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[X] Plan "All In"
-[X] Yes. We made our threat, and this peace treaty hinges on us being able to carry it out. We just need to carry this bluff convincingly. We stand to impose a ruinous peace, if all goes well.
--[X] Select which divisions will be assigned to the raid. Select all which apply.
---[X] The Big Red One [Quality 5/5, motorized, support artillery, combat engineers]. Your stars, your expeditionary unit, your irreplaceable, priceless elites. Does not consume Turn 5 DoD AP.
---[X] Springfield Division [Quality 1/5, partially motorized, support artillery]. One of your two regular divisions, fresh from Detroit. Will consume Turn 5 DoD AP.
---[X] Liberators Division [Quality 2/5, partially motorized, support artillery]. 3rd Division, the unit that received the hardest shocks in Detroit and punched right on back. Will consume Turn 5 DoD AP.
---[X] Toledo 1st Division [Quality 2/5, partially motorized, mass mortars]. A division of, by post-Collapse standards, crack troops with Victorian training. Eager to prove themselves. Does not consume Turn 5 DoD AP.
---[X] Toledo 2nd Division [Quality 2/5, partially motorized, mass mortars]. A division of, by post-Collapse standards, crack troops with Victorian training. Eager to prove themselves. Does not consume Turn 5 DoD AP.
---[X] Toledo 3rd Division [Quality 2/5, partially motorized, mass mortars]. A division of, by post-Collapse standards, crack troops with Victorian training. Eager to prove themselves. Does not consume Turn 5 DoD AP.
--[X] Select which division will be chosen to assault the Welland Canal from the Lake.
---[X] The Big Red One. Your elites, and the best possible option for seizing a -- however poorly -- defended beach.
Operation Foil
Scouting [Commonwealth vs. Loyalists]: 4 vs. 1. Success.
It starts with reconnaissance flights. Ron Burns has never had the luxury of air support -- well, not never. Decades ago, he used to work with planes. But for decades, he's been on his own, unsupported, under a hostile sky. Although he dimly remembers the lessons of air power from the old days, he was never Air Force, and it has been too long. He hardly knows what to do with a good set of planes.
Happily, General Franks is more than willing to step in.
It continues with scouting sorties from the Navy. Burns has a slightly better grasp on the use of a navy. He was, briefly, in charge of one, and needed to pay rather more attention to them than to the air patrol. Admiral Romano deigned to explain to Burns -- ground-pounder or not -- the value that the navy brought to the City, and the Commonwealth. And, to be honest, Burns doesn't need to be told what the advantage of having boats scooting along the shoreline you're soon to assault is.
It's not easy, precisely. Oh, the militia left to defend the Canal don't really have any idea what the scouting attempts mean. They frequently mistake your planes for theirs. Not Burns's fault -- the planes are clearly marked -- but he supposes one can't expect too much out of what are, functionally, civilians. They see a familiar silhouette, they identify friendly.
Some of them wave.
That said, the weather seems set against the Commonwealth. Not to the murderous degree it was set against the Victorians at Detroit, but pretty badly nevertheless. Storms, fog, high winds, and fog banks spoil several attempts at surveying the Loyalists' positions in and around the canal, and several trips have to be waved off entirely for fear of the conditions. Burns would delay, but...the weather keeps getting worse for a reason. Winter is coming, and once more he needs to rush in order to get the troops to the area of operations, before the ice sets in and his plans have to grind to a halt.
He gets enough, the Loyalists' lack of training compensating for the abysmal luck the scouts have had. The final word from intelligence is, once all the reports were compiled: no more than fifteen thousand militia within eight hours' travel of the Canal, not if reinforcements intend to fight at the end of their trip. Of those fifteen thousand, they're mostly spread out between the isthmus the Canal bridges, and the city of Buffalo. No force concentration; no bulk.
The orders go out. Ships gather in Detroit, and supplies come aboard. A smaller group of smaller, faster vessels, however, take on a more human cargo. Soldiers stream aboard the ships in orderly groups. Thousands upon thousands of men and women sit down and prepare for a tense journey across the Lake.
For the first time since Normandy, the Big Red One prepares itself to storm a defended beach.
* * *
A great convoy of trucks sets out from Detroit at the same time, punching through the fragmented countryside along the northern shore of Lake Erie. Logistics vehicles assigned to the 2nd and 3rd Divisions and the 1st Toledan Division of the Commonwealth of Free Cities strain under the load of supplies and soldiers crammed into them. It's a partially mobilized force on the move, and while it can get everybody in trucks at need, it means that nobody here had better need to fight with less than an hour's notice.
Fortunately, they don't need to. Villages and towns along the route provide not a moment of resistance -- in fact, they cheer. So close to Victoria's borders, these are the people who have felt the cruelest lash. Victoria has no need to cultivate and placate allies so near to their own territory.
