A New Imperialism (ATTN: San Espara; semi-closed)

[Imperial Domtopia]

"...and quite clearly, this small strip of land would be of enormous strategic, military importance as well, giving us access to open sea and connecting our island, should we successfully obtain it (viewtopic.php?f=4&t=58654). Our recommended course of action is partial mobilisation and preparing for an invasion if San Espara does not hand over the territory."

Chancellor Albert August finished listening to General Thomas Kusch's presentation regarding a vital piece of territory currently under the jurisdiction of San Espara as the lights came back on. "Is there any situation, General Kusch, in which your recommended course of action would not involve undertaking a full scale military invasion?" There was a chuckle around the room, though General Kusch looked indignant.
"With all due respect, sir-"
"Your respect is unnecessary, General. Unless there is something else, you may go."

The General left the room shaking his head at the Chancellor's behaviour for at least the 50th time in his career. The rest of the Chancellor's advisers finished their presentations and August dismissed them for lunch break. August himself satisfied his hunger with a Mars bar and glass of scotch and went to his rather large office to write the message to San Espara leadership. Once inside, he couldn't help admiring its luxury (much more so than his own home where he basically only went to sleep)- built into a stunning Renaissance villa, August had decorated it with priceless paintings and sculptures over his nearly 2 decades as Chancellor.

He sat behind his enormous desk and began to write, longhand, as was his custom, even if the practice might be frowned upon in the international community.



February 1st, 1974

Leaders of San Espara,


There is a small area of land our government is interested in. It lies in the south-southeast of your country and connects our country to the open sea. The small strip of land runs 56km north to south and 12km east to west and would be a vital area for our country as it would give us access to the sea and greatly increase our shipping routes. We have our hearts set on obtaining this area and would be willing to buy it from you for the price of 62 million dollars. All the best wishes and may our nations cooperate in the future.

-Albert August, Chancellor


August knew the letter was just a formality- an insult, really, hence the pathetic price. He did sincerely want a diplomatic solution, but knew it was unattainable. He went next door to fax the letter (August pointedly refused to house any modern machinery in his office) and then gave the order for partial mobilisation along the north-northeastern border.


OOC: Telegram me or San Espara for involvement.

[San Espara]

Sheppard’s Creek
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

Captain Steven Trent watched as his 3rd Platoon, with help from three combat enginners, dug their fighting positions atop a small hill overlooking Tavern Green, a small hamlet with one of only two bridges that crossed Sheppard’s Creek. Sheppard’s Creek was more like a small river that ran the width of the Madric Strip and it lay just one kilometer inside the border. Twelve meters wide and six to ten deep for most of its length, the Creek was a natural barrier and the ideal location of the San Esparan garrison to establish their first line of defense. The Madric Strip, 56 km long and 12 wide (for a total of about 700 square kilometers had been a San Esparan Crown Dependency since its seizure from Domtopia in the War of 1904. The Strip was home to just over 10,000 residents, less than 500 of who claimed San Esparan citizenship. A small garrison, a reinforced infantry battalion, ensured the Strip’s independence. The Strip itself was of little concern to the Commonwealth, already most of the 500 San Esparan nationals that lived there, mostly for work, had flown back to the Commonwealth. However, the port city of Haytown was of interest to His Majesty’s Government. The Commonwealth’s only port on the North Sea, it was an excellent location for the North Atlantic Squadron’s base.

The Foreign Office had sent a rather tersely worded rejection of the Domtopian’s insulting “offer” for the Strip earlier that morning and the Prime Minister, with the backing of Parliament, ordered the Royal Army to make preparations to repel any Domtopian annexation attempt by force.

The Strip’s permanent garrison, the 8th Garrison Battalion, had already deployed from their bases and began to fortify the northern bank of Sheppard’s Creek. Additional Royal Army units, the 2nd Airmobile Brigade and elements of the Kentford Reegiment (Motorised INfantry) chief among them, had already began to arrive. In addition, a battalion sized task force of the 1st Armoured Brigade had begun to arrive to man the equipment stored in the North Atlantic Prepositioning Depot (some thirty M60A2 tanks, forty M113 APCs, and six M109 self propelled howitzers). The massive C-141s were landing at a rate of twenty an hour, under the watchful eye of Royal Navy F-15s flying from the carrier HMS King Andrew.

The 8th Battalion’s mission was to delay any Domtopian advance into the Strip long enough for the arriving reinforcements to establish their defense and prepare a counterattack.

“Captain, 1st Platoon reports that they’ve completed their fighting positions and are now emplacing their mines.” Trent was snapped out of his day dreaming by the status report from his XO, 1st Lieutenant Ivan Suarez.

“Very good, XO. I trust that racket earlier was Daniels’ boys sighting in their 60s on the far bank?”

Suarez nodded his assent. “Si Captain, they’ve sighted in on the most likely approaches. We’re spread thinner then we’d like. Three clicks is a lot of ground to cover for one company, but most of the creek banks are too steep to allow for easy crossing, we can cover them with periodic Ops and arty fire. If the Dommies are gonna cross in our AO it’ll either be here at Tavern Green or the shallow water at OBJ Emerald. We’ll make these little shits pay in blood if they want to cross a river held by Trent’s Tigers.”

