Qua Toyian-Lourian Border, Kingdom of Louria
Central Calendar 1637 (2028), June 26th
"Sir, those barbaric elves must be eliminated at this moment, we cannot wait any longer for our liberation!" A shout could be heard from a Lourian officer.
"I agree, and we shall roll through these countries like butter, including that "Socialist Republic of Vietnam". Whoever they are, they should not be any match for the might of the Lourian Kingdom!" Another officer added on to the first.
All the officers in the tent were yelling out their desire to invade the Qua Toyians to bring liberation to the entire continent.
"Our forces have gathered up much strength throughout the past months, should we not be able to swiftly past all those elven and demi-human defenses of theirs with the way our slaves have been able to supply all the necessary supplies to launch such liberation?!"
"I do agree with my colleague here! We should launch our attacks now, and not wait! All our soldiers are impatient!"
The commanding officer in charge gave a simple sigh to how his junior subordinates were all trying to persuade him to launch an attack on Qua Toyne so that they could liberate the continent and go back home to their families, instead of waiting for another eight months.
"I understand that you all want to go home to your wives and children, However, if we launch an offensive move now, it will cripple our forces in the long term. That "Socialist Republic of Vietnam" you all claim to be weak, could be strong. We must be cautious in our approaches. For now, the best thing we can do is to launch small raids along this border to test their strength. Once we get accurate assessments, compile numbers, and get orders from the people who are superior to us. Plus...is this not an adventure? We are going to new places!" The commanding officer tried to assure them.
"The soldiers are getting agitated, sir! They've been eating nothing but bread and little salted meat at this point!"
The soldiers outside heard the commotion and begin shouting at their commanding officer.
"We want food!" One of the soldiers yelled out.
"We want to see our families again! You drafted us to have us stay here in the middle of nowhere near the border with those elves! At least you could have let us bring our slaves!" Another cried out.
In the midst of the chaos of things demanded, ranging from food, better equipment, use of slaves for relief and others, the commanding officer had no chance but to relent. He sighed at the proposition.
"Fine then. We will attack one of the elves' bases on the border, but no more. That liberation will start when the king orders us to. We will be there to assess the strength of the elves, nothing more. There will be blood spilled, and I expect that, so that is why I will only be sending only a small team. Now all of you, stand at attention!"
At the sound of the commanding officer's loud voice, all the soldiers who were seated stood up, heads looking straight and still as rocks. As the commander walked down the field to pick out his best men to be sent on this little raid, one of the soldiers picked up a rock and seemed to be inspecting it.
"These rocks on the border seem to have some shine in it," the soldier said to his compatriot, who didn't look amused.
"It is just a rock, what is it going to do? Are the elves going to jump from it? See? Nothing. It is nothing special at all, so why are you picking up that rock you fool. Put it down before the commander comes to scold us both."
"But it is so special. It even has purple lines running throughout it. Maybe we can see this for some money in the kingdom-"
He looked up as the commander towered over him.
"Selling what? That rock? It has no value in our kingdom. A plain rock," The commander bluntly said in a cold tone.
The soldier put down the rock in fear and looked at the commander.
"I apologize, sir."
"Good. Because you are getting picked to go with the others in the right corner right there." He nodded his head to the side where the raid group was gathering up.
"It will be an honor, sir."
"The honor is mine, now go with them."
He nodded his hand and saluted as he walked to the raid group of no more than 100 men.
"Alright you gusanos inútiles (useless worms), listen up. There's a Qua Toyian town near here named Dawncliff. It is manned by a small force of Qua Toyian troops and lots of civilians. Once we kill all the guards, we write assessments of their weapons and how they fight, then we pillage the town, kill the men, and take all their women to be our slaves. Sound good?"
All the soldiers nodded, in excitement of their potential raid ahead.
"Good. Get moving. Hail Louria!"
The officer pulled out his sword and pointed it to the air, the soldiers recognizing it as an order to pack their bags.
"You will be enjoying it when we get there in the next few days. Heh." He then laughed loudly at what seemed to be just another adventure in being a Lourian officer, one that had to bribe his way up the hierarchy, that is.
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Hà Nội, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Tác Chiến Không Gian Mạng (Cyberspace Force)
"Dạ báo cáo!" A enlisted Sergeant yelled out to his superior, a Captain.
"Nói." The Captain gave him permission to report.
