate of Hulis, a prominent fear amongst the troops. Ralkovian Reich troops would be hot on the heels of the Allied forces, retaking Barskav, Victory, Kalemba, Glory, Kranzov, and Orav, within three months.

The Balkovian separatists at Balkov could do little to stop the Ralkovian advance, especially without support from the Allied Forces. The general betrayal would serve as a point of contention in post-war Balkovia for a great period of time. Ralkovian forces fought a campaign to retake their land while the Allies, with political and military confusion in their homelands, adopted a defensive stance. By the beginning of Summer 2030, the Ralkovian forces had reoccupied the Palace de Framatz and the three immortal cities. The battles had been fierce beyond all reckoning, but the Ralkovians had managed to claw back a semblance of control.

[Holy Marsh]

Operation Endless Summer- June 16th, 2030- July 15th, 2030
Operation Warhorse- July 20th, 2030-August 29th, 2030

The Ralkovian Counter-Attack was brutal and caused immense casualties. While the advance from the south had been the major blow, the Raumfestung pocket was of primary concern. The Ralkovian attack continued across all fronts. Allied Command was thrown into a panic, as several members of the vast Alliance started to lose faith in the victory of the Allied Forces. Whispers of a peace agreement, sought as quickly as possible, hurried throughout the halls of power in several nations.

The situation on the ground was grim, but not hopeless. As characterized the war, casualties were horrendous on all sides. The allies were in retreat but it was an ordered retreat, with heroic rear-guard actions buying time whenever possible. There were no fears of a rout or a general panic and Generals like Alcandice were being weeded out, allowing more pragmatic minds to prosper. Many Allied formations were destroyed or rendered combat ineffective, but the story was the same with the Ralkovian forces.

The Allies understood the advantages they still had. The terrible losses inflicted in the war had done great harm to them, but Ralkovian military power had been reduced likewise. They still had a numerical advantage and a crucial advantage in the air. They simply needed to ensure that these advantages could be brought to bear. In order to ensure that their numerical advantage could be used, they needed to supply the forces used. This could not be accomplished as long as those supply lines were threatened. With the Raumfestung pocket a major thorn in Allied sides, the first major pushback came not against the general counter-attack, but against Raumfestung in what would be known as Operation Endless Summer

The first attacks against it had been bloody affairs. Valuable lessons had been learned. The Raumfestung Crusade was thus launched, comprising a Marshite Army Group that had experienced engaging the Death Guard and some Armies which had fought at Raumfestung before, as well as multiple new incoming Armies from the Union. Unlike previous ones which had many Union States, the ones arriving for the Raumfestung Crusade were purely from the Theocracy and Romandeos. No one understood why until the first volley of underground nuclear bunker busters were used in an attempt to bring the mountains around the citadel down, and the first hundred or so tactical nuclear weapons were used against it. That battle is best served as its own volume later. The result was that the pocket was reduced and constricted more than enough to allow resupply.

With the Raumfestung pocket contained and being squeezed, new supply lines opened up. This helped the Allies supply their gargantuan forces, who created several lines of defense. To aid in this came swarms of new soldiers from the Allied countries. Political will was eroding, so Allied Commanders made their plans with the belief that this was going to be the last real large group of new Armies they'd have to use until the war came to an end. As such, the Allies constructed a defensive plan with their advantages in mind. The defensive operation and the counter-attack to follow was known as Operation Warhorse.

Multiple thin defensive lines would be formed to slow the Ralkovian defense, not stop it, falling back quickly and in good order once damage was inflicted. As Ralkovians penetrated deeper into the lines they would run into better positions until their advance slowed. Once it lost momentum, a massed Allied attack would be launched against them in an effort to push them back over the mountains. Once secured, the Allies could use the defensible locations to group themselves for the final push to defeat Ralkovia.

The Ralkovian attack struck like a hammer and, as expected, it ravaged the first few defensive lines. Fierce fighting across thousands of miles of territory hundreds of miles deep caused terrible damage to all armies. The Ralkovian soldiers, by this point an army of experienced veterans fighting at the peak of their capability, did everything they could to rout the Allies. And for a while it looked like they might, but one after another the Ralkovian units slowed down as they ran into line after line.

Allied air power focused almost exclusively on securing the air and striking at the Ralkovian supply chain. The Ralkovian state had turned everything it could towards military survival but it was close to being absolutely spent, and every convoy lost represented a valuable resource that was not guaranteed to come back. Every soldier lost, every promising officer put down, every bullet spent, made the Ralkovian army weaker. They hit what was known as the Delta Lines, a series of extremely well-defended and well-manned defensive lines. Here they would crash against well-supplied and vengeance seeking Allied armies and were stopped in their tracks. The Ralkovian offensive had reached the end of its rope, and the Allies struck at this time.
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Overwhelming air and artillery forces engaged the support elements of the Ralkovian military such as artillery and supply caches and were married with the same against the Ralkovian troops. Following this came the largest Allied offensive in over a year or more, since the General Offensive itself even. Ralkovian forces, some of whom had fought so hard, so quickly, and for so long that they dropped dead of exhaustion, put up spirited but hopeless resistance. The Ralkovian armies in nearest to the Allied armies were obliterated. With them went the best and brightest of the Ralkovian military.

The new Allied counter-attack would take back in weeks what took a year to lose. This is not to say that there weren't fierce and titanic battles fought, as such battles were the order of the day until the very end. But the Allied advance was swift and absolute. Balkov, Orav, and Kranzov returned to Allied hands in good order. The victories were large and the actions glorious.