Trent couldn’t help but smile at the nickname his men had adopted. “Let’s see about those AT teams Battalion sent over. I think we can put some TOW launchers to good use.”


OP Golf
Hill 301
Domtopian-Madric Border

The 8th Battalion’s Scout Platoon had slipped across Sheppard’s Creek shortly before the rest of the battalion had arrived to begin digging in. The scouts had established three small Ops overlooking the most likely border crossings in the Madric Strip. Fearing the worse, the Madric government had withdrawn its Border Guards from their posts. This left the Scout Platoon as the eyes and ears of the whole of Battle Group Madric. For now they would watch and wait for the beginning of the war they didn’t want but fully expected to fight.

[Imperial Domtopia]

"Wha- what? Why did you do that? How could you start dragging us into...." The Prime Minister shouted. The scene was the office of the Chancellor, who was sitting behind his desk and gazing partially into the blazing fireplace and partially at the Prime Minister.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't take that tone with me, Mr. Bauer."
The Prime Minister couldn't believe his ears. "I'll take whatever tone I want with you. Especially when you go playing Empire-builder while I'm away! Completely behind my damn back! I'm working my ass of to diplomatically obtain territory and there you are, war-mongering! This is going to ruin this government!"
"That's quite enough, Mr. Bauer. Just last month you were telling me how your days as Prime Minister were nearing an end. My days as Chancellor are as well. What is there to lose?"
Again, the Prime Minister was amazed by the man's gall. "Nothing to lose?" He repeated quietly.
"Nothing to lose politically, my good sir. As to the soldiers that will die in the process, they're nothing more than a resource. Ah, don't look at me as if I were cruel and cold. I'm merely being honest. These men signed up to fight, defend and obey. Our society never respected the warrior much, and I don't either. Their profession is the lowest of the low. I don't have contempt for them any more than I have contempt for janitors."
"Nothing to lose politically?"
"Of course not; not if you don't make it public that the two levels of government are in conflict with each other again. That would be the scandal. Other than that, what are you afraid of? Leaving behind a poor legacy? Such vanity in our politicians. Read Marcus Aurelius; he speaks the truth about such matters-"
"Goddammit, I want to know what we're going to do now! Not only did you go behind my back, but you basically gave the enemy the head start. Why?"
"Why not? Did you know that President Andrew Jackson allowed a man to fire upon him first during a duel? If a man in such a position with so much to lose can afford to do that, surely we can."




February 2nd, 1974

The orders began coming in to units of the 3rd and 4th Guerrilla Division stationed in the region of Minor Panopia- the entire 11.94km border between Domtopia and the Madric Strip was within this region at 0600. These troops, who hadn't seen combat in nearly two months and then it had been a couple of rag-tag separatist rebels with AK-47s, were now being moved 25km north, toward the Madric border. About 1600 guerrilla fighters were brought to a large clearing in a forest about 10km from the banks of Sheppard Creek. Soon, General Kusch arrived along with the young General Verilla Jr. (son of former Prime Minister Augusto Verilla ) who now headed the Guerrilla Corps. Also present was General John Novy, commander of the Domtopian Air Force.

The arrangements for bombardment of the river area had already been made and would commence at 0730. Planes carrying Agent Orange and even napalm would fly over the river in an attempt to create confusion. Of course, they would produce few casualties since the troops could simply take cover in the water, but hopefully it would have the intended effect of creating some chaos. The guerrilla troops had a similar purpose- their primary modus operandi in this battle would be sabotage. By the time the paratroopers were sent in on the opposite bank and the primary invasion force came in (hopefully, the guerrilla troops would have set up some permanent positions on the Domtopian side of the river in the hopes of surrounding the defensive line) a good amount of their artillery and anti-tank weapons would be destroyed. General Kusch watched from a slightly elevated plateau near the clearing as the first planes came in. The guerrilla troops began to move forward through the dense forest.

[San Espara]

8th Garrison Battalion HQ
Three kilometers north of Sheppard’s Creek
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

Lieutenant Colonel Sir Ian Norris, call sign “Panther Six“, was most unhappy. The Battalion CP had been forced to take refuge in their fighting positions once RAF AWACS had detected the inbound Domtopian planes. Already Fleet Air Arm (FAA) F-15Ns and RAF F-16s were being scrambled to protect the staging areas further north. The 8th would have to make due without air cover for now, Norris understood the need to protect the still mustering reinforcements, but that didn’t mean he liked it.


Alpha Battery, 4th Air Defence Artillery Battalion
Ten kilometers north of Tavern Green

Captain Carlos Montoya’s Battery Command Post (BCP) was currently located in a hastily constructed bunker one kilometer from his six M303s. The M303 was a four round SIM-7 “Ground Sparrow” SAM launcher mounted on a five ton truck chassis. The battery’s radar set was located on a hill 600 meters away. The dispersion meant that the entire battery would be hard to destroy in a single strike. As the Domtopian planes entered the Sparrows’ 20 km range the battery rippled off a salvo of twenty-four SAMs.


Charlie Company, 8th Garrison Battalion
Tavern Green
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

Trent watched as the first of the incoming planes dropped its napalm on the company positions. Fortunately, the company’s well built bunkers and fighting holes kept much of the napalm out and casualties were minimized. The bigger problem was the annoying fires cropping up around the battalion positions, proper use of fire extinguishers helped to minimize that threat. The next wave planes brought something more unpleasant.

