Premier Alexander Chenkov, supreme leader of the Chevskograd State, sat in his office listening to a briefing from his top generals over the large monitor on the wall. He tapped his fingers on his chair boredly. They had been preparing for the coming operation for the past several months, but right now the generals were just telling him what he already basically knew.
"General Petrovich, is your division in position?" The Premier asked.
"Yes, Comrade Premier. The MBT-50 is loaded in the civilian transport truck you requested. I have 300 of our troops waiting to move out." The general replied. Behind him flew the red, black, and yellow flag of Chevskograd. Chevskograd was so named after its founder, Vladimir Chevsko, who had formed the alliance between the Russian-descended humans the Skeka.
"I have an additional 100 on standby. We will be right behind Comrade Petrovich, should he need our support." General Vadmuur said. He was a Skeka, one of the few in a position this high. Most Skeka in the armed forces were content to stay on the front lines.
"Very well, Comrades, then we are ready. Let the invasion of Nuevo Madrid begin." The Premier announced, a grin spreading across his face. The Chevskograd State would soon be expanding. It would be glorious.
"Yes, Premier." Both of the generals said in unison.
It would take their forces a few days to reach Nuevo Madrid, a small settlement with under 25,000 people and with a garrison of only 350. With their main battle tank and 300 highly trained troops, it would be more than enough for Chevskograd to take the city. Should they need the support, another hundred troops were on standby. The city's population would make for an excellent labor force, and the areas around it were rich in precious resources that the State needed, both to improve its army and to keep its economy afloat.
The freighter would be fully loaded, The sailors on board. the mercenary notice for The Vlk would change to note that it is going to be unavailable currently, This only causing the town council to notice that the listing hadn't actually gone out yet due to a technical error. Regardless, Lamari just gave a shout from the deck of The Vlk "Release the moorings! Get us underway! Long trip ahead!" Ropes were pulled from the docks, the anchor hoisted and the engines fired up. The freighter already starting to head out as The Vlk soon followed. The current destination being the town of New Freital for a Refuel, along with arranging for transport of the Lithium to Acropolis for sale.
The resources would be gathered up slowly, domestic production gearing its head up to produce these artillery pieces. Most small, interchangeable parts and large, non-critical would be made out of wrought iron, the gun itself having the barrel and all large parts subjected to stress to be made out of steel. They would be 18 inch guns and have 80mm of Titanium Alloy armour.
Meanwhile, as the Vlk would come into the narrow strait several days later it would be towed in my small tugboats to guide it. There would be no one particular harbour available for it, as Neu Freital's military harbours is not meant to take ships of its size. They would accommodate the Vlk in the freighter sections of the harbour, having a small diplomatic team wait for the ship to moor to question what they want beyond their lithium shipment.
Once The Vlk was moored, Lamari would Be standing on the deck looking towards the dock. Seeing the diplomatic team he just shook his head and muttered something under his breath. He waited for a docking ramp before heading down, a number of the sailors quickly following down after to head towards the town with fair intent to get a good drink. Lamari would shuffle through a pocket for a moment before pulling out a small notebook, glancing at it before walking over to the diplomatic team. Saying as best as he could in English, "need arrange lithium to Arcopolis sale, Fuel need for Vlk, Might be hire around"
Philip stood with his back against the hard wall of the main building of the Ultar outpost, from here he could see the bay far to the north-west, there was a military-run docking station there. From his vantage point he could see the countless farms low hills just beyond the mountains to the north, and the vast pine forests to the west, the east and south were blocked off by the mountains. Most of Philip's squad had been sent to the other two outposts, but about a third of them were here at the Ultar outpost, so it wasn't completely empty.
Iseia was having its own arguments. The military and civilian electees were arguing about funding. The civilians wanted to go ahead with the canal. The military on the other hand wanted to make a small airforce of armed prop aircraft. That would give an immediate advantage over other city states. But the planes did need a airfield and hangars. That was a big investment. The canal was also a big investment. It also needed bridges across. By the end of the argument, however, the canal goes ahead. It is decided the planes are too risky/maintenance intensive.
Junior Sergeant Ivan Rezdovich sat in the back of the troop transport truck, waiting eagerly to get out and kill some Madridians. The Skeka sat across from him, his good friend and brother in arms Yuran Nelaar, was checking his SV-76 Kobra assault rifle to make sure it was operational before they went into battle. Ivan had already checked his PP-40 Groza submachine gun, which should operate perfectly for the coming battle. They were only a few hours away now. The convoy had stopped to offload the main battle tank, which would be able to make it the rest of the way on its own without the help of its truck.
Ivan was, of course, a strong believer in the communist way of Chevskograd and was eager to see its influence expand beyond its own large city. He also was eager to see his nation acquire more resources and new workers. He suspected it would be fairly easy for their troops to crush the pathetic Madridian garrison of 350 men. The tank destroying the Madridian's single military vehicle, a humvee, would make for an excellent show of force.