The flame of Ralkovia, it seemed, was about to be snuffed out.

[Holy Marsh]

Orav's Stand and the End of the War. September 4th, 2030-October 15th, 2030

Allied Commanders believed that the war could now be won. Ralkovian had pressed everything they had into the attack. On the defensive once more, their energy and power spent, Ralkovian formations started to melt in some locations. The Free Slave Armies started to either have small revolts or melted away. Civilian Militia Armies and Clan Soldiers started to lose discipline, with desertion, revenge killings, and Clan Rivalries fracturing elements of the military. The Penada Clique had done well to salvage the situation they had been given, but even they could not solve the unsolvable.

Ralkovia appeared doomed. And in its moment of greatest need, her greatest General answered the call one last time. Lord General Aizen Orav had been wounded by an assassin early in the war and had been paralyzed and near death for much of it. He proved invaluable in helping the Penada Clique acclimate themselves to the rules of war that one can't learn in an academy. Indeed, such was the respect for his abilities that the Allies had commissioned multiple assassinations attempts on him. Some of them should have been successful, but he appeared to have luck in droves. An abolitionist and democratic man, his example would be honored by both Ralkovias after the war, and the argument over whom he would have supported given the choice is fiercely contested.

He appeared, walking with a cane and in obvious pain, near the field headquarters of the Ralkovian retreat. He immediately assumed command and formulated a formidable defense. His presence inspired divisions of proud Ralkovians to form up under his lead and act as the last line of defense before the Allies smashed into the mountains. Under his brilliant leadership and fighting with the tenacity of dead mean with causes, they launched a ferocious defense of a series of small towns that connected together to form a vital logistical train. Despite being overwhelmed in all facets, the Ralkovians sold themselves dearly.

Some Allies began to worry if the Ralkovians were hiding something. Rumors of 'vast Ralkovian armies' preparing a counter-attack once more filtered through the gossip channels of the Allied countries. As fake casualty reports filtered in through the shattered remnants of Ralkovian counter-intelligence to the news agencies of the world and nervous politicians were bombarded by tabloid news, many Allied nations started to lose faith.

Allied Commanders knew differently, but increasingly their assurances were being ignored. The war had been thought won a year ago, so when Lord-General Aizen Oray was killed while defending his headquarters and the defensive line collapsed, it was not met with celebrations. Allied Forces declared that the Ralkovian military was on its final legs and they were prepared to push into the mountains, which they did. The Ralkovian military was indeed taking its final breaths, but had been given enough of a jolt by Oray's grand display of heroics and the time it had borrowed to boot to prepare one last defense.

The Allies smashed into the mountains once more. Ralkovian forces, believing themselves the last line of defense, fought as hard as they could as supplies ran low. From large-scale battles along mountainside to corps level hand to hand fighting in tunnels, the battles were truly barbaric for all involved. Foot by foot, yard by yard, mile by mile, the Allies pushed the Ralkovians back. In several places the Allies managed to take large parts of the mountain range, threaten to push into Ralkovia, only to turn against and surround Ralkovian forces. Casualties were tremendous on all sides and eventually the Ralkovians, choosing to die in their cities rather than in the mountains, fought a fierce retreat until they ran almost entirely out of supplies and fell back en masse from the mountains. Only a few small formations were able to do so. Low on supplies and wearied by the fighting, they fell prey to encirclements and crushing defeats. Well over 95% of the Ralkovian forces that started fighting in the mountains failed to return.

Ralkovia, it seemed, was almost entirely defenseless. A meeting of High Command on October 3rd, 2030 was noted for its exceptionally high spirits. The final offensive was planned for October 17th, with an estimated successful defeat of Ralkovia expected in early November. The city of Glory was already being hammered by artillery and air power. Aircraft continued around the clock bombardment of any notable Ralkovian military force, sweeping aside what remained of the air defense network, destroying lines of communication, and devastating what remained of the Ralkovian ability to continue a conventional war. Special Forces increasingly successfully infiltrated the shattered remnants of the Ralkovian Reich and carried out a great number of assassinations, sabotage operations, and meetings with members of various revolutionary groups to supply them with weapons and cash while getting troves of valuable intelligence.

The Ralkovian Penada Clique made what arrangements they could but realized that for all intents and purposes the war was over except for the killing. Allied Commanders, weary but optimistic, prepared themselves for the final push to defeat Ralkovia once and for all.

It was never to come.

Political leaders from most of the Allied Countries convened to discuss the war situation. Allied Commanders were certain that victory was not just in sight, there was little to prevent it. While there would be some hard urban fighting left, Ralkovia did not have the ability to wage conventional war in a successful capacity and the Allied Forces could squeeze the cities one by one. Any and all intelligence indicated that Ralkovia had spent itself. The Allies, from a purely military capacity, had won the war. It was a matter of a few hundred thousand lives, maybe a few million, a small price to pay considering how much had been sacrificed thus far.

Their words fell on deaf ears. Many Allied nations were roiled now with anti-war news stories and protests. The assurances of the military people meant nothing after previous ones had been shown to be poor. The political will of the nations and the social will of the people to endure was no more. Most Allied nations agreed to cease further offensive actions, consolidate positions, and arrange for a ceasefire. The few in attendance who did not agree would be pressured over the next few days.