"There's enemy movement in the satellite footage and the drones we sent out near the Qua Toyian-Lourian border. Estimation of around 90-100 men."
Live images from a Bayraktar TB-2 and Heron drones captured movement of some men in what appeared to be old Spanish uniforms, with officers riding horses. The organized march on the road gave away where their potential targets were.
"And so it seems. Where are they headed for and what's their purpose?" The Captain asked the Sergeant.
"They appear to be headed for a nearby Qua-Toyian town on the border named Dawncliff. Currently there are only 30 guards stationed in the town, according to the reports. As for the purpose, from my view, I can only assume they are conducting some sort of border raid as a test of strength. Currently, further information is not to be found."
"A border raid huh?" The Captain crossed his arms. "And the guards on the border are armed with only swords as of this moment...who's the closest unit armed with more modern weaponry?"
"About an hour away from there. A 2000 strong unit that is."
"Alright, keep monitoring the situation while the General Staff gets informed of this."
"Rõ."
Picking up his smartphone, he called his superior.
"-So what I'm getting is a 100 man formation of Lourian troops headed for a Qua-Toyian border town, is that correct." The superior, a higher ranking two-stared Colonel, asked him.
"Yes, đồng chí Trung Tá. It is imperative that the Qua Toyians near the area deploy their forces. This way they would be able to repel the border raid, though we believe that the reasoning behind this is for reconnaissance, so be sure they keep that in mind."
"Noted. Anything else you find unusual?"
"No, đồng chí. It is just the usual buildup of forces from last time."
"More wyverns?"
"That and what appears to be siege weapons and ballistas for anti-air defense. Most likely startled by past incidents."
"Alright, that's all I need to know. Continue what you are doing and report back any anomalies."
"Rõ."
The superior hung up his phone as the cyber force Captain got back to his duties of commanding those on the laptops, surveying the battlespace from satellites.
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Near Dawncliff, Qua Toyian Principality
10th Ground Regiment
"Attention!"
50 men in the newly modern equipped Qua Toyian 10th Ground Regiment stood ready, AKMs in their right hand. Equipped with SSh-68 helmets and modern K56T vests, supplied all by the PAVN, was now quickly replacing the older, more medieval gear that the Qua Toyians had a few months prior. Training on the basics took a few months, coupled with the AKMs, but it wasn't as bad as the Vietnamese advisors training previously thought. All of them were eager to learn the secrets of the modern era, including the rifles. They even adopted the Vietnamese style of addressing a superior officer, as well as using a Vietnamese rank structure, although still keeping some semblance of their older traditions, such as knighting, etc.
"Comrade Captain, sir, reporting!" A scout ran up to the Captain in command of the small force.
"Report," The Captain said.
"100 armed enemies have been spotted near Dawncliff. They are looking as if to raid the village and send a message to us to not mess with them when the invasion starts."
"Good, Private. Now get back in formation with the others."
"Acknowledged, Comrade Captain."
The scout rushed back into the small formation, looking quite anxious as he had family in Dawncliff village. This would be his chance to prove to them that he could protect them, even if their position wasn't so advantageous as being near the border had an increased frequency of Lourian troops crossing and raiding several border villages.
"So it seems. You heard already about why we are here today. Those damn Lourians are starting to get more aggressive than the last few times. Let us remember, 100 men is not small; that is about 25 small fireteams there. Although, of course, they don't operate like that."
Some small laughter was heard amongst them along with the Captain.
"Anyways. Formation, about..face!" The Captain ordered his men.
The soldiers turned around as some adjusted their helmets.
"Forward, start!"
The Vietnamese also gave some older Zil-157 trucks for the Qua Toyians to use as part of their modernization efforts. Since the trucks weren't too hard to operate and the Qua Toyians were willing to learn fast, most could drive the trucks and older GAZ-67s (a Soviet version of the popular American Willy's jeep). Suitable for the terrain at hand, that is the forests with flat land, the three trucks began to spread out as they intended to be posted at different points of the village to give a 360 view. This way, if the Lourians showed up in any one direction, it would be easy for reinforcements to show up and have a clear view of the battlefield for any more enemy reinforcements at the same time.
Once they got to the village and disembarked, the villagers were, understandably, confused at such a commotion that involved the troops.
"S-Sir, why are you all here?" A villager asked.
"We are here to defend all of you. There is an expected Lourian force coming to this village, but do not worry, we shall swiftly take care of the situation."
