CAR Civil War(Democritus Only)

[NPC Controller of Zackaroth]

The Civil War in the Center African Republic reaches a critical stage as French forces begin to intervene as the Socialists Forces appear.

Bangui

Bangui was an easy capture for France. Any resistance was by gang forces and not real militaries and many of the people where desperate and hungry for food and medical supplies that many of them flocked to the French banner. It would be an easy victory and one that could be shown back home to the public. Many of the anti-balaka militas where willing to open talks with France on getting the country back into an actual state. However, not all of them where and these fell into two camps. The more extremest, anti-islamic ones went to join the HCA while the ones more angry at such a late stage French intervention are aligning more with the SAR.

SAR-French Perimeter

The French had indeed boxed in the SAR. For now atleast. They where able to take , Berbérati, and Bimbo with ease but Sosso and Katakpo would end up being issues. The SAR, having some veterans from Mauritania, where expecting French intervention once they fully announced their presence. Infact, they had actually gone to those two cities first before securing all of the reserve. A hard propaganda campaign went on in these two cities. They showed the anti-balaka forces the destruction France rained down in Nigeria and Mauritania. They showed them how Europe sought to dominate Africa and how their failed colonial policies lead to all these conflicts. How they would ignore corruption to maintain the statues quo(wisely avoiding any discussion on Zimbabwe).

This made the populace mad and the SAR was able to secure their help. When the French arrived in both cities, they found well armed and well trained troops to confront them. In Katakpo, the troops had ended up mining all three roads leading into the city, creating their own underground supply lines into the Reserve to get what they needed. In the jungle around the forest, they had also placed a variety traps, had small teams of snipers and even hidden bits of artillery to try and stop the French from their encircling tactic.

Sosso was different. Instead the SAR played a large cat and mouse game with the French and as soon as the French had the advantage, the quickly scattered into the dense jungles, in many different directions. The French would notice, many of the civilians had been evacuated as well, leaving the town leaving only around 3,000 left. That's when the artillerly strikes begun the next day, raining down the French, trying to completely decimate the troops they had to secure the town. Slash and burn tactic.

While all this was going on, the SAR's home territory was not sitting idle. With a direct tieline to the The Republic of the Congo, and thus their true benefators and supporters, they where in much better condition and then what their compatriots had been in other wars. They had the supplies, shelter and morale to wait things out. And that's what they did. Wait things out. Within the next few days and week, France would suddenly find its aircraft under attack, despite flying high above normal MANPADS. Infact they where being attacked by full blown vehicle launched SAMS. The SAMs seemed extremely advanced, where able to camo themselves in the jungle and strike within 4 seconds of spotting French planes. French planes that flow lower would find themselves being struck at by AZP S-60s, which could strike up to 20,000 ft in the air.

Their own artillery and camo vehicles where being countered by the SAR's, which had weapons that seemed to be of Chinese make. None of these battles would be close range, instead having long range battles with French postions. While these battles where going on, SAR minesweeping teams, being providing advanced equipment to find and disable mines, would try and slowly remove the minefields the French had placed.

At the end of all this, the SAR would find itself boosted, as a large amount of foreign troops, Chinese volunteers, began arriving in The Republic of the Congo and making their way towards the CAR. They totaled 25,000 in all and would be a huge boon to the socialist forces.

[New Metropolitan France]

The socialists had made a terrible mistake when they opted to wait and build up their forces instead of immediately rushing the perimeter with the bulk of their forces. Katakpo would be attacked using laser-guided bombs, while cluster munitions drop on the forest near the sources of artillery. In Sosso, the French made no effort to pursue the rebels so long as they fled back into the perimeter and not beyond it. They would allow the socialists to use their artillery fire on the remaining 3,000, filming and recording sounds of the event for propaganda purposes. Brave French medics attempting to save the wounded, and French military forces loading them into AFVs for evacuation, would be highlighted. The propaganda, being broadcast on every media platform (and in print, given the lack of internet/television/radio coverage), would also produce an image of the pocket the socialists were pinned into and highlight the fact it was being surrounded by a growing minefield with forest also being cleared to make attempts to cross it a kill-zone.

