Operation Karma [Earth II]

[Cotland]

Throughout the annals of human history, civilizations arise, prosper, decay, and eventually collapse, only to be replaced by new civilizations that arise, prosper, decay and collapse, which in turn are replaced by new civilizations, and so on and so forth. This is empirical proof, recognized and accepted by most historians and academia. Thus, when the Council State of Nerotika collapsed and was replaced by the people of the entity calling themselves No Taxes, the Government of the Realm of Cotland were wary, given their turbulent history with the Nerotikans, but willing to clean the slate and form new relations with this new state, which was highly decentralized and borderline anarchistic in nature. Still, it came as a great shock to the Cottish government when the nation of No Taxes collapsed from within almost the very moment it was formed. The No Taxes experiment had arisen, but completely skipped the prosper and decay part and jumped straight to the collapse.

At present, anarchy and civil war raged the entire territory that had once been No Taxes, and there was a need for stability. At least, that was the sales pitch used by Chancellor Terje Hole to Stortinget, the Cottish parliament, in order to rally support and gain approval for a territorial expansion of certain of the No Taxes territories, namely Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod (formerly Cottish, occupied by Nerotika and lated No Taxes), and Vladimir (also formerly Cottish). These three territories would improve Cotland’s strategic position, and spur on Holes ambition to restore the ancient Cottish homeland.

After some consultation, Stortinget decided to give its blessing to the territorial expansion plans, and allocated the funds necessary for the short campaign Hole promised.

Two days later, call-up orders were issued, ordering 200,000 reservists in Russia to report to their respective units seven days later. The order of the day were occupation-duties.

OOC: More to come.

[Pineholt]

OOC - Is this IC knowledge? Also, see my Terra Irredenta thread and post in it what the Cottish homeland was...

[Cotland]

A deep rumbling sound awoke the population of the village of Suzdal, Vladimir, twelve kilometers from the Cottish border. As confused villagers looked out their windows to see if a storm was coming, they would find themselves staring straight at the advance of the Cottish 18th Army Corps.

The Army Corps had been completely reconstituted as the Cottish Army realized that the temporary reorganization that had proven vital to liberating the once occupied Eastern Territories simply wouldn’t be viable in future conflicts against organized and fully mechanized forces in Europe and Russia. This lesson had been learned during the last phase of the liberation war, where the Army had found itself fighting not disorganized scattered pockets of resistance, but fully organized tank armies and support units. While the Cottish had won that war and made a lot of propaganda about the easy victories, in reality, the Cottish had almost broken under the stress of tank armies attacking the Cottish brigades. Ever ready to improve and adapt, the Army realized that the brigade-based army simply wouldn’t do, and quickly reversed the process of transforming the Army into a brigade-based army, instead reestablishing the various divisions and modifying the existing brigades to be adapted into a division-based army. This work was now for the most part completed, though quite a few divisions needed to gain more manpower now that things were in the process of being normalized in Cotland and ordinary military induction and training could resume.

It was expected that the expected citizenry mass would be inducted, trained and equipped within two years, at which time the Cottish Army would consist of five Armies with twenty-four Army Corps, encompassing a total of eighteen Armoured Divisions, fourty-six Mechanized Infantry Divisions, twenty Motorized Infantry Divisions, six Separate Mechanized Infantry Brigades, five Mountain Infantry Brigades, six Parachute Brigades, sixteen Separate Artillery Brigades, six Separate Engineer Brigades, eighteen Seperate Logistics Brigades, twenty-four Helicopter Groups, and fourteen Rocket Battalions, plus assorted logistics unit, for a total wartime strength of 3,500,000 men. During peacetime, a “mere” million men would be active, of which some four hundred thousand were conscripts conducting their National Service, which had been increased to 24 months under the Emergency Powers Act 1974. With this strength, the Cottish Army would be able to wage at least one high-intensity war, one peacekeeping operation, and still have some forces available for contingencies.