"With those spears? The Lourians have swords and all you have is spears?" A skeptical villager asked.
"Do not fret. These 'spears' shoot out lead projectiles that deal significant damage to the human body. They are able to penetrate through the armor of the Lourians. We suggest, however, to not get caught between us and the Lourian invaders."
All the villagers surrounding the Captain seemed to get the message and decided that it was best to stay in their homes for the time being.
"Right. Radioman, stay on the frequency and wait till our allies give us the path where the bastard Lourians will try to strike us," The Captain said to the radioman, who had a manacomm holstered on his belt and a radio strapped to his vest. The others were wearing a similar loadout. To a modern military geek, it looked weird to have an SSh-68 helmet along with modern headphones, but for the Qua Toyians, anything the Vietnamese gave was better than what they had before.
"Seems like the weather today is well. Comrade Captain, do we need our night vision?" A Second Lieutenant asked the Captain.
"Not right now that is. However, you do bring up a good point."
The two men looked out into the distance, watching and waiting as the sun began to set.
"Guess it's almost nighttime, sir. Should we-"
"Yeah."
The Captain spoke over the comms.
"It's almost nighttime, soldiers. Get those night vision devices on or you'll be blind as a bat."
"Understood!" All the other soldiers begin putting on their, relatively newly issued dual night vision goggles, giving them a capability never seen before in the New World.
"The Lourian force is coming at 12 o'clock from our position, sir," The Radioman said as he listened to the radio.
"Very well. Get ready for combat!"
Racking the bolts of their AKMs back, they checked the rifle for any stuck bullets and the ammo they had in their magazines.
"Everyone up?" The Captain asked over the comms.
"FIrst platoon, heading towards your position, Comrade Captain." The first platoon commander replied.
"Second platoon, doing the same as the first." The second did the same as the first.
"Good. Take up positions behind the sandbags and forest; remember to hide yourselves carefully. We want to surprise these bastards."
"Understood!"
The modernized Qua Toyian soldiers used the tree lines and forest surrounding the village as cover, their green uniforms able to blend into the surroundings around them, making for a perfect ability to ambush the unsuspecting Lourians when they arrived.
"So this is the village of the barbaric Qua-Toynians? It looks unkempt." A Lourian soldier could be heard as he said to his commander, one who was riding a horse.
"And so it is. No one seems to be outside. Then let's make them come out. Take their women and slaughter the men and children!"
"Glory to Louria!" The Lourian soldiers raised their swords, with some raising their matchlocks.
As the wild Lourians ran however, they were greeted by the sound of something that was unfamiliar to them.
"Weapons free," The Qua Toyian Captain said.
The sound of AK fire began filling the air, helped by the fact that the Qua Toyians could clearly see where their enemies were: standing in front of the village in straight lines. After a moment though, the Captain ordered the soldiers to stop firing to observe what the Lourians were going to do next.
"Where are those pesky Qua Toyians coming from?-" The Lourian commander was promptly shot off his horse as the last thing he saw before falling was the sight of a bullet.
"Our commander is down! Scramble!" A soldier yelled as he tried to maintain order at a chaotic formation.
"Arquebusiers! Stand in formation and fire!"
The panicked riflemen stood in one large straight line and fired off their volleys into the forest, only to hit tree branches with the inaccurate fire their matchlock rifles delivered.
"Shoot more, damn it you scoundrels! Shoot into the forest!"
One more volley was sent, but did little effect.
"Are they just going to keep firing, sir?" A Qua Toyian soldier asked as he was lying down, PKM at hand.
"Yes, now for the final act. Gunners, you have free will."
The five Gunners who had their PKMs mounted their bipods and looked down their sights. Seeing the panicked Lourians, they open fire, shredding column after column of Lourian troops. By the end of it all, there were only 30 troops remaining.
"Don't let them escape. Encircle them." The Captain ordered.
The Qua Toyian move quickly through the forest onto the road where the remaining Lourians were planning to escape from. The Lourians were hoping that the barbaric Qua Toyians they encountered that somehow had weapons that could kill multiple people with one weapon weren't smart enough to chase them down. Unfortunately, this would not be the case.
"Hands up!" A Qua Toyian soldier said in Spanish as he stood in front of the retreating Lourians with his AKM aimed at the crowd.
"Put down your weapons and surrender!" Another soldier, this time with a PKM, stood beside the first soldier.
