As the Poppies Bloom (TWI ONLY | OOC)

[Menna Shuli]

Quick post to sort of start the time jump to the present.

[Wellsia]

Great post Menna Shuli
With your approval, defenders at Constantina.
San Javierian Division: 9,000 men; 3 infantry regiments each of three battalions (750 men, 12 x 81mm mortars, 6 x 105mm recoilless rifles, 9 RPGs, 8 MMGs, 2 MANPACK SAMs, 2 x 23mm AAG); Mortar Battery: 6 x 120mm mortars, 2 MANPACK SAMs and 1 artillery battalion with 18 x 122mm howitzers, 6 x 23mm AAG,Cavalry Squadron with 6 technicals with 105 mm RR, 6 with twin.50 caliber HMG.
Wellsian Force: 2 reduced battalions, 1500 men
Balnik: Mercenary Legion, 500 men.

[Menna Shuli]

Sounds good to me. Mik, where are we at with your stance on things?

[Miklania]

I need to get the naval bit going, but with Easter and all the final papers I'm working on I've been a bit slow at NS things recently. That will continue for the next few weeks unfortunately. If there is a specific post you want me to make, let me know and I'll try to type it out quickly.

[Thuzbekistan]

I need to get the naval bit going, but with Easter and all the final papers I'm working on I've been a bit slow at NS things recently. That will continue for the next few weeks unfortunately. If there is a specific post you want me to make, let me know and I'll try to type it out quickly.

Very much the same here.

[Miklania]

I just realized this is the first war that Miklania has ever fought that won't necessarily have the support of the majority of the public. How that gets handled could be interesting.

Also Thuz, how about we date the naval incident to the 29th?

[Menna Shuli]

How do we want to handle the Battle of Constantina? I don't want it to take as long as Pueblo Ignacio did, and I'd like to try and close the timeline up a bit.

[Thuzbekistan]

I posted, Mik. Plz correct me on date or actual details, but how do you want to push through the league bit?

[Miklania]

I'll put out a "flashback" to the event, then pitch my side of the story in a similar format.

[Thuzbekistan]

Mik and I agreed that due to the time lapse, we were going to skip the whole league debacle. Let the record show that after the pilot was returned, the fleets stared at each other until the Thuzbek fleet decided now was not the time to be sunk and made a honorable retreat to the Eterna Sea knowing it shot down a Miklanian jet with CIWS

[Menna Shuli]

Alright. So. We should try and recenter here and figure out next steps. Are we still landing on democratizing the island to allow for a part 3 of the San Javier story with a proper communist uprising?

[Miklania]

Sounds good. Do you have specific ideas in mind for that?

Some ideas I'd like to get written into either this part or part 3:
Miklanian ammo dump explosion that results in misreporting at home which in turn results in a lack of support for the intervention. And also hammers home points about logistics.

Heliborne assault into the mountains goes horribly wrong, resulting in a company fighting for their lives while a rescue force, hopefully spearheaded by or Mennan protagonists, goes in to help them.

Some sort of reckoning with Admiral Incompetence.

[Menna Shuli]

Sounds good. Do you have specific ideas in mind for that?

Some ideas I'd like to get written into either this part or part 3:
Miklanian ammo dump explosion that results in misreporting at home which in turn results in a lack of support for the intervention. And also hammers home points about logistics.

Heliborne assault into the mountains goes horribly wrong, resulting in a company fighting for their lives while a rescue force, hopefully spearheaded by or Mennan protagonists, goes in to help them.

Some sort of reckoning with Admiral Incompetence.

I can literally introduce the ammo dump explosion at the end of a post I'm working on right now.

[Scantarbia]

I'm interested in this, can someone please recap what has happened and who's who and what?

[Menna Shuli]

I'm interested in this, can someone please recap what has happened and who's who and what?

Alright, so...

Mênna Shuli invaded San Javier because they made an ultimatum to the junta that controls SJ to accept responsibility for funding rebels and spreading drugs in MS or face war. MS didn't want to be caught looking like they backed down, so they invaded when the junta refused to play ball. They made landing at the delta of the Rio Del Rosario, where they made a beachhead. Hitap Mipax Sul was named Prince-General of the attack through the political maneuvering of his mother, Hitap Mipax Shutu, who is a kivêla, or senator , of the Mênnan Sâtêp. Unfortunately, the Prince-Admiral of the invasion, Hitap Shala, had a plan for the invasion which runs counter to Sul's ideas but Sul has, thus far, been too young and inexperienced to take ground against the Prince-Admiral's way of doing things.