The invasion of the ex-No Taxes territories of Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, and Vladimir were conducted simultaneously by the 6th Army Corps (14th and 19th Mech.Inf.Div, 27th Mot.Inf.Div), 16th Army Corps (9th, 15th, 41st Mech.Inf.Div), 10th Army Corps (4th, 10th Mech.Inf.Div, 29th, 30th Mot.Inf.Div), and the 18th Army Corps (45th, 51st, 58th Mech.Inf.Div). Of these, the 10th and 18th Army Corps were reserve formations, while the 6th and 16th Army Corps were standing elements. With these thirteen divisions, the Cottish General Staff intended to overrun the virtually non-existing No Taxes border defences, take over control of the three territories in question, and assert Cottish sovereignty. In Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod, Cottish territories until February 2009, the population were expected to be very friendly, and were expected to welcome the Cottish Army as liberators and heroes. This was not only something Military Intelligence indicated, but actively worked to get done, since operatives of the CIS had been undercover in the territories and established good connections with the local population. The relations there had progressed so far that shadow governments and a shadow army had been established and recognized as legitimate by the Cottish Government in Oslo. As such, the 18th Army Corps which was moving into Vladimir expected that their primary mission would be to ensure the safety of the territory from external threats and assist the establishing shadow government as needed. The 16th Army Corps which was moving into Nizhny Novgorod expected the same kind of mission.

For the two Army Corps’ tasked with taking over Moscow, Intel expected that the population would vary from cautiously friendly to outright hostile, since the territory had been under uncontested No Taxes control and before that Nerotikan and Russian control for decades, allowing anti-Cottish sentiments to cement themselves. As such, the 6th and 10th Army Corps with their seven divisions expected to have to police a hostile territory, with the assistance of eight battalions from Rikspolitiet, the Cottish national gendarmerie. The Gendarmes, highly trained paramilitary police officers, would handle most of the law enforcement tasks, leaving the duty of protection to the Army units.

Expecting hostile responses, the army that moved into Moscow expected to conduct a strong counter-insurgency operation in Moscow, something the Cottish had extensive experience with. A typical Cottish counter-insurgency operation, such as the one that was to be carried out in Moscow, called for several different approaches. First, the organized resistance had to be crushed and the territory initially secured. As this was going on, the existing government officials would be coerced into cooperating with the Cottish, with those who refused simply being executed. With friendly puppets as the local government, ordinances would be passed that welcomed Cotland as liberators and formally requested that the Cottish Army to operate in the territory. Simultaneously, all inhabitants of the territory would be required to register with the local Gendarmerie, where they would have their pictures and fingerprints taken, and be issued an identity card which had to be carried at all times. This ID card was fitted with a chip that allowed the Cottish Army or Gendarmerie to quickly check the identity of the carrier against the profile stored in highly secure servers. This population monitoring was among the most effective tools in a COIN operation, as it allowed to quickly identify those who attempted to avoid the control means. Naturally, those whose identities didn’t match the entries would be detained and brought away for questioning. So would those who didn’t have ID cards, which would be mandatory to bring along. The local inhabitants in the occupied area would also have their freedom of travel restricted, as the Cottish would set up a lot of roadblocks and checkpoints, and close the borders. Still, those who wished to leave the territory would be allowed so, though they wouldn’t be allowed to return.

All this tied into the basic COIN doctrine the Cottish Army lived by – “Contain the insurgency before attempting to destroy it.” Key elements to this doctrine was to 1) “Identify the enemy and his reasons for existence”; 2) “Co-ordinate the resources and personnel of all sections of the establishment against it”; 3) “Contain the enemy and wear him down tactically”; 4) “Isolate and frustrate him in every way, both politically and militarily”; 5) “Destroy him.”

The Cottish Army intended to do precisely that.