The Arch-Bishop was infuriated when she heard of this, calling many of the Allied nations, “weak and fickle friends who scoff at the death of billions to save the lives of trillions”, and refusing initially to agree to it. The Marshite situation in Ralkovia was a bit unusual, however. Many of her newer armies had been sent to the Raumfestung pocket or into the deep tunnel wars still raging. They also had started a great and general purge of the slavery system, whole root and stem, in occupied lands after being assured of Allied victory. This meant that of the hundreds of millions of Marshites in theater, only a few million were near the frontlines when the Allied political leaders informed the Marshites of the cease-fire plans. They had indeed been planning to arrive in the front to take part in the final grand offensive, but found themselves alone.

Marshite forces moved to advance to the front, but found themselves blocked by their own Allies and even Union members who were under strict orders to not allow passage and to not allow the use of their supply routes. The Marshites at this point constituted the single largest contingent of the Allied forces and thus they still had their own secured routes, meaning Marshite forces appeared division by division near the front anyway. However, they were still slowed down significantly. This allowed the Allied leaders time to try to speak with the Arch-Bishop and get her to see reason.

The only phrasing that worked that was that it was a ceasefire, not a peace treaty, and that once everyone had a chance to breathe they would just attack Ralkovia again. This soothed the Arch-Bishop. She agreed to a, “logistical rest to allow for future Crusades in Ralkovia” and two days before the planned offensive, all Allied forces assumed defensive positions in the mountains.

Small skirmishing aside, thus ended the Ralkovian War.

[Holy Marsh]

Post-War Situation in the Ralkovian States

Post-War, the Allied military presence in the Ralkovian Free State is substantial. Multiple Marshite, Romandean, and Lamonian Army Groups are perched along the front-lines of the Ralkovian DMZ, the Raumfestung Rump State, and as clandestine support to the more independent forces of an autonomous Balkovia. This includes forces clearing out the tunnel network even now. The Enclaves off the Coast are also heavily militarized by the Allies, and feature a larger swathe of Allied force participation. Between the Enclaves and the mainland there are over twenty Army Groups, thirty thousand aircraft, and several thousand naval vessels in and around the Ralkovias at any given time. This is considered a light deployment, and primary Alliance actors have unified plans to ramp up military engagement in case of aggression.

Ralkovian Reich shipping is reduced to a large river that ends in the Bay of Chains. This makes it exceptionally difficult for them to conduct trade, as anti-slaver forces are able to operate against Slaver shipping but with a more accurate assessment of where the enemy must go. Ralkovian allies in the slave trade know this and there is an escalating undeclared war once more again against slavers, this time focused in the Bay of Chains.

The Reich suffered heavy fighting but was spared the most brutal of the war's excesses. While it lacks many of the resources and industries of the lands that once made up the Empire, it is a functioning state. It is currently trying to rebuild its fractured military, economy, and society. It is unlikely to be able to launch any manner of dedicated offensive action. The Penada Clique recognizes this and is making steps to bolster the defenses of the Reich itself, in order to make the Allies reconsider any offensive action. Beyond the direct military threat still posed by the Allied forces, it faces other great issues. The economy was obliterated by the war and the changes to societal structure and trading situation provides a bleak external outlook. The Reich's limited trade routes and trading partners makes current international trade relationships at best fraught with danger and at worst impossible.

Additionally, they face the growing risk of Balkovian insurrection. While wartime moves helped quell a large degree of unrest, long-term is may serve to simply fuel a growing independence movement that is supplied and trained by Allied forces and commonly features special forces help. The movement itself is separated and divided however and while Balkovian insurgents are able to take a toll on Ralkovian Reich forces, prospects for Balkovian independence are in the long term, not short term. An issue for the Allies is a degree of mistrust between Balkovian groups and the Allies. The Balkovians take the Allied moves in the war as a betrayal, and as such, have only opened to a few specific nations and groups.

Free Ralkovia faces a whole slew of problems. Slaver Loyalists still exist in shattered tunnel networks and occasionally launch raids against territory, though over time they have been reduced. The real problem facing Free Ralkovia is the vast destruction of its landscape, cities, and populace. It will take years and years of rebuilding to get Free Ralkovia into any state of stable governance and even then its economic potential has been ruined. Much of the nation is a blasted hellscape of chemical, biological and radiological ruin as steel forests of ruined military vehicles stretch beyond the horizon. The cities are little more than the remains of charnel houses en masse, with twisted metal and concrete tombs marking the death of billions. Bodies by their thousands are being found every day. Water supplies are ruined, farmland is nonexistent, and even the oceans die as the erosion of tens of thousands of naval vessels in the Bay of Slaves and their attendant bodies leads to vast poisoned swathes in the former Bay of Slaves. It is now known as the Metal Sea.

The Raumfestung Rump State is a very literal thorn in the sides of the Allies. Home to crack terror troops in highly fortified and defensible terrain, massive losses were inflicted on any force engaging them. The result of the second battle, however, was to remove it from being a direct influencer on Allied operations. The devastation wrought by the mass nuclear bombardment and collapse of several mountains in the range has constricted and isolated the Rump State. The Allies do not currently plan to attack the Rump State and instead plan on starving it out, preventing any form of supply or trade above, below, or on the ground. The mountains do not feature ample food supply or an industrial base which means that the Rump State lives and dies on borrowed time. For however long it lives, however, it is a major factor in all Allied planning.

[Eitoan]

www.News-Herald.et.com
December 1, 2030

The Price of Peace: Colonialism
Stewardship for the Ralkovian People: Guidance Away from Revanchism and Communism

by Madeline Rahm, Distinguished Professor of Foreign Relations, University of Sitary

With the end of open hostilities in the north, the allied forces ruling Free Ralkovia have attained the removal of that nation's predecessor as a credible slaver threat, and redrawn the balance of power in the northern continent. The Raskov dynasty has been obliterated, removed from secular power and unthinkably erased from all religious authority in Ralkovia. The allied forces have hemmed in remaining slaver regimes in two separate enclaves: The Raumfestung and the Ralkovian Reich. The allies overwhelming victory, combined with the isolation of these two remnants make a counteroffensive against the occupation forces extremely unlikely in the near or mid-term future, and the overhanging threat of Ralkovian interference against neighboring democratic regimes has been torn from the pages of history.

