Between the Hammer and the Anvil

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Worchy Frannerre Tafatu front


Colonial forces of Galra begin their invasion with mass air strikes targeting 25 miles within Frannerre bombing locations such as factories, military bases located on the Eastern border region and major rail stations.

Two strikes zones established one North one South into Frannerre,


Northern team 1: 60,000 light infantry, 60,000 standard infantry, 10,000 carabiners, 5,000 bike riders, 1200 field guns, 500 mortar artillery, 300 tankettes, 300 armored cars and 50 landships. Would cross the Northern borders of Frannerre, their main target will be to seize the provincial capital and destroy all Frannerri military forces. No quarter will be given. Coastal support with over 30 destroyers, 5 battleships, 10 super cruisers, 25 ironclad battleships and 40 corvettes would shell the coastal region of the province to support the invasion.


Southern team 1: 40,000 light infantry, 100,000 conscript infantry, 5,000 carabiners, 5,000 bike riders, 450 field guns, 200 mortar artillery, 200 tankettes, 200 armored cars, 20 landships. Cross into the Southern border their target being the major Frannerri military base in that province. Extreme force authorized including razing villages and towns to force civilians to flee West and cause congested travel conditions for Frannerri military forces.


Tafatu invasion Eastern border: 70,000 conscript infantry, 20,000 light infantry, 10,000 standard infantry. 5,000 dragoons, 10,000 carabineers, 200 field guns, 50 mortar artillery, 5,000 bike riders, 200 armored cars, 100 tankettes, 10 landships.

Biplane bombers to strike at Dorville hitting anything they can, troops will cross in destroying any resistance.

[callmedelta]

It was clear that the Franerri border forces were outmatched by the sheer apocalyptic army bearing down on them. The border was covered by Starforts, but these proved just as outdated against Galran guns as they did Kumo guns. Thankfully, Franerre had learned from her previous experience and divorced her defenses from the outdated forts. Instead, there were multiple trench lines of defense, designed to delay any invaders as long as possible. A strategy that may have worked, if not for the sheer weight of numbers on the Galran side. The first line of Standard Infantry was completely shattered before the end of the first day, and by then the second line of defense had already been breached in places. The third and final line, however, was manned by the Heavy Infantry, equipped with the newest of Lusatian rifles and domestic anti-tank guns. Those guns would score easy kills against the weak armor of the tankettes and armored cars, but the thick armor of the landships required multiple hits to reliably pierce -- an unreliable method, but the only one available to the Franerri forces. These Heavy Infantry knew this was the best chance they had at holding Galra back, even if it was no chance at all. All 31,250 Heavy Infantry, 6,250 Standard Infantry, and 825 Field Artillery would hold the line as long as they could manage. The line would be breached by the middle of the fourth day, but clean up operations would take until the end of the first week. 10,000 Standard Infantry and 1,750 Field Artillery would be able to retreat from the line, disorganized, the remaining Standard Infantry and Field Artillery casualties to the Galran onslaught.

The retreating forces would not get far. The brutality of the Galran army had done its job -- the roads were choked with civilians trying to flee the oncoming storm. Half of the retreating forces were caught and slaughtered by the Galrans. The remaining half wouldn't be able to take the roads, splitting off into the countryside to act as guerillas. This left Franerre open for the Galran Army, Franerre's mobilizing army taking too long to muster and were too spread out. Several large cities in eastern Franerre would be taken with so little resistance it may as well not have happened. As the Galrans drove deeper, however, they would encounter better and better organized Franerri resistance. They were still able to shatter several divisions, but the Franerri Army was holding longer and longer with each battle, losing less and less men each time. Worse for the Galrans, soon enough the Franerri Army would be able to sabotage their own infrastructure as they left. Rail lines tore up, roads blocked, bridges burnt. Anything to delay the Galrans as long as they could.

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Galran forces continued the advance Westward, aircraft would re arm and refuel for more bombing runs. General Hendrick Jameson bemoaned his counterpart getting a larger deployment than him going to the Eastern front and even his southern counterpart for what they received. But with Frannerre retreating from the border it mattered little.