[Cotland]

The men moved forward cautiously, crouching against the walls while keeping their rifles trained on the buildings on the other side of the street, their comrades on the other side of the street doing the same, while the C127A4 Sisu wheeled armoured personnel carriers in the middle of the streets were on-hand to provide fire support with the heavy MITR-2 heavy machine guns or the GK-5 automatic grenade launchers mounted on Protector remote weapons systems.

The platoon of Cottish infantry were moving cautiously through the streets of Moscow, having reached the city the previous day and immediately sealed off all access to the city with the bulk of 10th Army Corps, giving Lieutenant General Andersen, formerly of the 85th Infantry Brigade that had earned great distinction during the Kostroma Campaign 2007, and of the 2 Infantry Division (later 2 Army Corps) during the 2009 Patriotic Liberation Campaign, four brigades (the entirety of 10 Mechanized Infantry Division plus 2 Brigade, 30 Motorized Infantry Division) that provided a tight seal around the city of Moscow, the prize of this campaign. The remaining maneuver units at his disposal, namely 4 Mechanized Infantry Division, 29 Motorized Infantry Division and of 30 Motorized Infantry Division (sans 2 Brigade), provided the celebrated Lieutenant General with eight Infantry Brigades plus assorted support units with which to take the city.

The operation had begun six hours earlier, with probing attacks towards the city centre, where the intelligence types estimated that the defenders of Moscow were prepared to make a final stand. The probing attacks had met with surprisingly little resistance, making some of the soldiers believe that they were going to take the city without trouble. However, such thoughts were quickly snuffed out by their section leaders and officers, who tersely reminded the soldiers that this was what the enemy wanted them to think – they wanted to lull them into a false sense of security and let them drop their guard before they struck. Most of the soldiers heeded the advice from their leaders, and maintained their vigilant stance as the main attack began at 0900 hours. Eight infantry brigades, or in more operational tactical terms, twenty-four infantry battalions supported by four tank battalions, ten combat engineer battalions, twelve field artillery battalions and a number of other assorted support units began moving into the city, advancing slowly and methodically. The orders were to advance until they made contact with the enemy, destroy the enemy, and move on.

As columns of C127A4 Sisu armoured personnel carriers, C137A3 Viking infantry fighting vehicles, C133A2C Sabertooth main battle tanks and thousands of dismounted infantry began pouring into the city. The artillery stood by, ready to provide heavy, accurate supporting fire as needed, but for the time being, the Cottish artillery remained silent. Overhead, CAH-33 Anasazi attack helicopters provided overwatch, ready to support the advancing army below with 3CM cannon fire and 7CM rockets, and fed the commanders on the ground with intel on what lay ahead, supplementing the information gathered from the CQ-7 Shadow and CQ-12 Skylark II unmanned aerial vehicles high up in the skies above.

Meanwhile, as the infantry advanced cautiously, another group of men were preparing themselves for action back at the newly captured Vnukovo International Airport. The airport had been captured the previous night and had immediately been pressed into service as the command post for 10 Division, as well as the staging area for several of the units that now participated in the attack on Moscow. One of these units was the Third Battalion, Seventh Special Operations Group, HSK. 3-7 SOG were part of HSK, the Army Special Forces, and subordinate to SOKDA, the Joint Special Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Realm of Cotland. The entirety of 7 SOG had been detailed to support Operation Karma, and 3 Battalion had been tasked with supporting 10 Army Corps. For the capture of Moscow, 3-7 SOG had been given a delicate mission: To capture the leaders of Moscow alive, if possible, and to secure two vital locations: The White House, where the Moscow Legislature resided; and the Kremlin, where the leadership were bound to be hiding out. The trouble was that the Special Forces couldn’t be deployed until the regular forces were close enough to be able to relieve the Special Forces operators in due time. When that time came, i.e. when the regular army was within 5 kilometers of their objectives, 3-7 SOG would be airlifted in and take the objectives.