Trent’s radio crackled as 3rd Platoon’s CO reported in. “Charlie Six, Charlie Three One - Foxfire, I repeat Foxfire! We got fucking gas out here!”

Trent’s frowned deepened, “Foxfire” was the San Esparan military’s code word for the deployment of chemical weapons by an opposing force. He grabbed the mic and broadcast a reply. “All Panther Units, Charlie Six - Foxfire, say again Foxfire in my sector. All units go to MOPP One. Over.”

Throughout the 8th Battalion lines troops donned their gas masks and sealed their MOPP gear. The NDI had reported that Domtopian was known to possess chemical weapons and as such all troops in Madric had been outfitted with Level One MOOP gear. Luckily the mild climate of the region made wearing the oppressive suits almost bearable. Chemical weapons were of limited effectiveness against properly trained and equipped troops but they made things much more difficult then normally would be.


Scout Platoon, 8th Garrison Battalion
The Madric Strip - Domtopian Border

The Scouts continued to watched the heavily wooded border area for any sign of Domtopian troops.


His Majesty’s Madric Artillery
Ten kilometers north of Sheppard’s Creek
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

The Madric Artillery, an independent artillery battery attached directly to the 8th Battalion, consisted of nine M109 105mm towed howitzers. As word of the Domtopian air strikes, reached the HQ of the San Esparan Forces - Madric Strip (SEF-MS), the artillery received orders to prepare to engage any Domtopian troops that crossed into the Strip.

[Imperial Domtopia]

The air strike lasted less than half an hour in total and did what it had intended to do. As the San Esparan troops were fixing the damage, a number of guerrilla troops attempted to covertly cross the river. A large number were forced to retreat and some were gunned down in the shallows but they managed to break through at two locations and cause some hit-and-run damage to artillery. In the chaos, a few of the troops managed to escape back to the Domtopian bank of the river and merge with the attacking force getting ready over the hill just some 400m down the shore. Some of the guerrilla troops managed to stay on the Madric bank and penetrate the forest, setting up disorganised sniper nests. A number were confronted by San Espara troops who tried to take them prisoner; at this point, the cheap trick of using a fake detonator to hold the troops hostage in a supposed suicide-surrender until they were allowed to cross the bank back to their own side. The professional forces of San Espara caught on to this trick pretty quickly but it did cause some distractions, allowing a few guerrillas to escape. In all, probably less than 50 of the 1600 deployed were shot.


February 1st, 1974, 0913 hours

General Kusch stood on top of the hill overlooking the river, gazing through a pair of binoculars at the action, shielded by a small number of M48 Pattons that made up the secondary line of armoured vehicles. Old Shermans, looking more in place at a military museum than on a battlefield, made up the front line. The force, however, was primarily infantry-based as was typical with Domtopian military operations. Most of the men wore gas masks and carried M16s. A number of soldiers wore heavy coats and carried either flame-throwers or some sort of chemical spray guns. Closing up the rear of the primary invading force were the Howtizers of inconsistent models, most of them purchased in the early 1960s.

General Kusch was waiting for the order to advance across the small bridge, which should have come 13 minutes ago. The bridge was about half a click down the river from the moderately well-defended shallows where most of the saboteurs had been deployed. The bridge was guarded but not as well as the 2 main ones, mostly because San Espara didn't think a large size military force could effectively cross it. Mostly, they were right- the old bridge was half-collapsed and originally intended for horse-drawn wagons, not for cars or trains, much less tanks which it most surely could not support. However, the air strikes focused primarily on the area around the small bridge and the shallows and, hopefully, the Domtopian invading force could use the dissaray to their advantage. Still the orders to invade did not come. "Sir, we've just recieved a message from the Chancellor." Suddenly came the voice of Colonel Radimsky, "He says to hold of the invasion."
"WHAT?" Kusch was jerked back into reality. "What the hell do you mean hold it back?"
"He said we should wait-"
"For what? For them to re-organise and call in air-support?"
"He wants to wait until the paratroo-"
"Colonel, if we don't attack now, there won't be any FUCKING PARATROOPERS!" Kusch yelled.
"Sir, I'm merely reporting the Chancellor's-"
"Go! You're dismissed!"

Within 15 minutes, a batallion of Domtopian infantry was swiftly and professionally crossing the broken down bridge, firing at the San Esparan troops who were asking for artillery fire and returning the automatic fire. Too late for the howitzers to get the condensed target now. The first wave of soldiers had made it across, mostly unscathed and had managed to clear the area, although reinforcements were clearly arriving. Domtopian artillery fire banked off the Madric side of the river bank, mostly to keep them on their toes rather than in the hope of hitting something. This minor delay allowed the second wave of soldiers- this one carrying flamethrowers and chemical sprays - to cross supported, this time, by fire from the tanks as well. A few hundred metres down the river, the remaining guerrilla forces attempted a second cross at the shallows.