His forces encountered fierce Frannerri resistance initially but demolished them after 4 days of intense fighting. Not willing to allow the delay, Jameson ordered the Northern forces to seize the coast and Northern section of Eastern Frannerre swiftly while the Frannerri army fled. Galran warships continued to hammer Frannerre ports destroying them and anything resembling a target.

Seized cities and towns swiftly fell without much resistance forcing Jameson to leave extensive vanguards. Galrans would order Frannerri men out into the streets and have them work on fall back defenses and forced them into tedious labors.

In the South Galran forces pushed deeper into Central Frannerre encountering better organized defenders but let their artillery and armored units deal with the touli trash as Jameson regularly called them.

A few days in and noticeable actions within Galran lines were pointing to guerillas and Frannerri underground fighters. Annoyed Jameson had several men and women in some of the Eastern towns of Frannerre hanged as retaliation.

"You will bend the knee and accept Galran occupation, or you will die. Look to their example, see them? I'll do children next." His threat held weight, he intended to break Frannerre before the end of the year and focus on his next campaign. Invading Elenria.

General Jameson of the Galran Colonial Army. Scourge of Frannerre and Tafatu.

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Galra's Eastern invasion of Frannerre yielded increased successes since it began, the 3 months since its beginning and nearly the entire Frannerri east was under Galran occupation. 


"Any Frannerri that resists shall be executed and killed" - Galran orders before entering a new area.

General Jameson continued his focus on capturing the Northern coast line, again forcing Frannerri men and boys to work on defensive positions behind them. He had come to treat the war like some sick sport, whatever Frannerre threw at him in the open was destroyed almost immediately. His forces South in Tafatu were closing in on Ferville and with its fall, the Galrans would cross the Marse river and link up with their western allies. 

That's about when-

"What do you mean they stopped?" 

-found out about Shiysil. 


"Yes sir, they've been halted, the Frannerri countered them and Shiysil has per our reports and radio transmissions have completely stopped their advance."

The officer handed a small paper to which the General snatched out of his hand, as he read it he grimaced. "Touli trash" he tossed the paper aside, "Have our forces press to the Marse and lets seize Pareu ourselves dammit. I'll hang the royal family from broken necks and Azeri can take his savages back home after we've wasted the gas and effort on his failure." 

He snapped his fingers at two men holding a large rolled up map of Touli, "What of our Elenria plan?" the map folded out as some fruit punch was poured into a cup for the general, "We are ahead of schedule we should receive transport ships soon to storm Eastern Elenria, the Kumo-Takpoe capital is on this peninsula here." the officer would point it out to the general as Jameson took a drink. 

"Taking it out should cause chaos in Elenria and further damage the Kumo Empire, with Elenria invading in the far west the Elenrians will cower and likely surrender soon. With Kumo out of the war we can focus our naval efforts on taking out the UKUG and thus win the war on the sea." Jameson nodded, "And it'll be me, that brings this glory to the Imperial State." he stood full of himself, "I will erase these barbarians and then win this war for our prophet." 


Galran forces North and South in Frannerre now began their advance toward the Marse river to cross it and then begin the invasion of Central Frannerre.

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Saint Challan, Franerre

The noose had closed on Saint Challan. The 10,000 men of the Franerri 17th Infantry division, as well as a combined 5,000 men from the 31st and 33rd that had been garrisoning in the city, declared themselves and Saint Challan for the Republican People's Guard. The 15,000 men set to fortifying Saint Challan against Galran invasion, fortifying the city's sewers and catacombs as shelters from the Galran artillery and planes. Meanwhile, in the occupied countryside, massive strikes against Galran supply lines and garrisons commenced. General Jameson's brutal occupation didn't deter these fighters -- for every innocent man, woman, and child the Scourge killed, the Republican People's Guard would make sure one of Jameson's own men died. Franerre had more civilians than the General had soldiers.