[Cotland]

The nightmarish scene that had once been a normal city block was enough to make any man, woman or child scream in terror. The once beautiful neo-baroque building in yellow brick was now a smoldering, charred ruin of what had once been, caused by the past six hours of heavy fighting between the Moscowite defenders and the Cottish Army. The bright flashes of rifles and machine guns could be seen fired defiantly against the Cottish positions still, accentuated by the occational streak of white smoke that signified a rocket-propelled grenade being fired against the attackers against the Cottish, who had forced their way into buildings across for the large building that had given Lubyanka Square its name.

A full battalion of Cottish infantry had been pinned down by the staunch defence of the former headquarters of the Nerotikan secret police, and despite bringing in several artillery and missile strikes and even bringing up a pair of Sabertooth main battle tanks for use as ersatz artillery, firing their mighty 120MM cannons at point-blank range at the building, the Moscowite defenders were still holding out in the building. A full-scale attack had yet to be launched, as the Cottish commander on the ground was reluctant to commit to what promised to be a bloody room-to-room battle which almost guaranteed large Cottish casualties, so the Cottish infantrymen were left to hunker down behind cover and lay fire down on the building as best they could.

In the thirty-four hours that had passed since the Cottish Army began its final push upon Moscow proper, the soldiers had advanced and cleared the ground from the MKAD Outer Ring Road, through the Third Ring Road, and just past the Garden Ring Road, where the Cottish had stopped for a few hours to consolidate their positions, resupply, and allow straggler units to catch up before the coordinated attack resumed. In the past thirty-four hours, the Cottish had advanced only roughly 14 kilometers from the starting positions at the MKAD, something which underscored the thurroughness the Cottish Army had undertaken in the clearing of Moscow, where all major buildings and all buildings overlooking the main roads had been breached, checked and cleared.

The thurroughness had paid off. Several cells of defenders who had planned to allow themselves to be overrun and then conduct a guerilla campaign behind the Cottish lines had been discovered and destroyed, with the defenders having been pulled out into the streets, the leaders identified and brought away for questioning, and the rest of the defenders rounded up and brought back to the designated prisoner holding area, where the Military Police took over responsibility for the prisoners. The Cottish leadership knew that in order to win over Moscow and the hearts and minds of the Moscowites, a certain degree of mercy was required, and the "kill everything in an enemy uniform" policy that had been standard operating procedure couldn't apply here. It was a different ballgame, and the rules had to be accordingly. Sure, the prisoners taken were roughed up a bit, but nothing too serious, and they were treated humanely for the most part. Unfortunately, none of the higher-echelon of the Moscowite defenders or leadership had been captured yet, meaning that the defenders still had relatively strong morale. Still, with only 2.3 kilometers to go until the Cottish Army reached its prize - the Kremlin - it was only a matter of time before the Moscowites had to surrender.

At Lubyanka, despite the burning building, the defenders continued to defy the Cottish Army, and the Brigade Commander responsible for that particular sector of the advance was beginning to get fed up with his unit's inability to remove the defenders. In fact, he was so annoyed that he left the relative safety of his command post, set up at the Moscow Stadium, and moved up to the troops holding their position at Lubyanka Square.

Jumping out of the Gepard armoured vehicle, the forty-six year old Colonel was less than pleased as he strode across the street, seemingly ignoring the war-ravaged sight that met him as he walked across the street between tanks and armoured vehicles moving up towards Lubyanka Square, the rows of dead people stacked up against the bullet-ridden wall in order to get them out of the way for the vehicles and troops moving up to the front and the bombed-out building seemingly not affecting the war-hardened officer as he briskly passed the sentries guarding the Battalion Command Post, temporarily set up in the basement of a fire-damaged building that the Moscowites had used as a strongpoint up until twelve hours ago. Once inside, the Colonel stopped for a second to orient himself in the cold room, where a line of radiosets had been set up along a wall with Signals Corporals manning the radios, constantly relaying messages and orders to and from the Battle Staff, who stood around a makeshift table consisting of a pair of planks laid over something, with a map lying on the table along with a operations soldier marking the latest progress on the map while the Battle Staff - the Battalion Commander, his Executive Officer, the Intelligence Officer, the Operations Officer and the Battalion's Sergeant Major - discussed the tactical situation and how to best solve the problem.

