Battle of Flatrood 1934

[Greywall]

Winter's cruel cold wind would slice through the Grinvelian ranks, the order to call down one final massive bombardment onto Southern Flatrood followed by a large armored infantry combined assault to take the city.

Devastating howitzer strikes rocked the Southern city edge followed by mechanized hell on treads and Grinvel infantry rushing the front. The hell of gunfire as Grinvel forces made their final push to take the city which was now largely destroyed after months of fighting deafened everything out. In the skies Grinvel Luebrock A11 fighters would escort biplane bombers to drop payloads in the South to disrupt defenders. The enemy StarWolf fighters were outmatching the Grinvel biplane fighters and the new mono wing fighters were hoped to be better matched up. 

Grinvel soldiers firing at Marrish defenders in Southern Flatrood

[Artsy Astra]

With most of the cards already played, General Grendel laid down his hand in full. We got orders that were simple like before, "Potemi, or damn it all in the end.". We made a fighting retreat the whole way to the final stretch before we'd start leaving to the south and we dug in and fought as hard as we could. Ambushes would continue to be orchestrated as much as possible. Streets and alleys would become kill boxes in the right conditions, and stretches of rubble were plowed a dozen times over with lead and steel. Artillery sounded off in a final defiance against all odds counter-battery and otherwise. What mortar crews remained fired damn near danger close at the advancing Grinvelian horde, and field gun crews went into overtime engaging tanks and infantry alike.

The airforce would continue its campaign, with Terns being tasked with softening whatever they could of the enemy advance. Recon planes would return with whatever info they acquired and continued to fly missions. Star wolves and Albatross' continued to defend the sky above us. I quietly wished we'd get some way to help the fly boys instead of being sitting ducks for them to babysit.

BRAKATA-KATA-KATA-KAT
"Gunther, gimme some more! Running low here!"
Dale squeezed the trigger of his MPM-31, which was quickly earning the nickname 'Buckle Puddler' for the sheer amount of belt links it dumped under its user. Dale felt the warmth of the spent cases and links around him as he let off another burst into an advancing Grinnish squad.
BRAKATA-KATA-KATA-KATA-KAT
For a rifleman, he took to machine gunning quite well, he'd be dead if he didn't anyway.
"Quit your squealing fish, fresh hell coming up."
Gunther 'grinned' in a way only a Rel could. His previously lame antenna was sluggish, but not useless. His mandibles twisted in some strange form, but his tone was light all things considered. He fastened another belt onto Dale's current line of angry brass and kept the line steady.
Gunther ducked down to grab another belt, and Dale shifted his posture in the window slightly. Just as a round ripped by him and grazed the side of his helmet.
More rounds streamed in and struck a man 2 windows down from the pair. The man screamed as his shoulder was shredded. "Finnley's hit! Fuckin medic, now!" His battle buddy would drag him away from the window, as another man quickly rushed to his aid.
"Shit!" He exclaimed quickly changing his posture and shifting fire towards the shooters, suppressing them or cutting them down.
BRAKATA-KATA-KATA-KATA-KATA-KAT
"More Gunther, more!"
More men piled onto the floor with a medic in tow carrying a wailing Finnley out of the building. Two Marines took up postion in the window where the other pair had left and began firing. One of them a signalman, let off a loud KLANG as he lobbed a grenade tipped harpoon at a Grinnish squad engaging them from rubble in front of their building. The HE grenade made a great flash in what remained of the storefront and sent a mix of red mist and wood splinters out of the broken windows. More corpses to the kill counter.
It was a crowded day in hell.

Marrish Infantry taking cover in the rubble of an old bookstore.

[Greywall]

Not since the assault began did the deafening sounds of war cease, Grinvelian infantry companies pressed against the Marrish even in the face of heavy resistance which they very well met. The exchange of fire between both sides shredded the city streets while mortar and artillery fire broke up the intense infantry combat. Entire bodies of men would be tossed around from the landing of heavy artillery shells rendering them lifeless. 

Grinvel soldiers still carried on, their intense discipline pushing them ever onward against the Marrish. It was especially resolute when the Grinvel had armored support, for the moment Marrlan simply had nothing that could match Grinvel tanks. A strange phenomenon not seen in Ouhiri warfare began to develop in Flatrood as both sides lobbed excessive grenades at the other. This new tactic removed stubborn and well defended infantry and seemed at the moment to be very effective. 




For now the Battle of Flatrood was entering its fourth month, the Grinvelians were pushing now along the Marrish front elsewhere and threatening to finally overwhelm the Southern section of the city. 


Casualties: 

Grinvel: 450 standard infantry, 200 light infantry, 300 heavy infantry, 10 light tanks, 9 landships, 10 fighter planes, 10 bi plane bombers, 30 howitzers, 20 mortars, 20 armored cars.
Marrlan: 300 standard infantry, 200 heavy infantry, 500 motorized standard infantry, 20 armored cars, 300 marines, remaining landships, 30 field guns, 10 howitzers.