Alcasse, Franerre

Marshal Zelgius grit his teeth. His strategy of trading Franerri land for time was working, but not well enough. He hadn't bought enough time, and soon enough he was going to need to evacuate his headquarters out of Alcasse. The Marshal had planned for this and packed light -- he could move in a day if he needed to. But it wouldn't be too long before Zelgius had to make a stand at the Marse. At the very least, the forces in Shysil had much better luck, but again, Zelgius wasn't buying them enough time. Zelgius ordered some of his reserves forward. 50,000 Standard Infantry and 1,325 Field Artillery would garrison and fortifying the Marse, while the remaining surviving Standard Infantry, Heavy Infantry, and Field Artillery would slow their retreat, holding more ground at the cost of greater casualties. If he didn't have any land, Zelgius would have to trade bodies for time instead. Zelgius held his 24,000 Dragoons and 24,000 Carabineers as a quick response reserve. Whenever the Galrans made a breakthrough, the cavalry would move to reinforce the section while the surviving Infantry and Artillery retreated to regroup and hold new positions. Zelgius could only hope he could buy enough time. 

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Saint Challan, Frannerre

Jameson looked at the wreckage of the convoy, torn apart from raiders in occupied Frannerre. His anger was understandable, as the men piled the dead to the side and simply rolled over the Frannerri dead into a single grave before dumping diesel fuel on it and burning them. "God forsaken trash want to challenge the will of god? Very well" he said.

That night, Galrans began ordering elderly, women and children in the occupied towns and villages of Eastern Frannerre out of their homes. A lottery would be done on each individual. Those with uneven numbers were ordered onto trucks and taken to locations outside the town or village. The sound of machine gun fire would then be heard, regardless if they were an infant of 1 or an elderly man of 99 they would be killed as a clear threat to the Frannerri that further resistance to Galra would not be tolerated.


30,000 standard infantry, 500 field guns, 140 armored cars and 20 landships were ordered in the final assault of Saint Challan. The relentless assault began after 20 bi plane bombers hit the city thus followed by intense shelling. Once the hour long barrage ended the Frannerri would hear the sounds of men charging and mechanized hell coming their way. 


The Galrans assaulting the Frannerri river were a rather large force, scout planes would fly ahead to located enemy positions as Jameson correctly astute that the river would be the last line of defense Frannerre would have. 

100,000 conscripts drew up a frontal line stretching hundreds of miles North to South approaching the river with the primary assault force being 20,000 standard infantry, 70,000 light infantry, 4,000 carabiners, 1300 field guns, 400 mortars, 400 tankettes, 200 armored cars, 40 landships and the bulk of the Western Galran colonial airforce. 

With scouts reporting the Frannerri dug deep on the western embankment, Galran artillery would open fire with the front coming to the West bank firing at anything within range. Scouts were then ordered to find a bridge or shallow crossing. 

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Casualties

Galra: 200 light infantry, 10 armored cars, 200 standard infantry, 30 trucks. (Several rifles and machine guns stolen by Frannerri resistance)
Frannerre: 4,320 infantry. 100 field guns. Thousands of unarmed civilians (admin working accurate number)

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Saint Challan, Franerre



The bombed out rubble of Saint Challan was not friendly to the Galran Army. 20,000 Standard Infantry and an additional 5,000 Conscripts given arms from the city's armory held the city, and if any more guns could be scrounged, scavenged, or stolen from the Galrans, there were plenty more men where the 5,000 came from. By now, stories had begun to trickle east from the Galran occupiers, and Saint Challan would not fall quietly. The city's sewer system was able to weather the Galran bombing in mostly stable condition. In addition to hosting civilians sheltering, they were used as a route for the defenders of Saint Challan to reinforce and move around the city undetected. The armored cars and tanks would find it harder to breach the city than the infantry, at the hands of the destruction caused by their own bombardment of the city. Against such targets, the defenders had only one method of even trying to combat them; diesel and a match.