In the few seconds that it took for the Colonel to step in and orient himself, the officer saw clearly the confirmation of what he had expected. The Battalion Commander was too cautious and incapable of making a decision in time, as was evident by the discussion the Battle Staff were having.

"...and the result is that our entire advance is stalled by Lubyanka. Sir, we have to breach the building and clear it."

"And risk God how many Cottish lives? I don't want to sacrifice that many lives if I can avoid it. We will continue to starve them out. They'll surrender eventually!" The Battalion Commander, a recently promoted Lieutenant Colonel shouted in reply. That was definately not the way for a senior officer to conduct himself, especially not a front-line officer with almost a thousand men under his command.

"Sir, we've tried shelling the building, we've tried using the tanks as battering rams, hell, we even tried sending missiles in through the windows. They're still resisting sir." The Executive Officer, a Major, said calmly, trying to reason with his superior.

"They will break." The Lieutenant Colonel replied, and was about to launch another tirade when he was interrupted.

"What the fuck kind of half-assed attack are you conducting here?!" The Colonel said tersely as he walked up to the map table. "You've got an entire fucking mechanized battalion sitting on its asses, sucking its thumbs while some bloody Moscowites are taking pot-shots at you and laughing their asses off while they're doing it! I demand an explanation as to why my Brigade's not at Red Square yet!"

"Colonel, sir!" The Lieutenant Colonel said, clearly upset with his superior suddenly showing up unannounced at his command post. "The enemy resistance is simply too great. They don't want to give up, and I don't want to risk my men's lives if I can avoid it sir."

"You don't want to risk your men's lives?!" The Colonel spat. "In case you haven't gotten it into your thick skull yet, we are in a shooting war here! And you don't want to risk your men's lives?! That's the worst piece of bullshit I've heard since the Pushkan President's last New Year's Speech! Now you get your thumb out off your ass and get Second Battalion going and you take that fucking building!"

"Sir, I cannot in good concience do that. I feel that a frontal assault will cost us far more than the tactical gain we can get..."

"The tactical gain we can get from taking that fucking building is to open up a direct route to the Kremlin, something which in turn will give us the keys to the city. At any rate, your protest is noted." The Colonel said, and drew a deep breath. Eyeing the Lieutenant Colonel, the Colonel slowly released his breath through his nose as he held out his right hand.

"Your sidearm please."

"Sir?" The Lieutenant Colonel asked, puzzled.

"Your sidearm. Hand it to me please." The Colonel repeated, his voice dangerously calm.

Swallowing, the Lieutenant Colonel undid the strap that secured his Colt .45 to his hip, pulled it out from the tactical hip holster, and placed it in the Colonel's hand, who took the sidearm and placed it in his jacket pocket before turning to a Master Sergeant.

"Lieutenant Colonel Askeland, you are relieved of your command, and placed under arrest. Master Sergeant, place the Lieutenant Colonel under arrest and have him brought back to Division Headquarters." The Colonel stated, with the entire command post staff now watching silently as the scene unfolded. The Master Sergeant, on the other hand, hesitated a few seconds, but after a glare from the Colonel pulled his Colt .45 from the hip holster and raised it at the former Battalion Commander.

"Sir, if you'll come with me." The Master Sergeant said softly as he motioned towards the door with his free hand. "Please sir."

Clearly deflated, the Lieutenant Colonel offered no resistance as he allowed himself to be led outside and into a Gepard truck, which would drive him back to the Divisional Headquarters at Bogorodskoye. Meanwhile, the Colonel turned to the Executive Officer.

"Major, I hereby place you in command of Second Battalion, and order you to take that building that's holding our entire advance up. What do you need from Brigade to get the job done in a timely fashion?"

"Sir, I need tanks, artillery, and plenty of Halon gas if I am to take the building without too great casualties."