Following the acquisition of the beachhead, MS gained the support of Miklania and Dormill and Stiura, while San Javier was revealed to be using better weapons than expected (acquired from Balnik). Wellsia sent support to the junta. Dormill and Stiura moved against the cartel-controlled cities in the west while Miklania mostly focused on the sea and aiding MS' attack of Pueblo Ignacio, a village to be captured and used as a staging ground for the rest of the invasion. Meanwhile, communist remnants in Guadalapano began building up for a new revolution, and Thuzbekistan stepped in, leading to naval clashes with Miklania.

MS took Pueblo Ignacio in a short battle, but the resultant traditional celebration of the warrior caste alienated the Miklania allies. Dormill and Stiura withdrew support for their own reasons. MS moved on to attack Constantina, the heart of oil production in SJ, but have gotten bogged down by the nature of the territory and an inflexibility in their strategy. Sul has basically given up his fight with Shala and is letting the older man run roughshod, while Sul tries to play peacemaker with his Miklanian allies. The Balniki mercenary Legion of 500 is on the island and the Wellsians continue to support the Javierans. Sul hopes that one big victory of his new personal squad, the "Bellringers", will allow his mother the leverage to undermine Shala at home to give him control to use his own tactics.

[Scantarbia]

Okay, Scantarbia is in a peaceful condition now, nothing has been happening except launches here and there and that recent military exercise. I'd help MS on their war effort, first I need is a reason to do so, the Board of Ph.D. need a direct reason on why they should help and send troops, except in return of some potential infrastructure project in the future. For now, what we can provide is not a direct Scantarbian intervention, we could send some spec-ops and their equipment (submarines and carrier for insertion via helo) and some guided missile strike here and there that we cannot directly acknowledge publicly unless there is a clear reason for intervention.

But, we do need more intel on the ground, troop concentration, air defenses, bases, training camp, etc.
IC-wise, we're launching an IMINT satellite, KEEPSTAR, but it wont be operational until next week.
Also have the "MS-stlye atrocities" been known IC?

[Menna Shuli]

Okay, Scantarbia is in a peaceful condition now, nothing has been happening except launches here and there and that recent military exercise. I'd help MS on their war effort, first I need is a reason to do so, the Board of Ph.D. need a direct reason on why they should help and send troops, except in return of some potential infrastructure project in the future. For now, what we can provide is not a direct Scantarbian intervention, we could send some spec-ops and their equipment (submarines and carrier for insertion via helo) and some guided missile strike here and there that we cannot directly acknowledge publicly unless there is a clear reason for intervention.

But, we do need more intel on the ground, troop concentration, air defenses, bases, training camp, etc.
IC-wise, we're launching an IMINT satellite, KEEPSTAR, but it wont be operational until next week.
Also have the "MS-stlye atrocities" been known IC?

Don't fall into the trap of thinking of the Javis as having a standard military. Some of that information gathering will work, but remember that their whole country was in a forty year multi-sided civil conflict. They are a nation of insurgents and guerillas, and their military in some ways operates that way. In addition, much of their country is undeveloped or underdeveloped. Big bases and stuff aren't their steeze. Any individual person could be a combatant, uniform or not. It's the way the Javis fight.

As for Mênnan atrocities, it's not like anyone is hiding it. The Mênnan troops don't see them as attrocities. It's their right as warriors as per the Law of the Warrior and is just the way war is done according to Mênnan culture. The issue is that war between Mênnan groups internally AGREE to those terms and there are rules based on caste and whatnot that come into play. Since foreigners are casteless and therefore basically non-people in this system, it has caused many warriors to go ham. Sul has tried to apply rules to slow that problem down.

[Scantarbia]

Okay, Scantarbia is in a peaceful condition now, nothing has been happening except launches here and there and that recent military exercise. I'd help MS on their war effort, first I need is a reason to do so, the Board of Ph.D. need a direct reason on why they should help and send troops, except in return of some potential infrastructure project in the future. For now, what we can provide is not a direct Scantarbian intervention, we could send some spec-ops and their equipment (submarines and carrier for insertion via helo) and some guided missile strike here and there that we cannot directly acknowledge publicly unless there is a clear reason for intervention.