By noon, the cooling effect of the water was lost in the midst of the battle and it was almost hot- partially because of the growing forest fire. The battle had reached a stalemate, at least that is, in the area where it existed. Domtopian infantry set up positions mostly around, on and under the old bridge which had collapsed completely now, creating several floating islands of debris on the water that were ideal positions as well as the trees. They had succeeded in pushing back San Espara a couple metres at least after sending in the chemical weapons and flame-thrower-armed soldiers which is what set the forest ablaze on the Madric side, driving enemy forces out into the open or to more remote parts of the forest and causing some damage to equipment. The wet conditions would put the fire out eventually, but it seemed destined to burn for at least a few days unless some unexpected rain came in. Although San Espara's trenches were effective, they were not in good positions to attack the Domtopian positions which is what had created the stalemate. The battle consisted of mostly blind artillery fire from shore to shore, rarely with any effect except for the occasional ditch or pile of debris being blown apart, destroying a position or Domtopian machine gun nest.


The paratroopers were yet to be seen by 1300 hours.

[Imperial Domtopia]

bump

[San Espara]

Bridge Echo
Sheppard's Creek
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

The infantry platoon covering the bridge allowed the first couple waves of Domtopian infantry to cross the dilapidated bridge before triggering the demo charges fixed to the decrepit supports and sending the bridge, and anyone on it, tumbling into the ten meter deep water below.

With the first two waves effectively trapped on the wrong side of the river, they called for artillery and hunkered down. Soon volleys of WP and HE rounds began to fall on the enemy troops.

Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm A-6D Intruder
Call Sign "Razor Four"
Approaching Sheppard's Creek

The Intruder, one of three launched from the King Andrew and under the protection of four F-15Ns, appraoched the heated battle near Bridge Echo and released it's deadly cargo. Four M107 cluster bombs dropped from the plane's belly and split opem ,disgorging hundreds of lethal submunitions to shower the Domtopians with death.

Task Force 21.4
Fifty nautical miles NE of Haytown

Of the seven ships in TF 21.4, three were armed with the new AGM-303A Hatchet cruise missile. The Hatchet was based o nthe populat Tomahawk cruise missile and used satellite terrain maps to navigate to its targets with pinpoint accuracy. Fleet Targeting Command had spent the past four days preparing detailed TERCON maps of the Madric Strip and Domtopian border regions and were now ready to strike. A total of twenty-four Hatchets were fired from their Armoured Box Launchers (ABLs) and sped towards Domtopian airspace at Mach 1.05. The missiles were targeted at military installations, power plants, airports, and factories throughout Domtopia.

It was time to bring the war to the enemy's heartland. The Domtopian was known to hold the lives of its soldiers in low regard, but the Combined Staff was confident that the Domtopian people were less than willing to have the war brough to their own doorsteps.

RAF Rabat
San Esparan Morroco

Even as the first salvo of cruise missiles raced towards Domtopia, the follow up strikes were being prepared. Twelve B-52G strategic bombers, each loaded with twenty air lauchned AGM-303B cruise missiles, were lifting off for the long flight around the Iberian Pennisula to the Madric Strip. Once there the bombers would deliver another 240 cruise missiles to Domtopia. Even more follow on strikes would be launched as needed.

The RAF would take Domtopia apart building by building if need be.

Haytown Airport
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

Every plane bringing reinforcements and supplies into the Madric Strip was carrying refugees out. Already some 3,000 people, mostly women and children had been evacuated, with more leaving every hour. The RAF expected to have the bulk of the Strip's noncombatant population withdrawn within three days.

[Imperial Domtopia]

February 1st, 16:00



"What this comes down to, General, is you disobeying a direct order. There is no pleading ignorance, no justification."
"Sir-"
"NO!" Chancellor August yelled at General Kusch suddenly. The scene was August's office and the Chancellor was dangerously furious. "As commander in chief, I relieve you of duty. Dishonourable discharge. Leave my office, please, and don't ever let me see you again."
"For God's sake, sir! What exactly was your plan? Let our army stand there uncovered and get bombed?"
"Mr. Kusch, you can be glad I will not press criminal charges for reckless endangerment and it would be war crimes if this was an official war. General Verilla Jr. will take your job for the time being."
"Mr. August, I speak to you as-"
"I thought I told you to leave my damn office!"
"Mr. August,"
"Security, please!"

General Kusch left on his own accord in the end, slamming the door shut. The paratroopers had been called back and August had hoped to stall this war for a little bit until a strategic bombing of the Madric Strip could be carried out. Within minutes, reports of San Espara bombers came and August was once again furious. He went on a rare verbal rampage in front of his entire staff.

"I'll have their balls for this, I swear to God!" He was yelling over the occasional explosion heard from the bombing of central Domtopia some mere miles away. "These are bloody civilian targets they're hitting! That's a war crime! An outrage! I'll have their balls!" he repeated, "Oh, I have them now!" he seemed utterly insane. "Robert!" he barked at the Defense Minister.
"Yes, sir?" The middle-aged, calm bespectacled man replied.
"Send an ultimatum to San Esparan leadership- make sure to sign it as defense minister so they know we're not screwing around with foreign affairs anymore. Tell them to immediately cease bombing of Domtopia or we'll be forced to take legal international action and retaliate. Bombing is to occur in the Madric strip and the Panopian border only. God help them if they damaged any of our historical sites."

Meanwhile, the army was in disarray, the rumour of Kusch's dishonourable discharge had spread and the public and media also began waking up to the news of the war (especially the ones near bombing targets). Air force commander John Novy was preparing 400 bombers to undertake a campaign of bombing strategic civilian locations in San Espara. He wasn't particularly happy about the terrorism, and hoped that the B-47s wouldn't have to leave ground that day.