"Consider it done. When can you be ready to attack?"

"Half an hour after I get the tanks and gas sir. The artillery will shell the building, the tanks will suppress the enemy, and the gas will kill the enemy sir."

"I expect you to have the building cleared by nightfall Major." The Colonel said, then turned and left the new Battalion Commander to plan his attack.

An hour later, two tank platoons rolled up past the command post and over towards Lubyanka Square, taking up positions along the square where they could support their sister platoon that had already been committed to the Battle for Lubyanka for the past three hours, bringing the total of troops at the square up to a dismounted mechanized infantry battalion with some IFVs in position, laying down 35MM fire, plus a full tank company of fourteen Sabertooth main battle tanks. There was a lot of firepower at the square, and now, they started getting ready for the attack.

The attack was started by a brief, intense artillery barrage where two field artillery batteries opened fire, sending a total of 288 15.5CM shells into the building in only six minutes, levelling it completely.

The new Battalion Commander's plan was simple. Use the tanks, IFVs and infantry already in the square to provide coordinated, suppressive fire to keep the enemy pinned down while the infantry advance. The heavy fire cover worked, and it wasn't long before a Cottish infantry company had made their way into the remains of the building. It didn't take long to determine that while the building was pretty much levelled, and whoever had been in the top eight floors when it was shelled were dead or dying, the artillery barrage had done no harm to the two heavily reinforced sub-basements of Lubyanka, where the infantry quickly determined that the enemy had determined to make their last stands at. So, as the Cottish identified the entrances to the basements (which wasn't that hard to do, considering that the two seperate concrete structures with armoured doors were labelled "Basement" in Cyrillic writing), the infantry secured the perimeter around them, declared the building no longer a direct threat to the advance, and called in the Engineers.

Not long after, as the majority of the mechanized infantry battalion began moving, an Engineering Breaching Vehicle drawn from the Divisional Engineer Battalion towing a trailer rolled up over the crumbling rubble and up to one of the doors. Using its powerful crane, the Breaching Vehicle forced the armoured door slightly open, and the accompanying combat engineers began unloading a heavy-duty hose that had been carried atop of the Breaching Vehicle. One team rolled the hose out over the rubble, making sure it wasn't snagged anywhere, and connected it to a truck carrying a pressurized container, while another team began forcing the hose into the opening in the door, pushing it far down the staircase behind the armoured door. Satisfied that the hose was far enough down, the engineers started sealing the opening shut with a quick-setting foam, creating an air-tight seal around the hose and the door.

Satisfied that the work was done correctly, the leader of the combat engineer detail gave the go-ahead, and within seconds, Halon 1301 gas began being pumped into the basement levels, where the Halon would quickly and quietly reduce the oxygen levels inside the basement levels to levels which could not be survived by human beings. Despite the defenders having prepared themselves by putting on gas masks, this wouldn't help since the users of the gas masks depended upon oxygen to sustain life. With the oxygen removed, and the Halon 1301 levels reaching in excess of 40% within long, the defenders in the basement quickly slipped into unconciousness, and suffocated quietly without a shot being fired. The Battle for Lubyanka had lasted well over eight hours, but finally, there were nothing but eerie silence in the basement levels of Lubyanka.

With Lubyanka in Cottish hands, the Brigade was free to continue its advance along the northern flank. The Special Forces troops of 3-7 SOG were already in the air, moving out when they got word that Lubyanka had been taken. Their destination: The Kremlin!

[Cotland]

Nizhny Novgorod
In the past thirty days, Cottish XVI Army Corps had successfully and peacefully taken over the territory of Nizhny Novgorod, meeting next to no resistance from the populace, who seemed content to simply let the Cottish soldiers take over the job of providing security that the No Taxes government had preformed. The Cottish government had sent diplomatic envoys to the major cities and negotiated a peaceful takeover of the territory, under very favorable terms.

