In a still rudimentary outpost at the gateway in the region that nobody knows the name of, at least for now. Supplies are being dropped from the trucks of either a Khermash 5350 or a Yurod 4320
They dropped vital supplies such as ammo for any kind of weapons here, whether it be your average infantryman rifle or a 30mm autocannon of the BMPs, and of course, food. Trucks that carry any kind of supplies are essential for an army survival and effectiveness, and so they were well respected by the troops.
Zinon is watching the humble truckers unload the cargo for the soldiers stationed here, as boxes of whatever is inside were carried to the base. As he is standing there observing, someone tapped him to his shoulder.
"Oi Zinon" said the senior rifleman, Danya "You know what this place's name is? Since you're from this world and all?"
He thinks for a bit, looking slightly upward before turn his eyes back.
"It's Adastra" said Zinon "Why do you ask me this?"
"Ah thank you, our guys were wondering for awhile now" was Danya's reply "Well, I won't bothering you for long so see you later, yeah?"
The North-Eastern Agranian defector nodded before then, the senior rifleman walks away from him, and Zinon is now alone, back to observing the scenery.
For the time being, the Newberslawnian Ground Forces are focusing on getting things for their troops to fight and material to build a base in the future. Construction has not begun yet as it has been believed that the area is still not safe yet.
Were they right about this one? Maybe, maybe not, no one knows yet and only time will tell...
...
2 weeks later
South-West Agrania, near Adastra
An impressive army of 120,000 troops of various vassal states have banded together with one goal in mind: To push this invader out of the land of Agrania for once and for all. Many had contributed their forces to this combined army, the vast majority of which are Tiragliuan and Norvatian troops.
They gather around the war camp, where the Imperium Army had previously plan out the strategy for the great conquest of the world beyond. Now it is used for strategies to defeat the invading army of the other side.
"So, let us get into the planning" said the king of Norvatia "From the words of our scout, their numbers are about as much as eight thousand men, that means we have the advantage of numbers by 15 times!"
The Tiragliuan Duke nodded.
"What are you suggesting us to do?" he said.
"Well my dear friend Manu, I suggest that we charge in with full force, they will be overwhelmed by our sheer number"
"It's a good strategy King Kliment, but I must advise caution with this force we are facing. 20,000 troops wasn't enough to inflict even one loss to them!"
"Don't you worry Manu, we have the numbers to do that, now let us not waste time and take the fight to them shall we?"
The Duke was a bit reluctant at first, but then he just nodded to the idea upon seeing others seemingly being on board with it.
"Very well then, my troops and others will reinforce yours as you will be taking the lead"
King Kiliment couldn't help but crack a laugh of approval.
"Very well then my friend, we will be waiting for you!"
...
Yaroslav jumps down to a trench built up along the Western side of the Adastra outpost. There he finds his squad already there setting up machine gun position and grenade launcher along the line.
"Senior Sergeant" said one of his squad members.
"Yefreytor" Yaroslav replied in acknowledgement "How are things going so far?"
"We're doing great, thanks for asking"
"I see then..."
As things are getting sorted out by the boots on the ground and BMPs being in the trench already, the radio sounded out to life.
"Surveillance unit spotted massive troops movement to the West, possibly hostile, over"
In the Western side of the Adastran mountains, snipers were placed interspersed along the grasslands near road paths to the region. Signs have been set up in Newbian* and Agranian, translated by a certain Agranian defector.
"Have they cross one of our lines?"
"Negative, they're just approaching it, over"
"Copy that, continue to watch them"
"Roger that, out"
Yaroslav sighed to the radio transmission he overheard, before shifting his attention back to the Corporal of his squad.
"Well... I guess things would be harder from here on out" said the Senior Sergeant.
"Yep, I've been here for only a day and already I'm missing the snow"
"I understand how you feel right now, but alas, we have to follow orders from Command for one reason or another"
"Orders my ass man, I don't think I could send even a letter out" then the Corporal looked away to a faraway sky and let out a deep breath.