They had played into France's hands. As they took their weeks to grow their forces within the narrow pocket, France could continue to hasten the flood of their own forces in via the airports at Bangui and Berbérati and move quickly across the country. The strength of French troops would be up to 25,000 soon, and with support from the anti-balaka this would grow further. Within days France had secured almost a quarter of the country's population; now the provider of food, medicine, and security this would be a valuable tool. The Confederation would now sponsor the formation a political front with like-minded factions; the Coalition of National Independence and Protection. The CNIP would publish a manifesto declaring a vision for the future of a country which is not dependent upon transnational corporations, but instead on domestic successes.

Highlights of the Manifesto

Eradication of human trafficking and modern slavery.
Expulsion of armed SAR, HCA, and CAC forces from the CAR.
Local autonomy for regions outside of urban centers on most issues other than security and basic civil/political rights.
Support for smallholder farmers, including protection of land and guaranteed price system.
Nationalization of mining enterprises under control of the people, all surplus revenue being distributed as a universal basic income.
Free education and medical care (including immunization) for all young people in safe zones established across the country.

Claims related to past protection of corruption in areas where the French Confederation had intervened is thoroughly debunked - the installation of the FFM in Mauritania after the past government was totally destroyed, the trials of the Khmer Rouge, the fall of the Persian Gulf Union and emergence of independent Persia are among the examples held up as evidence that this is a foreign-spread lie.

[New Metropolitan France]

Governing and Elections

The French Confederation has pledged their support for the idea of elections in allied areas of the CAR to be held within a year and half, with a new Ministry for Electoral and Constitutional Affairs being based in Bangui. As part of these responsibilities, the Ministry has sent out envoys to the various anti-balaka groups and local leaders of villages, towns and cities to form an interim government under the broad ideals of the CNIP. Municipal elections in Bangui itself will occur within 6 months, for a local government to form, however this will not have authority over the rest of the country as such responsibilities are to be decided only after the full elections which will come later. 10,000 Confederation troops have been deployed between Bangui and Bambari as logistics for this, with initial reliance on anti-balaka participants to provide security further west for the time being.

Over the six month period since the formation of the CNIP, the Ministry of Reconstruction and Development was also formed. The Ministry will oversee the spending of aid and what funds can be appropriated from function areas of national budgets into building schools, medical facilities, and repairing damage to areas scared by the conflict. Officials from this Ministry are also sent out across the country to meet with locals and discuss their most pressing needs - whether it be infrastructure, healthcare, education, sanitation, or even availability of food and water.

Confederation troops also now occupy the former HCA territories, as HCA troops moved into the DRC over the last several months prior to their extinction.

Socialist Pocket

French Confederation forces have continued to pour into the CAR over the last several months, as forces previously deployed in Mauritania are rotated into central Africa. They bring with them armored battle groups, towed artillery, fighter aircraft, AWACs, electronic warfare aircraft, SAMs, and AFVs. Now, in March 2023, the full fury of the Seventh Republic would be unleashed.