But, we do need more intel on the ground, troop concentration, air defenses, bases, training camp, etc.
IC-wise, we're launching an IMINT satellite, KEEPSTAR, but it wont be operational until next week.
Also have the "MS-stlye atrocities" been known IC?

Don't fall into the trap of thinking of the Javis as having a standard military. Some of that information gathering will work, but remember that their whole country was in a forty year multi-sided civil conflict. They are a nation of insurgents and guerillas, and their military in some ways operates that way. In addition, much of their country is undeveloped or underdeveloped. Big bases and stuff aren't their steeze. Any individual person could be a combatant, uniform or not. It's the way the Javis fight.

As for Mênnan atrocities, it's not like anyone is hiding it. The Mênnan troops don't see them as attrocities. It's their right as warriors as per the Law of the Warrior and is just the way war is done according to Mênnan culture. The issue is that war between Mênnan groups internally AGREE to those terms and there are rules based on caste and whatnot that come into play. Since foreigners are casteless and therefore basically non-people in this system, it has caused many warriors to go ham. Sul has tried to apply rules to slow that problem down.

I guess the best way for me to RP it this time is to try to win hearts and mind of the people to join our cause. Is it okay if I RPed that I have someone inside the country (int agent) that has an informant network. After the specops are inserted, they'll link up to this agent and use his house as a safehouse for a while where they'll be assessing situation and tried to link up with anyone that have the same idealism to establish a network of "Freedom Fighters" that will be supported by the Scantarbian government.

But, I guess first of all, our government officials (military (?)) must meet to discuss agendas and course of actions.

[Menna Shuli]

@Miklania, I defer to your military knowledge in terms of the best way to get Scan in on this. Also, great post. How do you want Sul to be involved?

[Miklania]

@Miklania, I defer to your military knowledge in terms of the best way to get Scan in on this. Also, great post. How do you want Sul to be involved?

Scan?

Sul should show up, listen to the aftermath of the incident, quietly swear a few times, then they figure out how to deal with the current problems, like the bridges at Constantina.

One way to go about getting rid of them would be to have them bombed.

Another option is that the Bellringers don't blow them up, they seize them so a Miklanian ground force can do the flanky thing again, and along with Sul's personal commando squad, take the town. That would show up Prince-Admiral Shala and give the military reformers back home ammunition to convince the entrenched traditionalists that modern equipment and tactics yields excellent results.

[Menna Shuli]

@Miklania, I defer to your military knowledge in terms of the best way to get Scan in on this. Also, great post. How do you want Sul to be involved?

Scan?

Sul should show up, listen to the aftermath of the incident, quietly swear a few times, then they figure out how to deal with the current problems, like the bridges at Constantina.

One way to go about getting rid of them would be to have them bombed.

Another option is that the Bellringers don't blow them up, they seize them so a Miklanian ground force can do the flanky thing again, and along with Sul's personal commando squad, take the town. That would show up Prince-Admiral Shala and give the military reformers back home ammunition to convince the entrenched traditionalists that modern equipment and tactics yields excellent results.

Scantarbia. See the posts above for his pitches on how he wants to be involved.

[Miklania]

Is he joining on our side or the Javis?

[Menna Shuli]

Is he joining on our side or the Javis?

Ours. He wants to build a power station in MS, but as long as the war is going on and the constitution is up in the air, Mênna Shuli is effectively in a government shutdown. He's aiming to end that state ASAP to get a long term deal hashed out.

[Miklania]

Ok, that would work. As Thuz's fleet has figured out, getting in on the other side is going to require a lot of sneaking. After the whole shoot-down incident, the RMN is in no mood to put up with anyone's bullshit.

If he wants to send troops the most useful thing he could do is provide support units like field hospitals, logistics, and indirect fires. We'e got more infantry than we know what to do with.

[Scantarbia]

Ever tried inserting SpecOps via submarine and a submersible? (e.g. SEAL Delivery Vehicle).
But okay then, I'll send a hospital ship alongside three frigates and a submarine to aid, now I just need to figure out how to enter the whole scenario, (what should my characters do, as I have no cassus belli on why I should send ships except for securing an infrastructure deal with MS)