At this time, despite the blood and treasure expended by Eitoan and the allies in this quest to rid Western Greater Dienstad from the ancient evils of slavery, our victory bodes well for the peaceful development of the north. The administration rightly plans to garrison the Eitoan Occupation Zone in the long term, both to inoculate Free Ralkovia from adventurism on the part of the Reich, and to begin the process of reconstruction of that shattered land. These objectives are not at cross purposes. Late in the war, some of the allied nations, including this government had hopes of reaching an accommodation with General Orav, a proven, capable leader, and a relative liberal in Ralkovian terms. His unfortunate collaboration with the Penada Clique dashed those hopes, and the zones now constituting Free Ralkovia will now have to find their way to survive in the immediate future, without effective native leadership. Indeed, abandonment of the occupation in the next several years would lead to even further starvation, massive emigration to all the states in the north, disease, and social unrest. This is a social and financial threat, replacing the military threat of the former Ralkovian Empire.

Currently the Commandant of the Eitoan Occupation Forces Ralkovia (EOFR) is successfully maintaining law and order within our Occupation Zone. Communication with the other occupation authorities is continuing, strictly on a military basis. That is likely to continue until a common approach to provisioning, housing and policing the subject populations can be established. Issues abound in Free Ralkovia, mostly in feeding the native population, and triage of a wide range of war-related diseases. The population itself is hunger driven and unstable: every night brings a transfer between The Reich and Free Ralkovia: high-born Ralkovians to The Reich, former slaves and Balkovians to Free Ralkovia. And every day the roads south toward Eitoan are clogged with wretches striking out for food and hope for a better life. Despite EOFR's establishment of tight border controls and internment camps for these emigres, a steady trickle manage to reach here, quarantined at the border in a growing number of detention centers. This has placed a strain on both border security and housing in the frontier territories. Commandant Gates retains supreme authority in our occupation zone, and has been criticized both in the Ghastak and the Dashez by the liberals and ethnic Ralkoviak organizations over what is considered by them to be harsh rulings, too slow in turning over local functions to various radical and Balkovian irregulars for the liberals, too harsh criteria for de-Raskovization for some Ralkoviaks. It must be understood that Gates' first directive is to safeguard Eitoan interests, both for those in service in EOFR, and for the security of the republic itself. Resources are limited, and tradeoffs are slim in establishing priorities for civil affairs. Despite the stringent and sometimes controversial measures reducing rations for the former nobility in favor of rank and file Ralkovians, the Commandant is proceeding correctly in allocating scarce resources.

The zone under our occupation needs food, as does all Ralkovia. Since the demarcation of the Eitoan Occupation Zone the Commandant has steadily increased allocations of food paste and dehydrated potatoes. But the military is not expert at feeding large, destitute populations, and this operation should transfer to a combination of relief agencies early in the new year. This should be enhanced by the repair and opening of the former Imperial Ralkovian State Railways from Lva'ad north to Serav and Belovo expected by mid-2031, now under control of the Eitoan Military Railways. Road repair from the occupation zone to highways linking with Eitoan is a major source of income for the population, in many cases, providing the first cash available to freed slaves. Civilian air freight service is expected to open at Serav in March 2031, also increasing the flow of needed food to the Eitoan Zone. In time the limited unspoiled land in the zone should be made available to the wider population, but only after widespread decontamination.

Free Ralkovia is many years away from recovering a civil society. Recovery may be an inappropriate term. The population is now at a subsistence level. Once the issues of adequate food supply is remedied, and epidemic disease quelled, we in Eitoan must turn to the restructuring of Ralkovian society. There must be a plan to turn over civil administration of the Eitoan Occupation Zone from EOFR to a consortium of non-profit agencies and corporations capable of moving the shattered economy to the next step, and responsible for the proper education of the Free Ralkovia's youth. This group will need to invest for long term results, only to be realized when a Free Ralkovia can join the marketplace of the north continent. As our long lost cousins, we can provide fraternal guidance in building this society and economy. Priority must be given to education of freed slaves, and vocational training appropriate to moving that nation through each stage of recovery. EOFR is vigorously conducting de-Raskovization across the board in the occupation zone, as it should. But we must recognize that the belief system of Ralkovians across the board at all levels of society has been shattered by the fall of the Emperor. To this date, the Commandant's call for 400 volunteer Rabbi-chaplains is being heeded among the Eitoan Original Revivalist rabbinate. I urge the Eitoan Ralkoviak clerical and fraternal organizations to do their part in joining the Commandant's call. Ralkoviak men and women served in our armed forces side by side with their Gemesht-Mestizo and indigenous fellow soldiers, and they have an important message in transforming Free Ralkovian society. Above all, as the restructuring of Ralkovian society gets underway, the evils of slavery and dangers of military aggression must be a mainstay in the education of Ralkovian youth of all backgrounds.