"Don't worry, I'll get your words out whenever you need..."
The Yefreytor turned back to Yaroslav, slightly wide-eyed.
"You sure?"
The Senior Sergeant just nodded in silence. It would take a few seconds before the Yefreytor reach for the hidden pocket of his load-bearing vest, getting a piece of paper out before handing it to Yaroslav.
"Send my regards to my sister back home, and make sure it doesn't also end up in my mother's hand"
Yaroslav would take the paper out of the Corporal's hand.
"Will do, take care of yourself yeah?"
"You too, Senior Sergeant"
Yaroslav would turn around and start walking back to the outpost, climbing back up to the undug soil, while the Corporal continued on working on the trench along with other elements of their unit.
It's still a bit early, but the Newberslawnians are already at their busiest stage since they first stepped into this land now that news of an approaching army broke out.
...
The Norvatian troops marched and marched along the road to Adastra, as foot soldiers and horses form an extremely formidable formations in huge numbers. The Norvatian Vassal Army is by far the biggest of what the other Agranian vassal has, only beaten by the Agranian Imperium Army.
As they lead the way for the coalition forces, they stumbled across a big white sign that wasn't there before. The leader of the Norvatian forces, King Kliment, who is on his horse accompanied by a group of cavalry troops would approach this sign.
It said something in a language no one understands with a totally different alphabet, but under that is what is perhaps that but in Agranian. It reads:
"If you see this sign, TURN BACK IMMEDIATELY!
The area beyond this sign is the Armed Forces of the Newberslawnian Federation's area of control. Anyone who goes past this sign and fails to turn around will be considered hostile, therefore giving the AFNF the authority to terminate any trespasser."
The sign is clearly a warning to not approach further into the territory of what they call themselves: The Armed Forces of the Newberslawnian Federation. Now they do know the invaders from the other side of the gate is Newberslawnia, but then another question arises.
'What kind of country is a Federation?' thought the King of Norvatia as many would also have the same question as he does. That question would turn out to matter less as the soldiers would turn to the King.
"Your majesty" said one of the soldiers "What shall we do about this?"
The Norvatian King immediately answered:
"Take it down, and burn it, it shall send a clear message to these so-called Newberslawnians!"
His troops did not hesitate to comply with the order, with the sign being plucked and thrown into the ground, before one lit up a torch, with a clear intent. He turns his eyes to King Kliment, who would nod his head, signaling him to do the deeds.
The torch would be thrown onto the sign which set it on fire, and Norvatian troops cheered on as the fire would engulf the sign. Unbeknownst to them however, there is something out there, watching the whole thing happening.
"Конечно... они не стали слушать"
...
The forces approaching Adastra is now considered hostile. According to a recon unit, the advancing troops plucked the sign out of the ground and burned it with a torch before continuing.
The greenlight to engage this forces is now given, now it's how they would carry out the engagement... Hang on let me think for a bit... What could they use to eliminate the threat?
KA-CHAK
Ah yes, why using anything other than the good old howitzers?
It may be a relic of the 1960s, but it's a resilient one in that it's still used by many countries, including Newberslawnia. This artillery system is still perhaps one of the most dangerous shell-lobbing weapon to face out there, and Agrania will have a taste of exactly that.
"Have we got the coordinates checked out?"
"Uh... Yep! We got the coordinates alright"
The howitzers are already at a stage where they are ready to fire with the 122mm shells in the breech and the artillery being aimed according to the coordinates given by reconnaissance. All they had to do now, is send it in. Ropes are tied to the firing lever, it's not in the manual but it's now a thing for the soldiers to not have their ears ringing.
"We got it now!"
"Ready!"
"Wait... Wait a bit..." as one would look on a monitor showing what the drone sent there see "Almost there... FIRE!"
The gunner pulls on the rope, and there goes a shell coming out of the barrel of the howitzers, with others following suit. The breech and barrel recoils backward then returning to its position again, finally ejecting the spent shell casing out of the breech.