France has launched an ambitious Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) campaign to bring the socialist forces to their knees, involving electronic warfare capabilities the likes of which have never been before attempted by the Seventh Republic. The effort, comprised of 15 Growler aircraft alternating radar jamming frequencies to take into account attempts by their enemy to diversify their signals. Alongside these measures, aircraft selected for the strike mission were chosen due to their excellent electronic warfare and infrared countering abilities. Alongside 25 Rafales and 40 F-22 jets designed to minimize such emissions, the 60 French Valkyrie fighters and Griffon Vulture fighter-bombers employ Directional Infrared Counter Measures and flares to spoof enemy targeting systems. As the armada of allied aircraft neutralize main SAM sites, AA guns, and any identifiable command and control facilities, by means of anti-radiation missiles the other fighter aircraft move in support to defend against any enemy airborne threats. Should this first stage proceed without any unforeseen challenges [OOC: right of response as the military would call back this second force if the first wave suffered high losses and perhaps stall the ground offensive] 25 UI-92 bombers move in carrying their deadly payload of 64,000 pounds of thermobaric ordinance, arriving on target while the electronic warfare and infrared blanket was in effect. The lone bastion of communism in the CAR would soon turn into a burning deathtrap for socialist troops trying to hide within, leaving them with nowhere to hide. Nola and other towns within the area would not be bombed indiscriminately however - these would only receive strikes, of a precision targeted nature, if SAM launchers/AA guns were present.

Between 1,000 and 1,500 anti-balaka militiamen have joined with 1,228 Canadian volunteers to work with 45,000 Confederation troops in rooting out the socialist pocket. As the bombs and missiles begin to fall from the skies, French artillery open fire on the areas immediately adjacent to the perimeter. Once combat engineers evaluate any possible obstacles to the advance, the infantry begin to march into the [now greatly thinned due to the airstrikes and artillery] forested socialist area. A further force of 60 armored vehicles begin to move along the RN10, again dependent on clearing of any obstacles beforehand.

A further 10,000 troops and armored units are deployed along the southern border regions of the anti-balaka/French controlled sectors of the CAR - with the DRC and the Republic of Congo. Any large scale effort to launch further incursions would be more swiftly repulsed, and denied mobility as the only alternative to facing the armored battalions on the roads and clearings would be through the tough terrain unsuited for movement of supplies and weapons.

ICC front

No major offensives have been launched against the ICC, although any attempt by them to launch offensives of their own against coalition-controlled CAR would face severe retribution.

[New Metropolitan France]

Despite the loss of eleven Confederation aircraft during the strike mission, and approximately one hundred and fourteen troops on the ground, the socialist presence in the CAR had been brought to an end. Now, the Confederation could prepare to turn its attention upon the ICC. Leaving 15,000 troops to garrison the regions formerly controlled by the socialist rebels and the CAR's borders, the remaining 40,000 troops will be redeployed to engage the ICC. The bulk of this force will set out from a staging area near Bambari to make the 137 mile journey to the enemy-held city of Bria. The French Air Forces, rearmed after their successful strikes in the south, also begin to harass ICC operations in the north and along the border with Sudan.

The French Government has also instructed their Ambassador to Zackaroth inform the Near East Accord ally of concerns that the ICC might begin to spill over into Sudan.

[Puertollano]

ICC

The Islamic Caliphate were in a disadvantageous position against the French. After having been routed several times already, all they had control over was the east of the broken country. The sparsely populated east, with an even limited Muslim population was not an ideal location to be fighting in. It had loose control over the territory it somehow claimed to control and there was very limited capacity for the Mullah's to enforce any kind of Islamic Law on the majority non-Muslim population. The tactics they used instead were that of fear and casual and deliberate ignorance of common crimes. The brutal Islamic police would sometimes arrive to ensure complicity, but mostly looking for valuables and more manpower in the coming battles.

The rough border between the French and ICC was sabotaged. Hand-made explosives were buried under the soil to erupt like a land-mind, hand grenades dangled from trees hoping to catch an unsuspecting French soldier. Most roads between the two sides were sabotaged too, with roads being ripped up or blown up. These sabotages to the border were not well-placed or planned, however. For a great deal of the border, you could simply walk through without being tripped up. However, for some unlucky French soldiers, that would be their fate. Many of these ICC operatives would kill themselves while planting these traps too. The ICC top of command reported at least 30 casualties from failed bomb making, ICC operatives standing on their own mines and other traps. That was a cost they were ready to afford.