[San Espara]

Office of Prime Minister
Government House
Landing, San Esparan Home Islands

The televised broadcast was on nearly every channel in the Commonwealth and opened with a shot of Prime Minister Lord Jeffery Hunt (The Sixth Early of West Hereford) seated at his massive oaken desk.

“My fellow San Esparans, I come to you tonight to report the status of our ongoing military operations in the Madric Strip. Ground forces of the Royal Army have met Domtopian troops in battle and have checked their aggression completely, inflicting heavy losses in the process. I share your outrage at the barbaric deployment of chemical weapons against out troops, but know that our forces are well prepared for such cowardly tactics. Even now additional forces are deploying to the Madric Strip, as the civilian populace is evacuated to. Rest assured that the Domtopians will pay in blood for every centimeter of Madric soil. As I speak the courageous men and women of the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force are taking the fight to the enemy’s homeland. With the blessing of Almighty God and by the courage of the San Esparan Soldier we will turn back this aggression. Thank you and God Save the King!”

With that Hunt ended his remarks and the networks cut to their pundits analysis of the speech.


Royal Air Force EC-130C
Call Sign “Loud Mouth”
Near Haytown, San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

The specially modified C-130’s powerful transmitters began to saturate the Domtopian military’s primary frequencies with the virulent propaganda.

“Soldiers of Domtopia: As you fight and bleed and die, the corrupt regime of Albert August grows fat and wealthy from the safety of his palaces. Your lives mean little to him, and your deaths even less. You are nothing but pawns in his game, however the stakes of this game are high. Even now he has sacked your commander for daring to question his foolish war. Even now he sneers at your sacrifice. Even now he drinks and feasts as your nation burns and your families suffer. Rise up Domtopia! Take back your country! The Commonwealth is not your enemy, Albert August is your foe! Strike him down and end your suffering.”


17th Bombardment Squadron
Off the coast of the Madric Strip

Even before the Bomb Damage Assessments of the first wave of cruise missile strikes were complete, the 17th Squadron launched its own onslaught. This salvo of missiles was ten times the size of the first and the targets were even more varied. Special attention had been given to Domtopian air bases and army garrisons. In addition, August’s personal residence and several key Domtopian government buildings were targeted as well. The strike would carried out late at night so as to minimize casualties amongst the civilian bureaucracy, but the message would be loud and clear. The Commonwealth could strike any target in Domtopia at will and would continue to do so as long as August continued the war. Additional targets were already being identified in case August failed to the get the message and required further persuasion.


Village of Stonewood
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

TF Iron, a mechanized battalion task force, had arrived at its forward positions outside of Stonewood shortly before dawn and began to dig in. Further to the northeast, a reinforced company from the Kentfords were establishing their own positions. The powerful mechanized units were poised to counter any Domtopian breakthroughs in the 8th Garrison’s lines. A thin screen of LRRP teams and local militiamen had been established to detect any such breakthroughs and call in air, artillery, and armored support to crush any “leakers”. Already other Special Forces teams and Madric partisans were operating behind Domtopian lines. Among their tactics were planting booby traps, calling in precise artillery and air strikes, sniping Domtopian soldiers (officers were a favored target), and picking off isolated groups of enemy troops.

[Imperial Domtopia]

February 2nd, 05:30


August had been moved from his own home to a bunker deep below the metropolitan part of Domat. He was reluctant to go and had a team of bodyguards dismantle his art collection and take it to a safe location. Nobody in the base quite had the guts to tell the nervous and explosive August the rest of his home had been reduced to rubble. The Prime Minister was down in the bunker too, full of I-told-you-so's that had drive August to pushing Prime Minister Bauer into a gun rack. That seemed to shut him up for a bit. August kept walking about muttering to himself occasionally a phrase becoming audible, "call us cowardly..... propaganda, two can play at that game..... goddamn religious fundamentalists.... fucking papers gonna be over my ass about this..."

"Get over here!" He shouted, finally, to nobody in particular. Several nearby people ran up to the Chancellor. "Send a nationally broadcast message- papers, television- about our position. Stress the terrorism of our enemies. Terrorism! We never engaged in stuff like that. Terrorism. Make sure that word is repeated; if I read the paper this evening and the word isn't in the statement at least 40 times, somebody is getting fired. Also, keep that son of a bitch Kusch out of the way. Knowing him, he'll try to ruin me by blabbering to the media. I'm sure half of you military cretins also want us to bomb them into oblivion. No. We're not going to do that. It's expensive, inhumane and makes us lose our political advantage over them. I explicitly order no bombing of San Esparan civilian or military infrastructure. Anybody who disobeys this order will be court-martialed and shot. Is that understood?

Next, I want a continual military presence around the Panopian-Madric border. We're not going across, they're not getting across. In fact, nobody is to fire upon them unless they fire upon us. We have ample time to set up defensive positions at least as good as theirs. Fuck it, let's bring back trench warfare. All our bases need to be covered, this is to be left up to the squadron commanders, I'm not trusting these goddamn 4-star bureaucratic hawk pricks anymore. Our bombers are ready in case something transpires. Meanwhile, all the military targets within Domtopia are at full alert with anti-aircraft guns ready?"