Defense for Free Ralkovia must remain with the allied occupation forces for many years to come. Only a stern face on our part can deter elements in the Reich from attempting incursions into Free Ralkovia. And only the resources of the allies are capable of containment of the Reich. It is possible that with the blockade of the Reich and it's reduced war making capabilities that it's leadership can over time be brought into more reasonable accommodation with the free world. But our forces must remain in place for many years to come before that prospect can even be evaluated. It would be a mistake to relent on this commitment, a mistake that could result in bloody consequences for Eitoan and the other democracies of the north. By the same token strong guidance is needed lest communist, anarchist, or other disruptive seize the opportunity in the chaos that is Ralkovia to take over, posing the threat of further open conflict with The Reich.

In summary, the next phase for Free Ralkovia looks like colonialism, walks like colonialism, and sounds like colonialism. And as goes the ancient proverb "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it's a duck". We should not view this a vengeance for the nation's suffering at the hands of the Raskovs for 400 years. We should not view this as an exploitative opportunity. Is this colonialism? Yes, under the obligation to replace an ancient tyranny with a productive, modern society, even though it will take many years. At this time, we as the student must become the teacher. It is our obligation in Eitoan to provide the friendly, fraternal guidance to the Ralkovian people in the long path out of the darkness. And this guidance will require firm control on the ground, with a vision for the future.

Madeline Rahm is a Distinguished Professor of Foreign Relations, University of Sitary. Prior to her professorship she served as Director of Near Continental Analysis, Joint Military Intelligence Service.

[Eitoan]

www.News-Herald.et.com
August 20, 2029

It’s War!
Perfidious Assault on Aurensia!
Northern Vanuguat Militaries Respond!
Ralkovia Moves On Continent!
Mayhem In the Streets!


Aurensian Air Force Decimated;
Bloody Slaughter of Manchester;
Concord in Panic;
Air Force Chief: “Give Pursuit”;
Disposition of Forces On Continent;
Eitoan Mining Facilities Under Fire;
ES Princeton Tailed in Jesheoda Channel;
Ralk Expeditionary Force On The March Toward Great Inland Sea;
Financial Market Disruptions;
Berwyn Riot Trashes Harbormaster’s Club


Destruction in Aurensia
This morning saw the fury of the Ralkovian Empire finally turned against Eitoan’s neighbor, peaceful, friendly Aurensia in a vicious coordinated missile and air attack, causing untold deaths and unheard of destruction to major cities and military installations across that republic. The strike was lightning fast and unexpected, leaving no time for the Aurensian military to respond. In raids throughout the morning, Ralkovian bombers, protected by stealth fighters effectively destroyed the Aurensian Air Force. Reports from the Aurensian capital of Concord indicate that twelve of the AAF’s bases had ceased to be operational by 1 PM Concord time, and that only two fighter squadrons were able to respond to the crippling attack. Casualties among Aurensian airmen are unknown, and all efforts to reach the Eiotoan Air Attache in Concord have been unsuccessful at this hour.

Heaviest hit in the Ralkovian sneak attack this morning was the city of Manchester, Aurensia. In what can only be described as a terror bombing, the destruction of civilian areas, residential, industrial, and commercial can only be seen as a warning to the Northern Vanugat democracies of the consequences of any potential cooperation with the Alliance, now engaged in battle in mainland Ralkovia itself against the Raskov empire. Countless innocent Manchesterites met their deaths in the perfectly timed onslaught of Ralkovian missiles, dealt at 6:40 AM to the unsuspecting border town. Although the fires can be seen burning brightly throughout Eitoan Springfield, Manchester’s sister city, and the choking smoke bearing the stench of roasted flesh sickens Springfieldites, no direct strike or collateral damage was reported on Eitoan territory. Hospitals, factories, homes, schools, stadiums and parks alike vaporized across the border as Springfieldites watched horrified, stupefied by the destruction. Following the missile attack, sorties of Ralkovian fighters raked through the burning city, cruelly strafing survivors. Throughout the day individuals sallied forth from Springfield, seeking out and providing what aid and comfort they could muster for their neighbors across the border. Immediately contradicting her warning to residents to “stay home and stay safe”, Springfield Mayor Eileen Benson met her counterpart at the Tower Road border crossing at 10:45 AM, amidst bedraggled rescue workers and dazed survivors to supervise makeshift relief operations.

Contact with the Aurensian government in Concord has been cut off throughout the day. It is believed that the Ralkovian attack destroyed major parts of Aurensian communications infrastructure. The Eitoan embassy in Concord is incommunicado at this time. There are unconfirmed reports that restrictions have been placed on all channels in Aurensia by authorities with the objective of preserving bandwidth for the military and rescue operations.

President Shrdlu has ordered free passage of refugees into Eitoan, and access for emergency vehicles into Aurensia in the vicinity of Manchester. Volunteers for Eitoan First Aid have been mobilized in Springfield, and much of that city’s transit vehicles have been diverted to transporting EFA volunteers to stricken Manchester and backhauling victims to Springfield. The National Guard is establishing field hospitals in facilities and parks near Springfield Main Hospital and Springfield Beth Rahamim Hospital, which are heavily backlogged and overflowing with casualties.

The Military Situation On Continent
At 3:14 AM Relican Aerospace and Aviation Monitoring picked up indications of several groups of aircraft in military formation crossing the Ralkovian border, due south of Orav. The indication was brief, but duly relayed up the chain of command of the Relican Air force, and from there to counterparts at the Eitoan Air Force. Threat Level Algorithms, after judging the event significant, increased the threat level by 1 measure. Air Force Chief of Staff General Lyall Zeleny was awakened from a deep sleep, dressed, and hurried to his post. Communication delays with Aurensian counterparts slowed the warning to it's systems, scantily manned in the best of times. The result has been the elimination of the Aurensian Air Force as an effective combatant. At the start of the raid, two fighter wings from nearby Rockbridge Air Base in Southern Eitoan had been airborne for a half hour. During the raid Eitoan satellite reconnaissance confirmed Ralkovian aircraft straying across the border near Springfield, Eitoan, Manchester's sister city, on return from the raid. General Zeleny relayed the confirmation to Rockbridge. "Give pursuit". It is rumored that EAF fighters shot down one Ralkovian bomber and one Ralkovian fighter in Eitoan air space. There are no reports of Eitoan losses at this time.