Galra Occupied Franerre



Jameson's campaign of butchery had the exact opposite effect than desired. Resistance only increased all across Galran Occupied Franerre in uncountable scattered acts. A Galran soldier was lured out into a woman's house, only to find a knife in his throat as recompense for the mother's murdered children. A Galran tank was burned by a son in recompense for his grandfather's death. A road needed by Galran supply convoys was sabotaged by a man who the Galrans had taken everything from.



Among these scattered acts, however, there was one group that struck with purpose. The Republican People's Guard. The RPG's ability to coordinate was limited, but they had ceels in the region from even before the beginning of the war. These cells would be put to work, but they had plans larger than minor acts of sabotage. They would focus mainly on looting Galran supply convoys, arming up for two ambitious plans. The first was the neutralization of the Galran Air Force. Those planes were the most expensive part of the Galran war effort, and hopefully the most vulnerable. With how far the frontlines had moved, it was likely that the planes were flying out of bases in Franerre, rather than out of Galra's colonies. The partisans would need to find them first, however, a task they set to with vigor. The second was even more ambitious -- the assassination of The Butcher of Franerre, as Jameson was being called. If he could be killed, then the Galrans may think twice about butchering Franerri civilians so callously. While ambitious, the RPG knew this wasn't an operation that could be rushed, and was likely something that would take some time. For now, the task at hand was learning as much as could be learned about Jameson as was possible from a safe distance.



The Galran Front



The reports reaching Marshal Zelgius's ears were becoming worse and worse. He'd been forced to relocate his headquarters west of the Marse as Alcasse became a frontline city. Not encircled or under siege, thankfully, but it was actively being fought over. His decision to hold east of the Marse had helped stabilize the front, but there were already reports of the Galrans reaching the river in the south. Zelgius made the decision -- all of Franerre's field guns were to pull back across the Marse and prepare to blow up any crossing at the first sign of any Galran infantry or motorized units. Franerre still had some crossings for the time being, but that situation may not last forever. Any Franerri units on the east side of the Marse would have to move north, swim, or die. Franerri infantry would create a layered defense system in what land they had remaining east of the Marse. Wherever the Galrans made a breakthrough, the Carabineers and Dragoons would move to reinforce the secondary lines while the Infantry retreating from the first line would dig in and create a new secondary line. If the units were too badly damaged, they would be evacuated all the way to the west side of the Marse to recover and garrison the river. If the Galrans wanted this country, it was time they bled for it. 

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Saint Challan, Franerre

Intense urban warfare unlike anything Touli had witness erupted in the early morning hours of what we call Monday, Galran ground units engaged a furious engagement with the Frannerri facing an angered and determined people. Despite Frannerre's hardened resolve, they still lacked armored support and the ability to match Galra on the ground, Galran talbh rifles easily outshot anything the Frannerri had and once their vehicle units could find a way into the city the block they inhabited was forfeit. That wasn't to say Frannerre wasn't successful in their attempts to slow down the Galran advance. Several Galran armored cars and some tanks were destroyed by diesel cocktails. Still even with this hardened defense the Galrans pushed hard onto the city and gained ground.

Galra Occupied Franerre



General Jameson was finding the Frannerri to be very annoying and called up an additional 30,000 standard infantry to police the occupied territories. Warcrimes against the Franerri continued to rise from angered Galrans hearing of the attacks within controlled zones, entire groups of children were being rounded up after school was let out and ordered to face the wall. They would then be separated by gender, the girls were pulled away and the boys aged 12 to 5 were left at the wall and gunned down. A Galran propaganda officer would then shout, "This is the cost of heresy! You bought their deaths! Continue hostility with the chosen people of god and we will kill the rest of your sons! Your daughters will be spared to be concubines to our soldiers when this war is over. Be blessed that they erase your filthy Frannerri blood with our pure Galran blood!"