To continue to perpetual war, a fighting force of 300 ICC militants prepared their attack on the city of Bambari. To avoid detection, they wore plain clothes of civilians and attempted to scatter unnoticed into the French side. Their mission, if successful in breaking past the border, was to re-group in an attack on the city. With help of sleeper cells in the city, they would ambush French military convoys, attempt to capture public buildings and banks. A few in particular, defying the orders of the ICC command, led their attack on civilians in the city. They would target Christian gatherings, churches, a primarily non-African/White crowds suspected of French origin. They would do all of this was very low grade weaponry, like outdated assault rifles, hand-made explosive devices, a few had outdated rocket launchers with very limited ammunition.

If the battle were to be a failure, which the ICC very much prepared for, the remaining ICC units would flee the city with us much as they could. Especially the units which assaulted banks, in an attempt to steal valuable goods. For the units not involved in the bank robbery, they would loot goods from peoples homes, storefronts etc. It would be a very dirty battle.

[The Union of British North America]

Operation Cyclone

With the situation in Central Africa entering a tense and precarious phase and the balance of power shifting in favor of the socialist insurgents and a possible humanitarian crisis due to a terrorist group on the horizon if not dealt with in a sweeping manner, Whitehall and the MOD agreed upon a campaign to kill two birds with one stone, as the expression goes. The Islamic Caliphate in the Congo region poses the most obvious, direct, and urgent threat to the safety of civilians and of broader global security against terrorism. Therefore, the United Kingdom will send a force of 20,000 infantry, light armored reconnaissance, and armored units to aid the French ground forces present there, via Bangui. A squadron of Tornado GR1 IDS will also assist to provide air support to the Anglo-French forces. The ICC will be in even greater dire straits. HM Government supports the Seventh Republic's manifesto and promises to ensure justice for those victimized by modern day slavery and human trafficking.

The other issue, the socialist insurgent group, has the potential of upsetting the balance of power among the great powers of the world in the long run. A group fighting the socialists, the HDMC, is holding out against the group but requires provisions, weapons, and other supplies to have better chances. SAS and SIS operatives in the region, with their European and other nationality counterparts, will initially aid the HDMC with several tons of provisions, about 200 Mk. III helmets, FN FNCs (200), FN FALs (500), and enough ammunition for three months. If need be, some more will be sent via airdrop or by convoy of neutral and friendly nations.

[New Metropolitan France]

Removed.

[New Metropolitan France]

Conflict

It was clear that the ICC was fighting two wars at once - a conventional armed force holding territory, and an unconventional infiltration-insurgent force. The French would adapt to fight both.

On the conventional front, the Confederation was aware of the risk posed by ICC anti-aircraft positions. Consequently, they decide to utilize mortars and artillery, opening fire on SAM sites and AA weaponry if they can be tricked into exposing their position by trying to attack jets sent on brief incursions into contested areas as bait. Once they have attacked an exposed AA site, the European artillery is towed away to avoid enemy retaliatory counter-artillery. Even then however, the ICC would be made to expect French response in kind by way of drone and cruise missile attacks upon those sites almost immediately from above. Coalition troops who had been preparing to depart Bambari for the advance towards Bria are further re-routed by splitting into smaller detachments and tasked with launching an encirclement of the surrounding area to prevent any enemy resupply or reinforcements to the insurgent teams. Two armored brigades ensure that heavy fire support is always a short distance away from any engagement on the main roads.

Meanwhile, a force of special forces is deployed to conduct anti-terror activities in the towns and cities which are located along the frontline. Bambari and all cities under CNIP jurisdiction are organized into judicial districts for patrols by police and internal security militia formed to act as a police force - applicants are thoroughly vetted, and most volunteers would likely be from the Christian majority. These police forces would not be deployed as active combatants, or to Muslim-majority neighborhoods, instead acting only in urban centers to provide order. A media campaign is also launched, offering the public the opportunity to suggest ideas for a new constitution.

Together with the relaunching of the advance by conventional forces, it is hoped that the enemy forces can continue to be squeezed out of the CAR.