A movement of Ralkovian land forces toward the Great Inland Sea, peeled away from the war with the Alliance has been noted recently. The magnitude of the force is less than those of armies involved in the Northern War, and sources in Vladarsik doubt that Ralkovia could spare first rate units from the fighting with the Marshites. Eitoan land forces have been buffeted since the beginning of the year, with an eye toward the fighting in Ralkovia. The term of service for conscripts was extended from 18 to 24 months, and notification of likely recall to service was transmitted to all mustering out of their required commitment in the last three years. Also since the start of the year new orders for munitions and equipment were cut too and are now believed to be well into the supply chain. The Relican army is at full strength. At this time there have been no reports of significant losses to Aurensian army forces or facilities beyond the destruction in Manchester.

The Ralkovian Armada, swept from the seas in the far north remains a threat on the Bay of Chains and on the Great Inland Sea. The Armada provides significant air power in the form of naval aviation based on the Inland Sea, within striking distance of all three Northern Vanguat democracies. Relican and Eitoan fleets are at a numeric disadvantage in those waters, but any Alliance commitment of resources there could tip the balance of power.

Homeland defense for the three Northern Vanguat democracies vary greatly. Eitoan doctrine is based on land defense from a forward position on continent, beyond Lake Pachnouk, and incorporates intense training and logistic planning for the near continent territory. Ralkovia can expect a strong, aggressive air defense from Eitoan bases, strategically closer to where actual fighting is expected than their Ralkovian counterparts. The Relican Army is prepared form homeland defense, covering a more compact territory than her sister states, with the advantage of cover from Lake Pachnouk. Aurensian land forces consist of a militia, and it is expected that deficiencies could be alleviated by assistance from the Relican Army and the Eitoan National Guard.

There has been no word at this time from Alliance capitals, as fighting unfolds on the Northern Vanguat littoral. There has been strong coordination between Eitoan, Relican, Palmyiron and Timocratic militaries as part of the Northwest Mutual Assistance Alliance. Timocratic and Palmyiron forces are involved in the Northern War as part of the alliance, and it is not known if their involvement in defense of the continental democracies is needed or possible given current demands of the Northern War.

Attacks Throughout The Continent
The Winnetka Potash Mine on Lake Pachnouk, owned by Eitoan’s Kresse Corporation is currently under attack by land forces. Mortars have killed 42 workers and the manager is overseeing evacuation of the facility. Several nearby towns are aflame and the Department of Foreign Affairs has ordered Eitoan citizens to leave the area.

The guided missile cruiser ES Princeton is being tailed by two Rakovian frigates in the Jesheoda Channel. The Princeton’s captain issued a warning earlier today, at which time the frigates kept a distance. They have continued following the Princeton, resulting in a second warning.

Numbers of vehicles with Ralkovian military markings have been noted in caravan toward the Great Inland Sea. This morning the vanguard of the column was noted within 350 miles of Ralkovian bases on the Gulf of Volsk.

Throughout the day Eitoan advanced radar positions near Agar, on the Great Inland Sea have been reportedly jammed by Ralkovian cyber attacks.

Reactions at Home
Starting this morning cyber attacks were reported causing outages on a number of financial institutions in Eitoan, including leading banks, clearing houses, and various EFT disruptions. The National Reserve Bank of Eitoan has not reported any outage.

A mob broke into the clubhouse of the exclusive Harbormaster's Club in Berwyn, long viewed as the bastion of ancient Ralkoviak privilege in a nation seething for action, trashing the lobby before police restored order. Two are reported dead and fourteen injured in the melee.

Crowds have closed much of the access to Embassy Row in Vladarsik. Access has been cut off periodically to the Aurensian embassy by friendly throngs, repeatedly offering bread, cake and flowers to the overwhelmed embassy staff. The crowd parted twice, once to allow the Aurensian ambassador to go to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and once to allow passage of his Military and Air attaches to Foreign Affairs. At both times they were serenaded by spontaneous outbursts of the Aurensian national anthem. Police presence was heavy at the Ralkovian embassy as threats poured in there from outraged citizens.

Throughout all the territories of Eitoan demands were heard for retaliation against the Ralkovian Empire. The Treasurer of Virden Territory noted “We’re in it now, for sure.”. A farmer in Warren Territory, at market demanded “We must strike Ralkovia immediately!”.

---

<8:20 PM – Update>
Shrdlu Addresses The Legislature:
Requests Declaration of War
"…The light of freedom, the sword of liberty"

President Shrdlu addressed a combined session of the Ghastak and Dashez today, requesting a declaration of war against Ralkovia. Accompanied by Foreign Affairs Secretary Randal Field and Chair of the Ghastak Louis A. Herb, the President was escorted into the Assembly Hall of the Dashez by President and Speaker of the Dashez, James Sandack.

These are his remarks.


Honored Ghastak, worthy Dashez, my fellow Eitoans.