At the same time, in Nuevo Madrid, pro-communist sentiments had spread among the population, with communist supporters numbering at roughly 12% of the population. 2,400 Madridians would openly support Chevskograd's takeover. Coerced by covert agents, many of the supporters were now protesting outside of Nuevo Madrid's capital building.
"We have some industry set up. We are capable of producing fuel and plastics, and we are willing to trade them with you. Plastics and fuel for metals and food?" suggested the interpreter, Sergiusz Piatek. "If such a deal was made, who would provide the convoys for shipping the goods? Our vessels were not built for cargo, but I could to our government that cargo ships should be constructed."
The funding goes through for the canal. Workers and equipment starts getting prepared for the project. They would organized fairly soon. Then the canal would actually be started. It was a long term goal, but it would be very beneficial to the economy.
"That deal is satisfactory," Mario replied. "We have a few vessels that can carry cargo. This isthumus is a good trading spot, so our forefathers thought it was wise to make cargo vessels. So, yes, we will supply the convoy," he added.
News of the Pro-Communist protests would reach Freital quickly, with the Conservative coalition government adopting a opposite stance to them. Freital would offer its support in word to Madrid's legitimate government, and condemn the protesters for attempting to change their government via force rather than through legitimate democratic means. This would mask a state that felt threatened by Communist expansionism, something the conservative government believes should be left in the dustbins of the 20th century.
This new threat would force military authorities to figure out ways to speed up the material gathering, opting to send out prospectors with magnetic equipment. They would be sent along the north side of the strait, attempting to find deposits of Iron to allow for Freitalian self-sufficiency. Special Forces meanwhile would be sent out to plant border posts, to physically mark the border of Freital.
Sergiusz left happy, telling the Warsovian government of the successful trade deal, and possibility of further cooperation with Iseia. The port of Republika Warszawa awaits the arrival of Iseian trade vessels.
News of the situation in Nuevo Madrid was received with opposition to the communists. Republika Warszawa had been founded with memories of the things that had happened to the Polish and Jewish people under communist rule. The idea of an intervention force of 100 men is passed around, but is soon shot down by two factors; the distance to Nuevo Madrid, and the poor mobility of the Warsovian army. The second issue does not just apply to Nuevo Laredo, poor mobility would be a problem for defending Warszawa. A solution is suggested; the creation of technicals. The government would purchase civilian vehicles, and outfit them to move soldiers and to be armed with either artillery or machineguns. A single truck is purchased, and the project to refit it begins.
The Chevskograd forces were currently waiting outside of Nuevo Madrid's borders.
The peaceful protests have now broken out into full-scale riots, with the protesters being armed with a variety of weapons, from an unknown source. Unbeknownst to the Nuevo Madrid government, Chevskograd agents had supplied the rebels with the weapons over a period of several months.
The truck under modification is converted into a technical. Mechanics had worked all night on it, and it had been equipped with a 110 RUP Machinegun. Three men could sit in the bed of the truck and operate the machinegun, three could sit inside, and one would drive. The technical and a Alkapojazd are loaded on to a ship. Intervention in Nuevo Madrid had been approved. A total of 102 men would be sent, a platoon of 75 soldiers divided into 5 squads of 15, a squad of 10 special forces units, a squad of 10 engineers, the four men to crew the Alkapojazd, and the three men to crew the technical.
"I'm sick of waiting!" Ivan said anxiously, pacing around the temporary tent that had been set up. "When is General Petrovich going to give the go-ahead? The longer we wait the more time the 'Drids have to prepare!"
Yuran looked over at him. "Calm down, Ivan. I've heard that we'll be moving out today. The riots are still going on, the military should be occupied with that. We're waiting on the Spetsnaz team which will infiltrate the capital. They should be inside any minute."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Once they're inside they'll force the government to concede to the protesters' wishes, then we can move in to 'enforce' that." Ivan replied, sitting down. "Hopefully the international response isn't too... unfavorable."
"Knowing their opinion of communism, probably not. Freital certainly isn't happy about it. Doubt Warszawa will be, either." Yuran said. "If they retaliate, we'll be prepared. And we'll have plenty of new recruits from Madrid's population!" They both laughed.
The riots had continued throughout the day, and were still going strong. A team of Spetsnaz, the elite forces of the Chevskograd State, had infiltrated the city and were making their way to the parliament.
The news of the Communist protests had reached Alderan, but President Ishtar had decided not to take any action in regards to the information. Ever since President Ishtar's election two years ago, Alderan had taken a neutral stance, Ishtar and the other leaders didn't want to get involved in any of the conflicts happening around the world. But the Neutrality Policy was starting to meet with opposition from the citizens of Alderan who believed that they should stand up against the communists.
News of the Communist protesters in Madrid had of course reached Iseia. The Iseians were anti communist as well. Intervention is quickly approved by the senate and the triumvirate. They plan to send about 100 men. A special forces squad of ten men and a engineer squad of ten accompanies them. The Iseians inform the Warsovians they will assist with Intervention.
Instead of sailing straight to Neuvo Madrid, the ships sail to Iseia to group with the Iseian intervention force. Marek Piontek leads the 102 Warsovians. He had received training on more developed worlds, but had not acquired much experience on the field, leading smaller squads or platoons in a few battles. The better commanders stay in Warszawa.