Without orders given other atrocities such as burning down any religious temple or churches in Frannerre not related to Ux Voshoz began across Eastern Frannerre. As well as mass book burnings from seized libraries and schools. Jameson didn't care, to him the Frannerri were lesser human beings, a stock below even the dirty Lusatians. Their pain was nothing to him.


The Galran Front

Galra upped the ante with their assault of the Marse, their best armored units and aerial units striking the forward positions of Zelgius's forces. Jameson was no idiot, he knew the Frannerri could have crossings and likely blow them up if he didn't seize them quick enough. No quarter was given, Frannerri troops were killed even if they surrendered. Armored units made short work of Frannerri and allowed scores of Galran troops to pour in, time was running out for the Eastern bank, Jameson shelled it and shelled it hard to give one last advantage before his ground forces surged to finish the job.

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Casualties

Galra: 3,500 standard infantry, 2,000 light infantry, 30 tankettes, 5 landships, 2 light tanks, 20 field guns
Frannerre: 6,000 standard infantry, 900 conscripts, 400 carabineers, 200 dragoons,

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The River Marse

Zelgius sent word to Ranulf -- the plan had failed. Shysil hadn't been knocked out in time to swing their forces against Galra, and the Marse needed more men to hold it. Fortifications had been made along the Marse starting at Franerre's coast, but they became more and more incomplete the further south up the river you went. Ranulf could spare 40,000 Standard Infantry, 40,000 Heavy Infantry, and 1,195 Field Guns. All would go south in the name of holding the Marse, along with all of the cavalry. Here Franerre stood, here Franerre would bleed, and here Franerre would win. All units along the front line were instructed to dig in as deep as they could and to hold fast.

Saint Challan

Franerri troops in the city had to lean on the only thing they could -- their knowledge of the city, and namely Saint Challan's sewer systems. Less and less straight firefights would be taken as the battle wore on. Instead, more and more small fireteams would be sent behind the Galran lines to sow confusion, slow down the Galran assault, and pull more resources away from the frontlines. A few teams were event sent outside of the city under cover of darkness in an attempt to find where the Galran light tanks and landships were being stored when not in combat. Already, diesel cocktails were beginning to run low. Those that remained needed to be saved for optimal strikes, like a park of unmanned tanks.

Galra Occupied Franerre

The Butcher of Franerre had only thus far succeeded in making one thing clear. There could be no surrender. There could be no passivity in the face of such brutality. There were only two options: fight or die. For the more coordinated efforts of the RPG, however, they met with nothing but frustration after frustration. It was proving immensely difficult to get reports on directions of sorties back to a central command where they could be triangulated, while Jameson's constant moving with the front lines made sure he didn't have a set routine that could be observed and used by the RPG. For now, they simply bided their time. 

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The River Marse

The Galran front would be spearheaded by armored units and heavy artillery barrages supplemented by infantry divisions. Galra sent scouts to map out the river for crossings in the event any manmade structures would be gone, their tank divisions made quick work of any Frannerri that tried to fight them out in the open. The heavy shelling Jameson was now ordering began to reach the other side of the river as his forces began to force the Frannerri to the edge of the Marse. It was looking grim for Frannerre but for Galra the crossing would be inevitable.

Saint Challan

Galran losses were piling up as fierce Franerri defenders continued to disrupt the invaders. Unfortunately the Galrans discovered the use of sewer networks and began destroying them flooding Saint Challan, with these access points being destroyed it would only be matter of time before Galra finally destroyed the city defenders.


Galran Occupied Frannerre

Galran vanguard forces have begun the process of forcing Franerri into slave labor, pressing them to clean up towns and cities damaged in the fighting and install Galran defenses. Some of the teenage young men are being pressed into frontline combat, given Frannerri rifles and only five rounds of ammunition to rush Frannerri defenses to draw enemy fire. Jameson found it an amusing cruelty to have the Frannerri kill their own. To prevent the young men from shouting to their countrymen an adhesive would be applied to their lips and then to their left hands attaching their rifles. Only their right hand would be freed, "You are being watched. Do your job, kill the monarch pigs and we might reward you. Otherwise we kill your entire family and kill you slowly."