This morning at 6:40 AM, combined elements of the Imperial Ralkovian Air and Missile Forces unleashed upon our neighbor, Aurensia, a horrifying and barbarous slaughter, unheard of in the Northern Vanguat for very many years. This attack, unannounced, has caused untold deaths and the nearly complete destruction of Manchester, a sister city to Springfield, Eitoan. The attack has effectively denuded the air defenses of that nation, and it now lays helpless before a stronger and ruthless aggressor. The civilian death count of this merciless raid is untallied, and not likely to be know in the near future. Mothers and their babies, workmen, farmers, young and old have fallen victim the this attack, which must be noted as a dark day of disgrace.

We are aware of Ralkovian demands on our sister republic: free access to Aurensian ports, bases and airfields for the Ralkovian military. A distancing from the forces of the Alliance arrayed against Ralkovia in battle. Control of Aurensian border crossing with us and with Relica. The Ralkovian Empire has indicated similar threats against us and against Relica, both members of the Northwest Mutual Assistance Agreement. We have politely declined these demands. We have not been involved in The Northern War to this point, and have strove to maintain our neutrality. But we have not and will not accede to those demands.

We have noted the movement of land forces of the Ralkovian Empire in the direction of The Great Inland Sea. Our requests for an explanation have been met with sneering contempt from them. It is a puzzlement what benefit such a move could bring to Ralkovia, seeing as how they are in a war on their own territory with the forces of the Alliance.

The presence of naval forces and naval aviation in the Great Inland Sea has been a concern to us. Here too, the range of Ralkovian naval aviation would not only be of no use in their war with the Alliance, but would appear to be a drain on their resources. Given their silence, I can only surmise their presence as a threat to the democracies of the Northern Vanguat.

And as the events of the day have shown, their threat from the air and space are a valid concern, having done immense damage to a peaceful and unarmed people. We note this. And we are prepared to defend against it.

Since the start of The Northern War, we have sought to peacefully resolve that conflict, while maintaining relations with all belligerents. The Alliance declaration of war on the Ralkovian Empire on January 5, 2028 caused disruption in Eitoan. Stock market losses were substantial. Similar losses were experienced in Relica and Aurensia. Demand for accelerated payment of accounts on the part of Ralkovian firms doing business in Eitoan telegraphed into a credit crunch on Ralkovian financial markets. The National Reserve Bank of Eitoan increased cash reserve requirements on banks, per established regulations. Hiring plans trenched back and hours were cut.

Secretary Field issued a pro-forma note to all belligerent states, and to neighboring continental republics on January 9th of last year, stating Eitoan neutrality in the conflict, continuation of commerce, and offering his offices to broker any moves toward a cessation of hostilities. The note was sent through normal diplomatic channels, and also personally, countersigned by me to Emperor Raskov in Raskovia, Timocratic President General Marai Overhill in Statesboro, Relican Prime Minister Michael Francis in Avalon, and the Aurensian Chancellor Harold Franklin Faire in Concord. Secretary Field presented a formal Declaration of Neutrality in front of the Ghastak on January 14, 2028, stipulating the terms under which Eitoan diplomatic, military, business and legal policy would be conducted for the duration of the war. Unchallenged in the Ghastak, the Declaration passed into stated policy for the Republic.

Business jitters calmed, and life in Eitoan returned to normal. Some impact was felt in trade oriented sectors as Ralkovian fortunes ebbed throughout 2028 and into 2029, but adjustments were made and replacement suppliers and customers were found, mostly domestically and in coastwise trade.

I come before you in the knowledge that public opinion has remained strongly in favor of neutrality throughout the last year and a half. But today’s events change all that.

How can this attack on our neighbor be seen as anything but a warning to us, and to Relica too? Nothing further needs to be said on the part of the Ralkovian Empire. Despite their involvement with the Alliance, they maintain sufficient forces to threaten the lives of all Eitoans. The destruction across the border serves as a warning. As we have seen across the continent, The Raskovs will stop at nothing to maintain their grip on power, even if it means extending their bloody conflict to the peaceful shores of the Northern Vanguat. This is a threat that gives pause to the wise.

But it is wiser to face the threat head-on. Eitoans have always fought for their freedom. From the days of the Defenestration of Holon in 1619, to the Uprising of 1849, and finally the War of Independence in 1901, Eitoans have faced the Raskov tyrrany on the field of battle, finally establishing Eitoan again as a state in it’s own right.

Today, Air Force Chief of Staff General Lyall Zeleny gave the order as Ralkovian aircraft violated our airspace: Give Pursuit. That order will stand.

Eitoan must, can, and will protect it’s independence. And so I come to you tonight.

Guided by the holy light of freedom, wielding the sword of liberty, this nation shall not only defend our lives and our land, but go forth with the forces of The Alliance to total victory. I request that this legislature declare war on The Ralkovian Empire.

Keep our men and women that serve in your hearts as they defend the nation.

Thank you, and good night.

[Eitoan]

Operation Mallard
The Campaign for Ra’govizik Indara



With the conclusion of the Alliance campaign on mainland Ralkovia, attention shifted among the members of the Nortwest Mutual Assistance Agreement (NMAA) to the Ralkovian archipelago of Ra’govizik Indara. Isolated by the destruction of Ralkovian seaports early in the war, devoid of major naval bases, the Alliance had successfully bottled up such assets as existed there, bypassing the islands during the duration of the fighting. The islands themselves had little military or commercial value. Long since mined out of mineral resources, many of the islands were heavily laced with ancient, uncharted landmines, scarred still by the trenches of the Ralko-Merican War for Coal and Iron in the 19th century. And so the territory remained in the hands of the Death Guard, loosely affiliated with the Ralkovian Raumfestung, itself a devastated, isolated territory.

