Kablankst, Eastern Coast , Estaria.
99th Border Division
1700 Hours
A pair of observers sat in their small bunker of sorts, gazing out to sea as the fog was beginning to set in. "What do you think, Comrade?"
"About?" The other man sighed. "The whole... storm? Hmph. It doesn't bother me. The task is the same."
"Sergey..." The first soldier snorted. "We do not know what is out there, and as such, it does affect us."
"Vladimir, you worry too much. Even if there is something out there, we have always came out on top." Sergey chuckled before lighting up a smoke.
Vladimir sighed before bringing up a pair of Binoculars to his eyes before frowning. "Something's in the fog..."
Sergey shook his head before bringing his rifle to his eye, looking into the scope before snuffing out his smoke. "Inform command." "Sir!" Vladimir started to reach for the radio before distant booms were heard.
The pair waited for a few seconds before the surrounding land exploded as eight large caliber shells landed, causing the fortification to collapse in from the shock-waves, the pair falling unconscious as they were not exactly the best recruits, nor experienced at all.
Fifteen minutes later, the first foreign soldiers made landfall in the port town of Kablankst, docking with no resistance from the local garrison. The 3rd Legion of the Grand Alliance, along with the over 100 ships of the 3rd Fleet, has unwittingly invaded a sleeping bear.
As the Garrison withdrew from the port town, they, by all means, were still prepared to fight. But with only 5,000 conscripts who were poorly armed and had no armored, artillery, or air support, they stood no real chance in the field. Which is why they withdrew five kilometers inland to an old fortress, known by the name of The Serbian Shield.
This fortress is almost as old as Estaria herself, but she was not built by the Estarians. But the fortress, after a prolonged war of resistance, surrendered and became pivotal to the defensive lines of the Far East.
Standing against the 5,000 Conscripts of the 99th Border Division was the entirety of the Third Legion of the Alliance. Over 50,000 soldiers, well equipped by Alliance Standards, with over 100 Siege Tanks, 200 Artillery pieces, and supported by a Gunship and its accompanying Aircraft group.
Muskovy
1750 Hours
"Comrade President! We are being invaded by an unknown force in the east! The 99th has already suffered casualties, but they are planning to hold until reinforcements." A Military officer stated, looking expectantly at his Commander-in-Chief.
Nonna remained silent for a moment before turning to face the officer. "Tell them that we will be organizing a counter-attack. Until relieved, they are to hold the enemy if able, and if not, delay them as much as possible. As to which units to send, notify the Far East Corps, as well as the Far East Fleet and the Far East Air Defense Wing. They will lead the operations there." The Officer saluted before leaving the room.
The Serbian Shield
99th Border Division
2200 Hours
The final preparations were made as they got orders. Hold until unable. Translated in essence to 'Hold to the last man', an order that was given often at major defensive points or major cities in the Great War, often to mixed results immediately.
The Conscripts, while not enthused before into being brought into the Red Army unwillingly, were more than willing to fight to the end to defend their Motherland. They even brought up the old arsenal of cannons within to provide close range artillery support. Trenches on the ground were manned, and the best marksmen on the ramparts with those of the artillery crews.
Over a kilometer away, the invaders prepared. The various soldiers, having spent the afternoon marching and hauling the heavy artillery, were setting up camp for the night, as well as rudimentary trenches and stakes.
Far East Command, 350 Kilometers Away
0500 Hours, March 22nd
The Far East Strategic Airbase was host to over 300 aircraft, mainly the MiGs and Su ground attack aircraft. The early dawn has not broke the horizon yet, but the Red Air Force wasn't going to wait until dawn to begin sending aircraft into the air.
Nearby, the Far East Corps was already moving out. Over 500 T-55s, 1,000 BMPS, and over 50,000 troops were mounting up and moving along the main roads to the east. They were supported on the ground by mobile mortar teams and Self-Propelled Guns, with CAS expected to assist in direct fire if either options were not available.
The skies over The Serbian Shield
0735 Hours
The skies were clear over the fortress, weather wise. The wind blew softly, to be inconsequential to air operations, and only a minor nuisance in long ranged gunnery. but the presence of an Airship, something that is straight out of Science-Fiction to the Estarians, was a center of attention. Swarming around it was 50 gyrocopters, the only mechanican aircraft that could reliably be recovered and launched from said gunship at the time. They were armed with unguided rockets and had rudimentary machine guns for engagements.