[Artsy Astra]

After months of stalling the Grinvelians in Flatrood, we finally got the order to pull out. But not before we booby-trapped the hell out of our old positions, and set any major infrastructure that remained standing to blow. We were to hold for an additional day as traps and other explosives were laid then to slowly pull away to not give them any funny ideas and to withhold a full rout from happening again.

Air cover continued as long as possible, and all previous orders stood but lessened in fervor as we began to pull out of the city. Our orders were to continue the retreat until we hit another defensible position, but out here in the planes? Wouldn't be another for miles. Everyone was still chomping at the bit, blood boiling as we began the long march south once again. As what remained of the squad Gunther and I were assigned too was pulled off the line and began moving into the staging area, Kernel Creek himself asked us to escort him. We piled into 3 command cars  and a truck. We had just started our engines when I heard the Kernel yelp and a whip crack off to our front right shortly after. "SNIPER!" Our squad leader pulled the Kernel out of the car and ducked behind it. Gunther and I got our Buckle Puddler up and started suppressing some bushes about 200 yards away. Other parts of the squad maneuvered around to see if they could find him, and we took another casualty when a rifleman found him and his rifle jammed. He's sitting in a medical truck one kidney short but alive. The sniper on the other hand, got stuck like the pig he was by the riflemans battlebuddy. His spotter ended up getting in a close knife fight with the guy, till the other battle buddy pair rolled up and got him too. When we got to check on the Kernel, we found a little dime stuck in his medals. He had a hell of a bruise, but he was alive. When he stopped hacking up a lung, he laughed. The absurdity of all that decoration amounting to something practical. Ironically enough, the medal that got punched the hardest was his 04' incursion campaign medal. Ironic. We loaded back up, and made sure our advanced guard was more thorough. Gunther and I felt shifty about every bush and burm the rest of the trip.

Other sections of the front attempted to hold as the Grinvelians turned up the pressure again. General Grendel ordered all difficult or indefensible positions abandoned and booby-trapped, and any supplies that couldn't be taken destroyed. Troops coalesced at strongpoints and held, for good or ill delaying as long as possible if they had to retreat. Everywhere couldn't be Flatrood, but we damn well tried.

[Greywall]

The fall of Flatrood, Grinvelian soldiers celebrate the hard earned victory amid cheers throughout the broken city. A large black and yellow flag of the Imperial Reich was raised as the anchor flag of Marrlan was thrown down. Grinvelians setting off traps dampened the mood somewhat, but for the majority of the Grinvelian military Flatrood was a massive military victory. 


"Dear Ana, 

We've taken Flatrood from the Marrish, the dead are piled up with ours being sent home for proper burial and the Marrish being burned in massive piles. We...stripped them Ana, we treat them like they aren't people. Their uniforms, guns, mementos, even photos we took them from the dead. Some of my comrades are relishing like devils over 'trophies' Marrish handguns and helmets, even photos of their families...I'm sickened. Our lord god Ux Voshoz would be ashamed of this behavior, this is unbecoming of the Reich and her army. Men acting like beasts. 

Some of us are refraining from such, we are here to do our duty, to destroy the Republic that would destroy us. At least that's what Herr Marshall Mueller has told us, a new world order is being built from the ashes of this one. One for our son Alfred and baby girl Stella. I hope to see you both soon, we're marching in a few days onto some Marrish fort in the West, commanders seem to make it sound like its the last thing between us and crossing the southern border into Koi. To end this war. 

It can't come soon enough, we lost Heinrich, Yiddle, and even poor Staub...Staub was just 19...never felt a girl. Never really drank, he was a quiet boy who kept to himself back home. He was never meant to be here, fighting in this. And now he's being sent home...a hero they call him. Why does that sound so hollow and empty? It gives purpose to him dying but I feel like if we just stayed in the Reich he would be like his father and uncle, watch makers in a soft and quiet life in Lichenstein...now he's gone. Forever. 

I wonder what else we might lose, take care of our babies, tell them papa loves them.

Yours always and forever my love, 

Gerrick Von Talbh" 



Grinvel began preparations to move further South, targeting Marrish defenses along the way. The front began moving further down in Bordhan. Heiress was now under attack, the town of Millian and Nellrae would soon be attacked soon. The war had just begun. But the battle of Flatrood was the first major ground battle between the SU and the free world of Ouhiri. 

Grinvel lost: 2,440 standard infantry, 280 light infantry, 460 heavy infantry, 30 light tanks, 9 landships, 10 fighter monoplanes, 8 light biplanes, 15 bombers, 75 howitzers, 30 mortars, 25 armored cars. 

Marrlan lost: 2,900 standard infantry, 1,200 heavy infantry, 500 motorized standard infantry, 105 armored cars, 820 marines (special infantry), all 25 deployed landships, 120 field guns, 50 howitzers, 130 mortars. 


The entire city of Flatrood was largely displaced and itself ruined by the urban fighting and heavy Grinvelian shelling.