"And what will you barbaric people do if we do not? We have more numbers! And look at your clothing, peasants! What is that?" The temporary Lourian commander roared in laughter as he looked at the more modern clothing the Qua Toyians had.
The rest of the 29 Lourians joined in on the laughter, thinking that it was just the two of them coming up to tell to surrender.
"You haven't noticed the rest of us, it seems." The Qua Toyian Captain came up from behind the mass formation and whistled, signaling the rest of the soldiers he had to come out from the bushes, AKMs in hand.
"Oh mierda...(Oh shit)" The Lourian commander cursed in Spanish.
"If I were you, I suggest you put down your arms and surrender peacefully. Otherwise we may have to resort to more...violent and swift solutions."
"Curse you...die!" The Lourian commander pulled out his short sword and tried to stab the Qua Toyian Captain, only to get shot two times, one in the arm and one in the leg.
"Arghh!" Falling down on the dirt floor, he continued his curses.
Seeing the situation to be hopeless, the rest of the formation laid down their arms, throwing down their matchlock rifles, swords, and intended spears on the dirt ground below.
"Hands up!" Another Qua Toyian soldier waved his rifle, signaling hands up as he led the formation back to the forward base the Qua Toyian military constructed near the border.
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Qua Toyian Forward Operating Camp, Zhouqiu, Qua Toyian Principality
Central Calendar 1637, June 27th
"What is Louria planning?" A Qua Toyian officer, a First Lieutenant, wearing a more modern (but considered old for the Vietnamese) blue uniform asked in Spanish.
"Screw you! Why should I answer?" The temporary Lourian commander attempted to keep his pride and spit in the officer's face, however, couldn't as he was being restrained by ropes. The temporary commander was being monitored by the two to make sure the Lourian soldier didn't think of any means of escape.
"He won't break, sir." The Qua Toyian officer turned to a Vietnamese officer, a Senior Lieutenant, while speaking in a heavily accented Vietnamese..
"Very well." Grabbing a plastic chair from the corner, the Senior Lieutenant sat down.
"Do what you need, Lieutenant." The Senior Lieutenant nodded to the First Lieutenant, who was given a taser gun.
"Rõ."
The loud hissing sound of the taser is heard as the Qua Toyian officer fires, aiming at the genitals of the commander, intending to paralyze him to the point where he would break.
"Let me be blunt here, Sergeant. If you don't tell us what Louria is amassing and intending, your family may not be spared in the upcoming war," The Senior Lieutenant said as he stood up and put his hands on the table, intending to get information out no matter what.
Hearing the mention of his family, the commander begins to shiver from his more pride-riden self.
"Now, tell us what you know about your up-coming 'liberation' of the Rodenius continent." The Vietnamese officer was stern in his remarks, looking as if he were thinking of tactics.
"Fine, but don't hurt my family!" The Lourian Sergeant frantically yelled out.
"That will be up to command above, but your sentence should be...more smoother than we were intending to give you." A dark voice could be heard from the Senior Lieutenant, as he turned the questioning back to the Qua Toyian officer.
"What is Louria planning on, exactly? And what did your generals prepare?" Pulling out a paper and pen, he wrote down some information that they already knew.
"A liberation campaign to cleanse the continent of demi-humans, traitorous humans and other barbarians. The generals above are buying more advanced wyverns and better wooden ships than the great Kingdom of Louria once had."
"And how large are these wooden ships?"
"65 leagues."
"That's about 60 meters," The Qua Toyian First Lieutenant said as he turned to the Senior Lieutenant, who nodded in return.
"Quite large ship. How many guns?"
"64 guns..." By now the Lourian soldier was getting tired due to the lack of sleep being in a "sub-human" cell.
"And how many were bought or given by the Parpaldians so far?"
"69."
The Qua Toyian officer facepalmed himself before chuckling softly.
"It's the funny number, isn't it?" The Vietnamese officer was smirking at the remark.
Unfortunately, the Lourian soldier didn't get the joke.
"Very well, that concludes today's questioning. The guards will escort you back to your cell. And get some sleep.
And so concludes the first border "incident" between the Lourians and Qua Toyians, a disaster for the former.
A/N: And that is all for chapter 7! Hope you enjoyed!
Equipment featured in this chapter:
-K-56T Body Armor
-SSh-68 Helmet
-AKM Assault Rifle