"Yes, sir" said a young, nervous-looking Lieutenant, "there is no chance of them causing significant damage to any of our bases unless they focused their efforts on just one-"
"And if they do?"
"Well, it would be ludicrous to expect us to defend-"
"I'll decide that. Tell me, what would happen if we were overwhelmed by an air attack at one location?"
"Well, there's a good chance we'd suffer significant damage, but so would their planes. Most of our bases are in mountainous regions with plenty of AA-"
"Yeah, yeah, that's fine," August said, apparently losing interest.




February 2nd, 07:00


On the Domtopian side of the bank of Sheppard's Creek, the soldiers were preparing for a long stay. Trenches were being dug and machine gun nests set up- the Domtopian side seemed better in terms of terrain for this kind of thing so hopefully San Espara's advantage in terms of men and firepower would be lessened by this fact. Their forest was still on fire in odd places and a lot of the burned trees now forced them to abandon their positions and return back after losing their cover. San Espara was pre-occupied with establishing new positions and only offered token assault-rifle fire at the Domtopian troops setting up camps. Soon, the anti-artillery guns began coming in. This left the troops well-covered for air-strikes but poorly prepared for enemy artillery; they just hoped it would take a while for the enemy to assemble. In the meantime, they had their own artillery.

Nobody in any position of authority was around and the positions and trenches set up by the river banks became a self-governing community by early evening that very night. It was a mystery to just about everybody where it all came from, but soon barbecue pits were grilling sausages and burgers and coolers with beer cans became commonplace.

[San Espara]

Sheppard’s Creek
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

All along the 8th Battalion’s lines a sigh of relief was breathed as the fighting began to peter out. The Domtopians seemed content to dig in across the river and to try and hold the small piece of the Strip they had seized. The 2nd Airmobile’s 1st Regiment had arrived at Sheppard’s Creek and went to work taking over the positions held by Charlie and Dog Companies (the western portion of the San Esparan lines, including the killing fields at Bridge Echo). 8th Battalion compressed its lines, allowing it to better concentrate its strength and decrease the chances of any Domtopian breakthrough attempt. The rest of the 2nd Airmobile and the mechanized units of TF Iron remained in reserve closer to Haytown.

Already the 6th Garrison Battalion was preparing to relocate from Morocco to the Madric Strip to further bolster the Sheppard’s Creek Line. In addition, the 6th Artillery Brigade was boarding planes to deploy from San Espara itself to provide additional indirect fire capabilities. If the Domtopians wanted to bog themselves down in trench warfare, the Royal Army would gladly oblige them.

[Imperial Domtopia]

February 9th, 1974



The stalemate continued and both sides were glad for the delay. Yet, each side continued to slowly reinforce so that if hell did break loose, it would be quite a bloodbath. The Doors were blasting full volume out of the transistor radios and the barbecue pits were still very much active. The machine guns, artillery and anti-aircraft guns were loosely manned and the men switched off about every half hour. Occasionally, each side would open a bit of fire when they saw somebody on the other side moving a little too openly but, at least on the Domtopian side, there had only been two deaths and about 14 injuries as a result of that over the past week- all of it at night.


The military leadership of the country was moving away from its previous state of disarray and planning elaborate attacks involving saboteurs, aerial bombing of Madric villages and paratroopers. Civilian leadership had not authorised any of it thus far.

In fact, Albert August was deep in thought most of the days, planning a way to get around a negotiation table- where he felt more comfortable- without appearing to be too quick to end the conflict and show weakness. In the end, on February 10th, his desire to make sense of this overcame his ego and he sent a rather rudely worded invitation for San Espara's Prime Minister to travel to Domtopia to discuss the war. He made a lot of stupid demands which made the letter- to his ego- seem less like a confession of despair.

[San Espara]

Headquarters, San Esparan Forces - Madric Strip
Haytown, San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

Major General Sir David Torres pored over the maps that covered his desk with gusto. The Madric Conflict, as the press was dubbing it, had slowed to a stalemate. The Domtopians seemed content to wage a low intensity form of trench warfare for now. This suited Torres just fine, the Commonwealth had no designs on Domtopian soil, nor was it overly concerned with retaking the small sliver of land south of Sheppard's Creek now held by Domtopian troops. His primary mission, as it had been all along, was to ensure the security of Haytown and the excellent port facilities there. To that end he had quite a force. In addition to the 2nd Airmobile Brigade, he had a task force from the 1st Armoured Brigade and two companies of motorised infantry. The 8th Garrison Battalion, now renamed the Madric Regiment, still held the north bank of Sheppard's Creek along with the newly arrived 6th Garrison Battalion. The 2nd Airmobile was now deployed closer to Haytown in well prepared defensive positions. Finally, the 6th Artillery Brigade had started flowing into the area and already one battalion of eighteen 155mm howitzers had been moved up to the front.

The Domtopian Chancellor, who many NDI analysts suspected of being mentally unbalanced, had sent a rather smug note to the Foreign Office calling for meetings in Domtopia. Of course, the Government had denied the request categorically and countered by insisting that any meeting occur in the Madric Strip.