...
Zinon was startled by the sudden almost simultaneous explosions coming from where the gateway is. Questions started to arise in his mind, as to what it could've been. But what's even more mind-boggling than that is his Newberslawnian counterparts doing business as usual.
Some just slowly turned to the source before going back doing whatever they were doing, and some outright ignores it like in the case of Pyotr the BMP driver, Danya the senior rifleman, and the gunner-operator of the squad. All 3 of them were playing cards when that happened.
"H-How can you be so calm?" he asked three of them "Don't you know there are explosions at the gateway?"
"That's just our 122mm howitzers doing their thing, nothing serious" said Danya, which left him confused. Apparently they knew it was caused by their own forces, and judging by their reactions, it happens really often.
"What's an howitzer?"
"So Zinon" said the gunner-operator "You know what a bomb is right?"
Zinon nodded to the question.
"And you know bigger makes big explosion yes?"
Once again, the defector from the Imperium Army nodded.
"Now imagine a giant crossbow of some kind that throws that from far away"
Zinon's mind was blown away. The Newberslawnians were able to produce a ballista of some kind that can deliver explosives from far away with a resounding sound of explosion when firing.
BANG
"Annnnnnd there they go again" said Pyotr before he turns to the gunner-operator "Say Timur, how are you able to explain that to an ancient soldier?"
"Some running in circles with idiots probably helped"
...
The Norvatian forces kept on marching and still no sign of the Newberslawnian forces. It seems that their threat of "terminating" their forces is nothing but a bluff. Sounds of footstep resonates within the path as they kept moving forward cheerfully knowing that these Newberslawnians won't even touch them.
It is perhaps because of the numbers they have that the Newberslawnians seemed to have refused to face them in a fight. If it was true, then it is a good day for King Kliment on his horseback, smiling as his horse walks with the Vassal Army.
But for some reason, while he doesn't know if it's the sixth sense or not, something felt a bit off. These 'Newberslawnians' aren't showing their faces could be for a reason. Nevertheless he must move on to what is destined.
And out of nowhere, a noise in the air is heard. It sounded like blowing in wind, but no wind is felt through the body, if there was one in the first place. Upon closer inspection in hearing, it seems like it's getting slightly louder.
Then came the loudest point: a whistle, and the unthinkable.
KABOOM
"WHAT THE-?!"
The hills of Adastra erupted into sudden series of explosions, wiping out each of the grouped formations as the explosions progresses along the path. For those who were ahead, they never had time to react to such phenomenon, and for those that came later, it's too late for them anyways.
The explosions sent the Norvatian King's helmet into the skies as he was knocked off of his horse. The once mighty force of Norvatia is now a thing of the past, of history, in a blink of an eye.
...
"By the gods..."
The face of horrors is seen on Duke of Tiragliua. Manu was leading the troops to reinforce his Norvatian counterparts, only to find them wiped from the face of the earth as the hill had erupted with no warning whatsoever.
The eruption initially scared his horse as it was extremely loud before Manu was able to regain control of his stead. The Duke would take awhile to regain composure, before he would be back in business.
"Both of you" he pointed to the two cavalry troops who are accompanying him "Follow me"
The three horses began to walk to the site of eruption, and what a terrible sight indeed. The ground had turned black in many cases, with craters being formed in the aftermath and most importantly, no one seems to have made it out of the ordeal.
This sends a clear message to the Tiragliuan, the warning to terminate any trespassers is NOT a bluff, and they can do that pretty easily without even directly exposing themselves, not even once.
"What shall we do my liege?" said one of the cavalry soldiers with Manu. The duke stares into the the series of bodies, weapons and armors, or at least what remains of them.
"Retreat, we cannot sit here and meet the same fate as Kliment"
They had no choice but to comply, not only because Duke Manu is their commander-in-chief here but also because what they had seen. The Tiragliuans and subsequently other armies of other vassals pull out of the area.