For now, these troops are seen as liberators. The fact that they carry their own supplies helps.
* * *
In Detroit, F-16s fuel up and prepare for takeoff. Tense pilots -- remembering their last sortie in combat -- remind themselves, over and over again, that this time, it will be different. The Victorians are bloodied. The numbers are more even. The time is right. They're being deployed not as a sacrifice for the sake of the Navy, but as a combat force in their own right.
It's hard to bear it in mind.
* * *
Off the shores around the Welland Canal, in the wee hours of the night, the Commonwealth's gunboats prepare their cannons. With the invasion fleet now just six hours away, it's time to begin their work. Once more, first contact with the Victorians is theirs. Once more, they are the Commonwealth's vanguard into the fight. Muzzles flash; artillery rounds fly through the night. It is not the first bombardment of Victoria shores they have conducted in the past month, but it is the first time the entire fleet has concentrated on a single target -- even if it can only be for the night.
* * *
-Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada-
-Northern Confederation of Victoria-
-Wednesday, November 20, 2075, 7:20 AM-
As the sun rises, shell-shocked militiamen peer over the edge of sandbag walls to see a massive fleet of transports, unleashing a swarm of smaller craft loaded to the gunwales with soldiers. They send runners back to their headquarters to tell them that, yes, what the radar operators have been claiming is indeed true.
It is d-day, h-hour, of Operation Foil. At 0725, the first boat hits the beaches. Soldiers of the Devil Brigade leap out, sprinting to cover as an endless rain of artillery shells slams into militia positions at the end of the beach.
For the first time, Commonwealth soldiers set foot on Victorian soil.
we should destroy those fifteen thousand militia within eight hours' travel for maximum amount of damage, to force Blackwell to send more militia away from the civil war with the Crusaders
That sounds like a possible overextension to me. Scatter and confuse them and then frantically dig in, IMO. But Burns is the real mind behind our forces right now.
I am pleasantly surprised that we can sustain a sortie rate of almost one sortie per three days per plane. I think we must have a functioning maintenance facility for F-16 engines down in Springfield after all.
It's not easy, precisely. Oh, the militia left to defend the Canal don't really have any idea what the scouting attempts mean. They frequently mistake your planes for theirs. Not Burns's fault -- the planes are clearly marked -- but he supposes one can't expect too much out of what are, functionally, civilians. They see a familiar silhouette, they identify friendly.
"If it's white, it's ours. If it's painted red, blue, or every damn color of the rainbow at once, it's theirs."
...
And yes, going by Warbirds being canonized and the probable aftermath, we very well might have rainbow-painted fighter jets.
We even have at least two LBGT (well, BG is all I can confirm personally) pilots who could in theory form the first F-16 element of the Gay Pride Air Force.
For the first time since Normandy, the Big Red One prepares itself to storm a defended beach.
A great convoy of trucks sets out from Detroit at the same time, punching through the fragmented countryside along the northern shore of Lake Erie. Logistics vehicles assigned to the 2nd and 3rd Divisions and the 1st Toledan Division of the Commonwealth of Free Cities strain under the load of supplies and soldiers crammed into them. It's a partially mobilized force on the move, and while it can get everybody in trucks at need, it means that nobody here had better need to fight with less than an hour's notice.
Fortunately, they don't need to. Villages and towns along the route provide not a moment of resistance -- in fact, they cheer. So close to Victoria's borders, these are the people who have felt the cruelest lash. Victoria has no need to cultivate and placate allies so near to their own territory.
For now, these troops are seen as liberators. The fact that they carry their own supplies helps.
Lt. Daniel Smith, Commonwealth Air Force, quoting:
"When a deed is done for Freedom, through the broad earth's aching breast
Runs a thrill of joy prophetic, trembling on from east to west,
And the slave, where'er he cowers, feels the soul within him climb
To the awful verge of manhood, as the energy sublime
Of a century bursts full-blossomed on the thorny stem of Time."
What's being contemplated is more on the order of the Doolittle Raid.
I'd be in favor of it under other circumstances- if we had any short-term supply of new aircraft, or more than twenty jets total, and if I weren't worried about the strain on our engineering assets of sustaining a workable airfield capable of operating F-16s right around our holdings around the Welland Canal.
You want Russia to drop 'Peacekeeper's' down? That's how you get it.
This is already dangerous enough that the likelihood of sudden 'Patriots' appearing from out of nowhere with modern military equipment and training is a legitimate danger. Actually threatening the capital of the puppet state means he's a lot less likely to be coy about intervention.
What's being contemplated is more on the order of the Doolittle Raid.