The Iseians will wait for the Warsovians to arrive first. After the Warsovians were offloaded and organized they would move out. The two forces would move together to Madrid. Then they would help defend against the Russians as planned.
Imports to Freital would have their tarrifs increased unless given a waiver by the Conservative government attempting to enact protectionist trade policies to bolster staple industries in Freital. Intervention in Nuevo Madrid would be discussed and in the end a small team of soldiers would be deployed, numbering only 7 of Freital's 50 Special Operations soldiers. Led by Hans, they would be sent out in a pickup truck within minutes and heading southwest to Nuevo Madrid. Four would be armed with a SGG-87 and 12mm Seitenwaffe Machinepistole with the other armed with a BAK-45, the other two armed with TSG-12s and ordered to deploy some distance away from the town.
Prospectors in Freital would find a large band of what would seemed to be iron-bearing ores. Samples dug up with what little drilling equipment they could bring with would prove the bands to be similar to Taconite. It would be easy to extract, the process perfected several hundred years ago in the mid-20th century. It would be a boon to the nation's self-sufficency and plans for mining would be concocted by the Freitalian government to begin extraction of this ore to be used in the nation's steel mills.
The diplomatic team would rather be the Dockmaster who would tilt his head at the English, as he was a recent immigrant who arrived within the past 10 years. He was from Bavaria, Germany. The actual city of Freital itself as well. He knew no English and would say back to Lamari. "Ich spreche Englisch nichts, ich spreche kein Englisch. Ich brauche ein Übersetzer für wir. Warte heir." He would shuffle off to get another administrator who would translate between them hopefully, coming back in several minutes with a secretary who spoke English. The secretary would ask Lamari. "Might you please repeat that? My colleague does not speak English."
Nuevo Madrid would authorize the military to use their small army to quell the rebellion. Naming it a rebellion rather than protests due to the military-quality weapons used. Those loyal to the standing government would be asked to join, with 350 other military firearms being in the armoury and under heavy guard to keep the rebels from getting to them. Nearly 200 more citizens would join as well as the city is slowly engulfed in civil war. Parliament would have nearly 35 guards placed on it to keep the government from being beheaded as well, literally.
Lamari would roll his eyes, not a clue what the dock master had said, then "What I say, need arrange lithium to Arcopolis sale, Fuel need for Vlk, Might be hire around" He just pulled out a simple paper to hand over, having been properly translated to English, it was a notice that the Vlk was available for hire currently. He thought simply to himself ~So many humans, speaking so many different languages, why can't they make things simple?~. At this point The Vlk's crew would be scouring the town for any sort of good drink they could find, given they had already drunk up the wine stored on board getting there.
Chevskograd has received news of most of the international community not being too happy about the communist uprising in Nuevo Madrid. They didn't care.
The Spetsnaz team in Madrid had a change of plans. Assassination or... coercion was no longer a viable option. They were pulled out. The Chevskograd troops waiting on the border for the go-ahead began to move into Nuevo Madrid's territory. An official statement was released shortly after the order was given, stating that they were intervening to restore order. Hopefully people would buy it.
Back in Chevskograd, two civilian semi-trucks are commandeered by the government to be converted into Katyusha rocket launchers. Essentially cheap, highly mobile artillery. The conversion wouldn't take very long.
The special operations soldiers would arrive, taking turns driving and getting fuel at other German states. Freital was a regional force among the Germanic states on Warskawa and not one to be turned away. The squad would arrive in the early morning, only a quarter-hour past midnight. The two snipers would setup a 600 yards outside of the city while the rest of the squad would move in. They would be unaware of the change of plans and the impending invasion of the city and enter it in. They would quietly move along the streets, with them deserted due to everyone either hiding, in the military or rioting. They would be silent, waiting to spot anything unusual.
Nuevo Madrid would suffer several desertions of those bitter over the draft, only 30 soldiers. The rest would occupy key buildings around the town center and wait for the invading forces. They were prepared to put up a hard fight and take few casualties, but attempt to make this invasion costly to the invading communists.
Warsovian ships would arrive at Neuvo Madrid early in the morning. Soldiers were allowed rest until later in the morning when information had been gathered, but the special forces that had been brought were instructed to begin their operations immediately. The squad of 10 moved into the town, performing reconnaissance so that the Warsovians had intelligence about the city's layout and communist positions if they were discovered.
The communist revolutionaries are contacted by the Chevskograd "peacekeeping" force, and are told that the Chevskograd Army would fight for them. This news is met with joy and cheers from revolutionaries all across Nuevo Madrid, who now fight with renewed vigor. They are given directions by the Army, telling them what targets to attack. Several Spetsnaz teams have infiltrated the city and are supporting the rebels.
The Army, meanwhile, has arrived outside. General Vadmuur's troops would be used after all. While Madrid's troops were distracted by the rebels, Chevskograd troops began to storm into the city. The MBT-50 is brought in as well, for intimidation as well as extra firepower.