Basically, the terms the Cottish and the Nizhny Novgorodites had worked out stated that the territory be placed under Cottish protection, and allowed Cottish forces to be garrisoned there to provide security, while the Novgorodites were allowed considerable autonomy. Their local currency, the Ruble, was allowed to remain in effect, while Cottish Rikskroner were introduced as valid currency alongside the Ruble, and trade between Novgorod and Cotland proper flourished. The Novgorodites were given Cottish citizenship and rights, while keeping their political autonomy and right to maintain their ways. The only limitation to this was that the Novgorodites surrender the foreign and security policy to the Cottish central government, and that laws that didn't match the Cottish constitution be altered under the Lex Superior principle. In reality, there were next to no such violations in the Novgorodite legislation, making the stipulation a mere formality. The Novgorodites also demanded, and were given, a clause which stated that if more than two thirds of the population in the region demanded seperation between Nizhny Novgorod and the Realm, Novgorod would be allowed to ceede peacefully from Cotland with no hard feelings.

This deal, called the Treaty of Nizhny, was formally signed into effect by Chancellor Terje Hole on February 25, and ratified by Stortinget by a vote of 151 in favor and 9 against on March 2, making it formal into law. As such, the Cottish flag was raised over the major cities in Nizhny Novgorod at noon on March 3, which was the exact same time that the treaty formally came into effect. Nizhny Novgorod's 3.6 million inhabitants thus became Cottish citizens.

With this achieved, the General Staff decided that Operation Karma November was a success and that the XVI Army Corps should return to their garrisons, and be replaced by dedicated garrison troops, in the form of seven Infantry Regiments totalling 21,000 troops which would serve as the peacetime garrison for the major cities and important areas.

Vladimir
Similar events had taken place in Vladimir, which unlike Nizhny Novgorod had been part of Cotland up until the Nerotikan Invasion of February 2009. Here, the vast majority of the civilian population had welcomed the Cottish Army with open arms, actually slowing down the advance due to the spontanious parades and celebrations they had started in honor of the Cottish liberators. The Cottish soldiers in the Cottish XVIII Army Corps were wined, dined and got the attention from the many young women, making the Vladimir Campaign a very memorable affair for the Cottish troops.

On the darker side, the liberated civilian population took out their stored up anger upon the people who had collaborated with the Nerotikan occupants, and widespread lynchings had taken place, with collaborators being strung up in lightpoles, trees and off bridges by angry mobs. Many collaborators were lynched before the Cottish forces could clasp down on the actions of the mobs. Several people were arrested for lynching, but in all cases, the arrested people were released a few weeks later after the Cottish Army and Rikspolitiet had tracked down and detained surviving collaborators. The collaborators were gathered into makeshift prisoner camps in Vologda, where they were held until proper trials could be held. In quite a few cases, the collaborators had to be released due to lack of credible evidence against them, but many cases ended with convictions ranging from imprisonment for five to twenty years, and even eleven death sentences.

Unlike in Nizhny Novgorod, in Vladimir, the population didn't want to have autonomy, but rather have their status as a full province of Cotland be restored. As a result, this was done. The XVIII Army Corps were not needed for occupation duty after March 1, and returned to their garrison in Tverrland where campaign medals were awarded for their duty, a letter of commendation for honourable duty given to each soldier along with accumulated back pay for the days in service, and a victory parade through the garrison cities before the troops were discharged from active duty and allowed to return to their homes after 48 days of federal service. Operation Karma Viktor was successfully concluded.

Moscow
The small-arms fire intensified as the helicopters flew low and fast over the red brick walls, breaking off towards their respective designated landing zones. The MH-100 Explorer helicopters were small and nimble, and sprayed the fortress grounds with fire from the 7.62mm Miniguns mounted on the sides of the helicopters as they escorted the larger MH-53P Pave Low V transport helicopters, which joined in spewing out fire and brimstone from their door-mounted Miniguns into the Moscovite defenses.