As members of the Alliance prepared for redeployment and partial demobilization, disagreements among the powers surfaced, and the unified command structure so vital to the war effort frayed. The maritime, and more secular orientation of The Timocratic Republic ran counter to the direction of the more dominant Marshite policy. Timocratic naval planners assessing the situation in their adjacent seas identified the Ra’govizik Indara holdout as a potential for trouble from unfriendly powers seeking to take advantage of their nation’s commitment of resources on the Ralkovian mainland. In addition to the nuisance threat of criminal or Communist seizure or lease of one or more of the smaller islands, there was also the possibility of Ordenite naval activity on the archipelago, outflanking The Timocratic Republic. Although not imminent, this was seen increasingly as a strategic threat. As Eitoan assessed it’s increased role on the continent it’s focus was on maintenance of a large army of occupation in Ralkovia proper. However, the Joint Military Intelligence Service command shared the Timocratic view of a potential naval threat from the islands, possibly leaving Eitoan more vulnerable from the Northern Vanguat. In the Eitoan legislature and the press, the more liberal parties continued to clamor for the prosecution of Raskov war criminals, and elimination of remaining Raumfestung enclaves.

Four months after the shooting stopped on the mainland, under NMAA aegis, forces of The Timocratic Republic and Eitoan launched Operation Mallard, the invasion of Ra’govizik Indara. Although most objectives were met in the first three months, the operation lasted one year. Forces were deployed in two ways. Most of the heavy human dependent combat was allocated to the major population centers on the islands of Isilidora and Moragoth. Here Eitoan special forces, recruiting Balkovian irregulars from the mainland, trained and inserted the nucleus of a rudimentary intelligence network. Facing no threat from enemy aircraft or satellite or cyber defense, mapping of Death Guard deployment was provided with ease and almost no risk to the expeditionary force. Starting with a murderous two day ballistic and bomber attack on Ralkovian positions on the two main islands, the battle engaged on land with combined air assault and amphibious operations to seize critical transportation assets and land overwhelming and modern armor support. The combined Eitoan and Timocratic fleets operated more at leisure in the outlying islands, already cut off from resupply and, for the most part, food. NMAA targeting of air intakes and exhaust on the Death Guard fortification took their toll over time, minimizing expeditionary force casualties. By the conclusion of Operation Mallard, many of the outlying strongholds had fallen without a shot.

As Timocratic and Eitoani forces lumbered across cities, villages and farmland, governance of the archipelago fell to the Alliance Kommandatura, operating in the port of Razmaki, Occupied Ralkovia. Expeditionary force military police assumed supreme authority, displacing and in most cases executing the killers of the Death Guard that had for decades terrorized the local populations. Occupation duty was complicated by the widespread illiteracy and almost nonexistent local economy. Life on the islands was barely above subsistence level. The lions share of occupation duty fell to The Timocratic Republic. Eitoan forces were deployed in greater numbers on Moragoth, home to many ethinc Eitoans, deported or deployed to the islands during the wars of the 1800s. Ignorant of the development of Standard Eitoan Dienstadi, there too was a communication problem with the locals. The unfortunates on the outlying islands, mostly ethnic Ralkovians and native Indarans were often left to their own devices. Death from starvation was common.

Food supplies were always a major problem early in the occupation. Although port facilities were for the most part intact, the decrepit condition of the equipment and hulls of vessels scuttled by the Death Guard created major obstacles to shipping. Airports were outdated and woefully inadequate for the task at hand. Throughout all the islands the backward state of the population, illiteracy, poor health, and poverty presented challenges unseen even among the slave populations on mainland Ralkovia.

As the invasion progressed across the islands, the population became aware of the Alliance victories on the mainland. This was met with initial shock and disbelief across all segments of society. Cowed by many years of domination by the Death Guard, lulled by trumpeting of the victories of the mighty Raskov Emperor, inhabitants gaped in disbelief as the forces of the NMAA lumbered past their doors and farms in increasing numbers, and in conveyance previously unimaginable. Ethnic Balkovians and Eitoans were astonished by the arrival of the confident and well armed Eitoani brigades, totally at odds with the mouselike, slavish, timid depiction in Death Guard propaganda. On those main islands the population breakdown was :
Native: 2.8m
Ralkovian: 9m
Eitoan: 2m
Balkovian: 11.6m

This proved to be a volatile mix, as the Balkovians and Eitoans realized their oppressors were gone, and began to take matters into their own hands

The outlying islands were populated by 2 million Ralkovians and 4 million natives. With massive starvation, law and order was a relatively minor problem there.

Future governance of the islands remained an open issue. Neither The Timocratic Republic or Eitoan had much interest in expansion of their territory into Ra’govizik Indara. In time, the islands were seen as a budget drain. Over time, and with recognition of Balkovian interests, the Federation of Ralkovian States expressed an interest in the port of Isilidora, viewed as possibly being economically viable in the future. Where educated inhabitants could be found, and were there were enough to make such arrangements practical, local village or neighborhood advisory councils were established, providing input on basic services such as road repair, food distribution, elementary education, and advice on disposal of legal disputes. But ultimate authority remained in the hands of local occupation commanders. In Vladarsik and in Statesboro, the NMAA governments held firm to the goal of the occupation. Whatever the ultimate status of Ra’govizik Indara, whether it be independence or asssociation with Federal Ralkovia, all adventures by outside powers were to be blocked. And so it was that with the establishment of the Greater Dienstad Regional Council, consideration of placing the islands under Mandate status by the Council was on the agenda.