[Imperial Domtopia]

As government leadership had expected (and August continually denied) the request for talks was bluntly rejected by San Espara. Without an outburst this time, August wasted no time and sent a reply back accepting a possible meeting and suggesting a small village- Shimonad- 16 km north of the Domtopian border. He had been consulting more and more with the Prime Minister after- grudgingly- apologising to him for the incident in the bunker. PM Bauer still disagreed with the mission but refused to comment on it publicly, which suited August's ambitions just fine. Bauer had agreed to discussing the war with the Chancellor as long as no more major acts of bloodshed (much less the flamethrower and gas attacks that occurred which Bauer, much to August's annoyance, referred to as "crypto-terrorism" privately).

The strategy that was agreed upon was straight out of the macrocosm of the cold war. Whenever San Espara would escalate their reinforcements, Domtopia would attempt to match it. They did this by recruiting civilians with Domtopian loyalties from inside of the Madric strip to spy on the transportation of military materiel and report back; of course, they couldn't get very close (and they didn't want to) and a few of them were even rumoured to have been caught, but it gave the Domtopian government a general idea of what was being brought into the area. The most recent import of 18 howitzers had been matched by the same amount of artillery (albeit 105mm). A bit of colder weather had settled in and the soldiers stationed in the trenches were more than glad to have something to do when each new artillery piece came in. Later, much to their relief, a shipment of coats, gloves and caps had arrived, distributed according to rank, which left a few dozen grunts shivering. They hoped for something to come out of the diplomatic talks, or, at least, some actual combat.

[San Espara]

Charlie Company, Madric Regiment
Tavern Green
San Esparan Crown Dependency of the Madric Strip

Captain Trent finished the last of his CFR (Combat Field Ration), informally know as “Crappy Fucking Rations” amongst the more profane San Esparan soldiers, and watched as the last of the trucks carrying his men cleared went over the ridge designated Hill 103. Trent was glad to be leaving the front, the company had suffered nearly fifty casualties, sixteen of them KIAs. Trent had just 115 combat effective troops out of the original 160, including attachments, he’d began the conflict with.

The 2nd Airmobile Brigade had relieved the two garrison battalion’s in place the day before and were settling into their new fighting positions. With three full infantry regiments, as well a regiment each of artillery (eighteen 105mm howitzers and six 155mm howitzers) and combat engineers, the 2nd Airmobile was able to establish a much more robust line along Sheppard’s Creek. A handful of battle hardened veterans from the Madric Regiment, including four from Charlie Company, had volunteered to stay behind to advise the newly arrived paras on the best ways to defend the river. In addition, all San Esparan special forces teams had snuck back across the river and were operating in support of the paras.

The Madric Regiment and the less bloodied 6th Garrison Battalion were redeploying to the rear where they would rest, refit, and reorganize into the newly formed Madric Brigade.


OOC: I’ll have an IC post regarding the talks in Shimonad up sometime tomorrow.

[Imperial Domtopia]

....all quiet on the Madric Front....

[San Espara]

**OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE**

TO: Chancellor Albert August
FROM: Prime Minister Lord Jeffery Hunt (The Sixth Earl of West Hereford)

RE: Madric Strip Hostilities

Dear Sir,

It has become apparent that your naked attempt to steal land that rightfully belongs to the Commonwealth has failed. Your troops are bogged down along Sheppard's Creek and more San Esparan troops flow into the Madric Strip by the hour. Any further hostile actions are futile. The Madric Strip has been a legal Crown Dependancy of the Commonwealth for 103 years and will remain so for as long as the citizens of the Strip desire our friendship and support.

To end the needless bloodshed, I offer the following terms:

*All territory south of Sheppard's Creek shall be ceded to Domtopia
*All Domtopian troops north of Sheppard's Creek are to be withdrawn
*Both San Espara and Domtopia will limit their garrisons in the Madric Strip to 4,000 soldiers and up to twenty combat aircraft
*Domtopia will pay reperations of US$50 million to compensate the Commonwealth for the land ceded and the costs incurred during your incursion
*Domtopia will receive access to the Port of Haytown for civilian shipping (subject to San Esparan customs regulations)
*Albert August is to step down as Chancellor immediately, however we will not require his extradition to San Espara

You have seventy-two hours to accept these terms or the Commonwealth will be forced to restart combat operations.

God Save the King

[San Espara]

Cabinet Room
Government House
Landing, San Esparan Home Islands

Jeffery Hunt’s frown deepened as the young Colonel giving the briefing wrapped up his presentation. Hunt had come under intense pressure from some of the more hawkish members of his own Conservative/Crown Loyalist Coalition in recent days as the Madric Conflict had mired into a stalemate. Many of the hawks were none too pleased at the terms the Government had offered the Domtopians, they demanded that the entire Strip be reclaimed, even the useless parts to the south. Hunt and the Party Whips had crushed their dissent before it became public, of course the backing of King Benjamin himself had helped immensely. This didn’t mean the hawks were happy by any stretch though.

“General Sanchez, is it the opinion of the Combined Staff that a counterattack is an inadvisable as Colonel Mitchell has stated?”

Sanchez nodded swiftly. “Yes My Lord. The Domtopians have had nearly three weeks to dig in along Sheppard’s Creek and the terrain to the south is well suited for defensive actions. It’s very hilly and that limits our armored units’ effectiveness. We enjoy a slim numerical advantage as best we can tell and have plenty of artillery support, but the Domtopians would be on the defensive with interior supply lines. We’ve already strained our own logistics because we have to move everything by air. Some of those issues will be relieved with the arrival of the Ro/Ros we dispatched two weeks ago, they’re carrying enough supplies to sustain our current force levels through two weeks of combat. That doesn’t mean I’d want to push our luck though. Our current defences should prove more than adequate to repel any Domtopian attack across the river. The paras are only improving their positions, with the arrival of cement mixers and concertina wire, that’ll make our lines even tougher to crack.”