One of the Pave Low Vs came to a hover over the Grand Kremlin Palace, allowing the forty Special Forces operators inside to storm down the ramp and start storming and clearing the building from the top down, which was how Cottish urban warfare doctrine demanded a building should be cleared. The troops pounced, storming into rooms, blasting the hell out of the defenders, then proceeded, not giving the enemy a moment of pause. The Cottish had the momentum, and they weren't about to give it up. While the Moscovite defenders tried to stop them, at every junction, the Cottish refused to yield. Hastily set up barricades were countered with covering fire, flashbangs and hand grenades, followed by storming the positions and finishing off the surviving defenders.

Similar actions were taking place in all the main buildings. The Arsenal, the Armoury, the Palaces, and the cathedrals were stormed and secured by the Cottish special forces. The Moscovite defenders tried valiantly to stop the Cottish, but it was to little avail.

Inside the main meeting room of the Grand Palace, on the third floor, a Cottish team that had just killed the guard detachment in this hallway with silenced carbines stopped in front of a set of large double doors for just long enough to plant a breaching charge and stack up, before blowing the doors and continuing into the room.

Inside, the eight elite troops found fourteen elderly suit-clad men sitting around a conference table, obviously in the middle of a serious discussion when the doors were blown open. Shouting loudly in both Cottish and Russian, the troops ordered the men to get on the floor with their hands up with aiming their carbines menacingly towards the men. When the men hesitated, a Cottish Corporal found out that he had to "help" the men comply. With a carbine buttstock in the face and a swift kick in the back of the kneecap, the man closest to the Corporal was brought to the ground. The Corporal's teammates followed his example, and forced the men down on the ground, breaking quite a few noses, bruising quite a few eyes, and popping a pair of kneecaps in the process. The fourteen men were restrained with plastic zip-ties and blindfolded before the Team Leader notified his command that they had fourteen high-value targets in their possession and requested reinforcements.

Within minutes, another sixteen Cottish troops got to the room and it was decided that the men, who were identified as the Moscow Cabinet, had to be evacuated and brought back to Vnukovo Airport for immediate interrogation. Grabbing a cabinet member each, the Cottish troops half guided, half dragged the elderly prisoners up the hallways towards the roof, where a Pave Low V had been ordered to carry them back to the airport.

Escorted by Explorer helicopters that blazed away at enemy positions with 7.62mm Miniguns and 70mm high-explosive rockets, the Pave Low V reached Vnukovo safely and disembarked the prisoners, which were immediately brought to the Intelligence Detachment for immediate interrogation.

Soon, Cottish aircraft flying over the enemy positions started blazing out news that their leadership had been captured and that further fighting was futile. The enemy troops were encouraged to surrender, and promised that they would be treated well if they surrendered to the nearest Cottish forces.

Many forces did as the Cottish encouraged, and surrendered to the Cottish forces. The dirty, ragged and shellshocked Moscovite defenders stumbled out from their positions and walked towards the Cottish positions with their hands up in the air, and were taken prisoners by the Cottish forces.

Six hours later, the Moscovite commanders still alive finally realized that the fight was over, and with mass surrenders on all fronts, realized that the battle was lost. Deciding it wasn't worth it to waste any further lives, the highest-ranking Moscovite commander issued a proclamation over all radio frequencies that he capitulated unconditionally to the Cottish forces, and ordered all remaining forces under his command to follow suit, and after destroying the documents and equipment at the command post, proceeded towards the Cottish lines, where the Cottish troops had orders to take prisoners everyone who wanted to surrender.

After a fifty-nine hour battle, Moscow finally fell. The casualties had been heavy. On the Cottish side, seven hundred nineteen men had been killed, and a further three thousand one hundred wounded (of which some three hundred lost limbs or were otherwise permanently maimed), while the Moscovites had suffered two thousand one hundred KIA, six thousand four hundred WIA, and four thousand taken prisoner. Additionally, four hundred fifty-three civilians had been killed when caught in the crossfire.