I'd be in favor of it under other circumstances- if we had any short-term supply of new aircraft, or more than twenty jets total, and if I weren't worried about the strain on our engineering assets of sustaining a workable airfield capable of operating F-16s right around our holdings around the Welland Canal.
Damn it.... I know the quest restarted but i was stuck at work and now COVID-19. Its now D day.
"Countrymen.
We are about to embark on a crusade for peace. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave allies from Detroit and Toledro, we will bring about the destruction of the Victorian war machine, the elimination of tyranny and security for ourselves in a free world. I say to you, once more into the breach.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely. But this is not California. Much has happened since then in the Battle of Detroit. We have inflicted upon the Victorians great defeats, in open battle, man to man.
The tide has turned. The free men of the world are marching together to victory.
I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory.
Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.
lets go.
"Recorded transmission of sermon to Big Red One, 1 hour before D day. "
Damn it.... I know the quest restarted but i was stuck at work and now COVID-19. Its now D day.
Countrymen.
We are about to embark ona crusade for peace. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.
In company with our brave allies from Detroit and Toledro, we will bring about the destruction of the Victorian war machine, the elimination of tyranny and security for ourselves in a free world. I say to you, once more into the breach.
Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely
This is nothing but a giant bluff. We can't hold it for long. The entire aim is hold onto the canal for a bit to force a response and crush the Victorian counter attack and then force a peace deal that's acceptable.
Of course, people may decide to overextend on that peace talk too and we end up with nothing. But hopefully we have better sense and actually get something that's near certain to be accepted.
This is nothing but a giant bluff. We can't hold it for long. The entire aim is hold onto the canal for a bit to force a response and crush the Victorian counter attack and then force a peace deal that's acceptable.
Of course, people may decide to overextend on that peace talk too and we end up with nothing. But hopefully we have better sense and actually get something that's near certain to be accepted.
Also, we kind of need the Vics to believe that we are willing to push further into Victoria proper, pillaging and looting as they would to supply our troops, if we want them to agree to our rather ambitious peace treaty. So Radio messages that make it seem like we think of this as a first step in our crusade against them help with our goals.
A great convoy of trucks sets out from Detroit at the same time, punching through the fragmented countryside along the northern shore of Lake Erie. Logistics vehicles assigned to the 2nd and 3rd Divisions and the 1st Toledan Division of the Commonwealth of Free Cities strain under the load of supplies and soldiers crammed into them. It's a partially mobilized force on the move, and while it can get everybody in trucks at need, it means that nobody here had better need to fight with less than an hour's notice.
Fortunately, they don't need to. Villages and towns along the route provide not a moment of resistance -- in fact, they cheer. So close to Victoria's borders, these are the people who have felt the cruelest lash. Victoria has no need to cultivate and placate allies so near to their own territory.
For now, these troops are seen as liberators. The fact that they carry their own supplies helps.
In Detroit, F-16s fuel up and prepare for takeoff. Tense pilots -- remembering their last sortie in combat -- remind themselves, over and over again, that this time, it will be different. The Victorians are bloodied. The numbers are more even. The time is right. They're being deployed not as a sacrifice for the sake of the Navy, but as a combat force in their own right.
No. Dont. This is a raid in force. Structured plainly
Goal: bring Victoria back to peace table.
Goal 2: sign a peace treaty acceptable to us (severe to Vicks, but we can modify it and make it more lenient.
Tool: A raid in force against the Welland Canal, to demonstrate our ability to wreak further havoc against Victoria and demonstrate our political will
Objectives: Damage property to inflict pain.
Destroy Blackwell foeces to penalize his civil war effort.
Mission: A raid on the territory Welland Canal, spoiling attack on Blackwell forces when they counterattack.
Thats it. Tailor your tactica. Your operational art to that strategy.
No. Dont. This is a raid in force. Structured plainly
Goal: bring Victoria back to peace table.
Goal 2: sign a peace treaty acceptable to us (severe to Vicks, but we can modify it and make it more lenient.
Tool: A raid in force against the Welland Canal, to demonstrate our ability to wreak further havoc against Victoria and demonstrate our political will
Objectives: Damage property to inflict pain.
Destroy Blackwell foeces to penalize his civil war effort.
Mission: A raid on the territory Welland Canal, spoiling attack on Blackwell forces when they counterattack.
Thats it. Tailor your tactica. Your operational art to that strategy.
The objective isn't to damage property to inflict pain, it's to make him worry that we will continue to prosecute the war against him, when he can least afford it.
The objective isn't to damage property to inflict pain, it's to make him worry that we will continue to prosecute the war against him, when he can least afford it.
We literally do not have bullets for anything more than a short raid.
Our logistics are utterly busted by the war, to a degree we are going to run out of shells or casings or somesuch if this battle runs too long.
So no, we are not holding those villages, we do not have military supplies of any sort to project any force.