Hunt studied his notes briefly before speaking again. “Very well General. We’ll maintain the stalemate while we await the reply to our terms. However, I want detailed plans prepared to eliminate that damned Domtopian salient at Bridge Echo and to secure the other side of the Tavern Green Crossing. If August doesn’t accept our terms, he may require further persuasion.”

[Imperial Domtopia]

Upon receiving the conditions laid out by San Espara on February 12, August's closest advisers expected another outburst, but the Chancellor merely nodded- his age was, for the first time in his life, starting to show. His 18 years as Chancellor had made him look his age of 66. After requesting another 600 troops to be moved from Domtopian bases to the defensive line, nobody quite wanted another attack and August could see that. He thought about the conditions and acted unilaterally, sending his message after 2 hours of deliberation.


To: San Espara
From: Imperial Domtopia
Re: Re: Madric Strip Hostilities


I have read your conditions and find that they are written in the tone of a request for surrender (albeit conditional). We are not surrendering and will accept to conditions that contain a Guilt Clause. We do, however, realise the cost of this war in terms of life and funds and do wish to end it. Therefore, we wish to send a counterproposal. As I do not consider my proposal an ultimatum, we resent your requests being written in such a manner. As a result, we ask that you withdraw your arbitrary 72 hour response time and instead discuss this like civilised people. Here are our conditions:


*The Madric Strip becomes an entirely demilitarised zone to not only limit, but entirely eliminate, the chance of further conflict.
*We are willing to pay so-called reparations at a maximum of $50 million depending entirely upon your acceptance or rejection of our other conditions.
*Domtopia would receive a small area of land along the coastline near Haytown that it could use as a port- we request 8.0 squared kilometres at least 1.0 of which run along the coast. The area would be autonomous Domtopian territory. If your offer of allowing Domtopian civilian shipping in Haytown still stands, we would extend you the same courtesy in this autonomous city-state.
*The Madric Strip excluding Haytown and the land we requested above (but including the small strip Domtopia gained during this conflict) would be considered an autonomous republic under neither country's control and free elections would take place. Domtopian and San Esparan immigration into the area would be limited and would have to be approved by both a Domtopian and San Esparan council on immigration in each individual case.
*Haytown and the area of land we request would both be forbidden from housing military personnel or equipment or constructing anything to be used as military material.
*We simply cannot accept your condition to meddle in our democratic system. Chancellor August will step down when his term ends in just over 2 years to allow another candidate to be democratically elected.
*Domtopia will issue an official apology for the use of chemical weapons if San Espara issues one apologising for the bombing of civilian targets.

-Signed, Albert August, Chancellor

[Tarsas]

tag to post

[San Espara]

**OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE**

TO: Chancellor Albert August
FROM: Prime Minister Lord Jeffery Hunt (The Sixth Earl of West Hereford)

RE: Madric Strip Hostilities

Dear Sir,

We are prepared to withdraw our timetable for a resolution and our demand for your resignation.

However, the Commonwealth will not cede control of Haytown or the Madric Strip north of Sheppard's Creek. We also maintain our insistence on the troop levels proposed earlier.

We awat your reply.


OCC: I know the post is shitty, but I felt a bump was needed.

[Imperial Domtopia]

"They've backed down on your withdrawal and they have agreed to allow more time for negotiations. Perhaps this situation can be relaxed now."
"And the bad news?" Chancellor August asked.
"They're not willing to cede any land."
"As could have been expected." The Chancellor sighed and leaned back.
"They are also unwilling to demilitarise the area."

August sat, thinking for a while. The aide fidgeted uncomfortably.
"You are dismissed," August said vaguely after a few minutes of this. He then decided to send a reply to San Espara. Relations were somewhat relaxed and the next few days would have to be very diplomatic. It would be an example of 'soft' policy.


To: San Espara
From: Imperial Domtopia
Re: Your offer

We believe we are justified in owning at least a part of the Madric Strip due to historical circumstances. Few of its civilians have citizenship in your kingdom and the strip is of no strategic importance to you. For us on the other hand, it is of enormous strategic importance and a large number of its citizens are Domtopian migrants. Given these circumstances, we are willing to pursue our aims quite aggressively, although a diplomatic solution is preferable to both of our sides. We, therefore, insist on the following circumstances:

- The Madric Strip must become an entirely demilitarised area to act as a buffer zone between our nations. Considering your history of attacking Domtopia, we would feel militarily threatened if any number of troops were stationed in the Madric Strip.
- We are willing to negotiate about area near the coast, but we do request territory independent of your Commonwealth for the purpose of civilian shipping. Our current request stands at 6.5 km2 of which 0.75 km runs along the shore.
- We are, in exchange for the land above, willing to back down on our request to make the Madric Strip autonomous.
- Our offer regarding the respective apologies of both sides still stands.

-Respectfully yours, Chancellor Albert August.

[Imperial Domtopia]

bump