On the ground, the siege engines and artillery were advancing with infantry screening. On the flanks of the 3rd Legion were the Heavy Cavalry, which had no real use in fortress assaults, but instead were sorted for scouting for incoming reinforcements.
The battle came in earnest as the cannons of the fortress opened up, giving the first defiance in terms of resistance to the invasion. Before long, as the invaders got closer, the marksmen opened up, taking some of the infantry out of the fight. But the threat of the Gyrocopters and the Gunship made themselves apparent as the gunship fired upon the fortress in general as her air compliment made surgical strikes, destroying what little artillery scrounged up by the garrison in quick order.
The Alliance artillery began firing towards the fortress as the siege engines began to suppress the Estarians in their trenches. The charge of the infantry turned it into the trenches, forcing a melee, which the Legion had the advantage. With the combined arms of the assault, the conscripts continued fighting for a few hours, first being pushed back out of their own trenches, onto the battlements, to the main castle.
"We hold to the last man for the Motherland! Make these invaders pay for the defilement of our lands!" An NCO spoke openly, with the remaining conscripts yelled out an 'URA' before they charged forward, firing away in the general direction of the outside.
The last charge of the 99th, albeit valorous, though foolish, caused the last remnants of the unit to be slaughtered by the 3rd Legion. The shock of the sudden resistance and overall resilience to the end in defense, despite being outnumbered 10 to 1 and by all measures outgunned and matched.
By 1230 hours, the Lion was flying above the keep, instead of the Red Bear. And the interior areas not destroyed by the fighting were used to treat the wounded. The dead, on the other hand, were essentially dumped into the trenches that were made by the defenders before the slow process of burying them began.
75 Kilometers East of the Serbian Shield
1400 Hours
The leading elements of the Corps slowly came to a stop as they received the reports of the fortress's capture. With the revelation of the fall, the Corps began to move off the roads and assemble a broad front. The general strategy was to steamroll the invader into the sea, and then ready up for a potential counter-invasion, at least when they find where the invaders came from, barring negotiations that put off such plans indefinitely.
In the air, the first wing of MiGs arrived on station, having been kept back to provide air cover for the elongating supply lines, and now given the go-ahead to begin offensive operations.
In the skies over the fallen fortress, four MiG-19s arrived on station before banking over to engaged a group of Gyrocopters that strayed away from the pack. While fast and having the energy and element of surprise, only one of the Gyrocopters were downed as the MiGs overshot and missed most of their targets.
This, in turn, alerted the Alliance of enemy aircraft in the area, or at least in strike distance of their forward forces. But indirectly informed the Alliance that enemy forces were most likely nearby, or otherwise why would the enemy try to contest the air.
With the first probe of the MiGs leaving the area, the Red Air Force learned that they had a technological edge, but perhaps too big of an advantage. The speed advantage only ended up giving the pilots a very short window to accurately land their shots.
The Su-7s, on the other hand, having the Gyrocopters been distracted by the attacked of the MiGs, were open to hit their targets. A total of fourteen Su-7s initiated runs upon the Legion's war machines, seeing them as both easy targets, but also necessary. With the run, eleven siege tanks were knocked out or destroyed, and the Alliance were forced to halt their advance to secure the air above them with the help of the Gyrocopters.
Ten more Su-7s soon entered the airspace without escort before moving to start their runs. Without escort, and being slower than the MiGs on their runs, three Su-7s were shot down by Gyrocopters, but two Su-7s hit two artillery batteries, knocking them out for a few hours.
With the final sortie, the Estarian Air Force focused on flying above the army as they planned an overwhelming attack on the Alliance Air Force.
Casualties(Alliance):
4,568 Troops
11 Siege Tanks
2 Artillery Pieces
1 Gyrocopter
Casualties(Estaria):
5,012 Troops
3 CAS Su-7s
12 Artillery Pieces
The First contact with the Alliance is cold to say the least. Now the reason why I have presented the numbers as such for the alliance is as follows:
1. Give the Alliance a fighting chance
2. It is implied that Azeroth is much bigger than what is represented by World of Warcraft, so badum.
3. The Horde will get the same treatment
4. The Technology levels are varying in the Alliance, with gunships and early aircraft, though main infantry are heavily armored soldiers along with mechanized units, so there you go.
Anywho, have fun and enjoy!