XX Corps, 15th Army
第二十兵團 - Dìèrshí Bīngtuán, 第十五軍 - Dìshíwǔ Jūn
Vaguely Near San Monahan, Azura
19:01
The dull thud of the landing craft was a welcome sound, allowing this particular Ekraysian infantry company to disembark and the flat-bottomed steel craft to putt slowly back to the mother ship. The first personnel had arrived unceremoniously onto this deserted beach about an hour ago, a little-known dark gold, almost brown coloured beach about half an hour's drive away from the nearest major settlement. Those first troops were the soldiers of the highly secret Nuclear and Specialist Corps, or NSC, an elite field unit of the Strategic Forces' Rocket Troops. They were here because they knew how to deal with nuclear warfare.
As the ramp descended, Colonel Liu, at the very front carrying a slung Sh91 rifle like the others and clad for the cold climate here that few Ekraysians knew of, saw them more clearly. They were pretty normal, except for being clad in a same-pattern, but more black-oriented Tigerstripe and a red stripe on their helmets and shoulders, within which was borne another black stripe. They carried different rifles to his own regular army troops, which model he knew not, and moved with absolute expertise and awareness. Ten of their Sh99 tanks were dug in just above the high tide mark in a hull-down position, the absolute latest pre-production model with 152mm guns. Apparently, they were issued with tactical nuclear charges; it was too well-known a secret organisation for you not to talk to them, but they were careful what they talked about. He, and the rest of the troops, were curious but knew better than to ask. If the Ekraysian government had money to spare on this then good for them.
He was walking off before the ramp was fully down. His training had taught him to be aware and he looked around continually, taking in his surroundings, but even the way in which he did this gave away two things; firstly, general mobilisation, despite the unique Ekraysian model and all contingency plans, had happened very quickly, and secondly, because of that, even after a week not everything was organised, the supply chain was not complete yet and he was tired, although he'd got some good sleep. Anxiety, from the thought he was stepping onto possibly hostile irradiated soil and no-one knew what was happening? Probably. The troops filed along behind him, not bothering to jog or act tough, merely glancing around curiously as they tramped up the beach, weapons slung. As they crested the sandbank, they saw that not much had been done, but a command post had been set up, and two companies of troops were apparently dug in about a hundred metres away. He looked up and walked a little more purposefully now as he saw an NSC Junior General (Major General) walking towards him, appearing as tired as he was.
"Sir"
"Good evening, Colonel. Your regiment?"
"1050th Infantry, 67th Infantry Division, sir"
"Damn. Three battalions from as many regiments. Anyway, your corps tank division has landed about a mile down that road - "
He pointed to a second-grade roughly tarmacked affair that the troops were dug in ahead of.
"But at least you're all from the same corps. I've figured out a landing plan of some sort, we should be ready to rock in an hour. We've been trying to make contact with any Azuran homeland troops, no luck. In fact, no sign of anyone, though we haven't looked"
"I was told we'd be making our way towards San Monahan, sir. We need the docks"
"We will, once we have a comprehensible division, which will be in about an hour, with luck. Your vehicles haven't arrived. In the meantime, you might as well eat, because I have fuck all for you to do right now. I appreciate the haste, but we are in a mess"
RETCON: Naw they had NBC suits