[callmedelta]

The River Marse

For those poor souls still left on the wrong side of the Marse, their time was over. Every crossing over the Marse still standing was to be pulverized. Any soldiers still on the wrong side could try to brave the river and swim over or make a last fighting stand. Soon enough, all that would be standing between Franerre and the destruction of their country was a river. For those Galran scouting parties, Franerre had to reluctantly let the go uninterrupted. Franerri artillery ammunition was going to be saved for when the real assault came, though counterbattery fire would be attempted where at all possible. At the very least, there was one bright spot. The forces from the Shysil front had arrived, and set to reinforcing the south.

Galran Occupied Franerre

The RPG had good leads on airbases. That was the easy part. Now was the hard part -- getting enough guns, ammunition, and explosives to try and actually assault one of the damn things. So, a little bit of a recruitment drive was in order. Manpower wasn't in any short supply. It was the one thing the RPG had in spades. But people armed with more than patriotism and vengeance? Those were the catches. There were still plenty out there, but they were disparate and disconnected, unable to form a unified front. That would change, but even now there still wasn't enough guns fast enough. So the RPG would hit smaller targets first. Checkpoints, isolated supply depots, anywhere the RPG thought they had a good chance to win and get supplies, they would take it with overwhelming manpower and steal every gun and bullet that could be found, gathering them all up to try and do some real damage.

For those unfortunate souls unlucky enough to be enslaved or were, there was little they could do. All that could be done were little acts of sabotage, sloth or improper work that would hopefully break down at a key moment and hurt a Galran. For those even more unlucky and forcibly conscripted, few would actually fire on their own countrymen. They did everything they could to get out of it. Some would turn on their Galran captors immediately, mostly unsuccessfully. Those who thought they could get out of sight had the brutal choice of maiming themselves or risk being shot by their own countrymen. The choices were as varied as the men who were conscripted. Some brutalized their arms and mouths, running to their brothers bleeding profusely. Others would only ditch their guns and run, run anywhere that wasn't the frontline. Some would try and ambush whatever Galrans they could find, taking whatever chances they could to hurt those bastards in any way they could.

Saint Challan

Things were looking bleak in Saint Challan. With the sewers becoming more and more out of action by the day, a decision was made -- efforts to find the weakest point along the Galran front would be made, and a breakout attempt was to be staged. If they couldn't save Saint Challan, they would save themselves with as much ammunition as they could carry, and live to fight another day.

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Casualties

Galra: 400 standard infantry, 10 artillery, 200 light infantry.
Frannerre: 2,900 standard infantry,500 conscripts

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River Marse

Galra had finally taken the East bank of the Marse and quickly set up howitzer guns to shell the Western shore, Galran field gun units would attempt to shell Frannerri they spotted across the river as infantry units searched for a way to cross while attempting to avoid enemy fire.

"This is it, the fall of Frannerre, cross this damn piss hole and we take this dump." General Jameson had grown impatient, the loss of life was significant and given how hard the Frannerri had fought up to this point he could only assume it was because this was the last real line of defense they had.

Galran fighters and bombers launched from newly paved and made airfields in Eastern occupied Frannerre to hit Frannerri defenses carrying out lethal strikes against the defenders. Jameson would received 100,000 standard infantry from the colonial territory to sustain what he was losing.

Saint Challan

Galran death squads were roaming with dogs hunting the Frannerri defenders ruthlessly as collateral damage no longer mattered, some frustrated infantry would simply shoot and kill civilians if they couldn't find any soldiers to eliminate. Adding to the horrid genocide of Frannerre. Near Saint Challan a large force of Galran troops and colonial ships were massing near the Northern Frannerri coast where Galra now firmly controlled the region, they were preparing for another assault. But not on Frannerre, they were going to launch an invasion of Eleria using the Frannerri coast as a jumping off point as most of the Galran colonial fleet moved to cut off Eleria.