The 1st offensive, which would also be named the Battle of A Minute owing to how short the engagment was, is a decisive victory for the otherworldly invader. Sure, they were extremely humiliated as the alliance is determined to avenge this, but they could not do that without a new plan, else they would end up the same as the 37,000 Norvatian troops
...
"Did we get them?"
The artilleries' fire mission had been completed, but they have yet to see the results for themselves. The mission purpose is to not only eliminate the leading edge of the attack but also deter more of it. An artillerist who was watching the monitor this whole time raised a thumbs up, signalling that they had done it.
The same other guy grabs the radio upon seeing that thumb.
"Aye, good fucking job you all!"
...
22/4/977, 1 day after the Battle of A Minute
The atmosphere is now more unsettling for these leaders, especially whatever had happened yesterday. With the absence of the King of Norvatia, it just feels surreal and sad for everyone in the camp.
Although most don't know much about him outside of what is said in public, King Kliment was one of them nonetheless, and they were more hellbent in avenging such dishonorable act of the so-called Newberslawnian Federation than before.
"As you have seen, Kliment and his forces had perished in a series of eruption" said Duke Manu of Tiragliua "It's a tragedy indeed, but we must not seethe any longer, we must avenge the King so his sacrifice will not be in vain..."
The others were silent, but nevertheless, they knew what they were in for.
"Their eruption magic maybe powerful, but they're unlikely to hit something that flies, and so I suggest this: We send in all of our wyverns so that they could rain hell on these invaders while ground troops will move in to destroy their army"
Duke Manu is still a bit cautious about this forces named 'Armed Forces of the Newberslawnian Federation', but he believes that they won't have anything to deal with the wyverns. After all, it's Agrania that only has them and what had helped them dominate the continent.
The vassal leaders began to talk with each other, discussing about the plan. From the words that came out of their mouth, it seems to him that they agree to such a plan. One of them would turn back to the Tiragliuan Duke.
"It's an excellent plan, I see success in it"
Manu nodded in acknowledgement, with the strategy having been approved for a go-ahead.
"If no one has any objection, we will go out by sunrise"
...
Two Shilkas that were near the trenches turn around and get back to base, and the ones that would replace them is another pair of Shilkas. It's just another rotations of assets that happen to maintain combat efficiencies lest they come again.
The new pair passes by the older one, and a voice was transmitted through the radio.
"We'll take it from here from now on, take a good rest boys"
A bit of time after the Shilkas cross each other would pass, and the new pair would spread out, going into their respective positions. Together they join the other 3 Shilkas on the line, with the radar slowly but surely going up to its combat position.
As soon as it's up, the radar began to spin, scanning any areas surrounding it. The monitor on the radar operator side of things would also follow the the rotations as the 'string' would go through cycles through cycles.
The Newberslawnian forces here is on high-alert for what happened last time the Agranian forces crossed the lines. It's still early morning, but they're still focused, so focused in fact, that they might not be able to realize an hour passing by.
They looked out for anything suspicious, whether far away or close by... if they could even get this close.
"Is it just me or there's aerial contacts on radar?"
Just right after that radio transmission, the string sweeps the front arc of the Shilka. Lo and behold, it pinged multiple contacts in the skies.
"I see them too"
As the clusters of contact moved closer and closer to their location, the 'Shilka Line' is just waiting. Waiting for what? For further details.
"Confirmation from observation units, they're hostile flying lizards"
"They never learn do they?"
With a good and crystal clear confirmation, the only thing to do now is to-
"LET 'EM RIP-"
Kree-BRARARARARARARARARARA...
Well... guess they already did it anyways...
...
An obscene number of light flew the mountains and into the wyverns as an unbelievable number of them are taken down within a second. The troops and commanders alike looked in horror as to what just unfolded in front of their eyes, some cursed to themselves.
"Damn it! They had effective anti-Wyvern magic this whole time!"
"We shouldn't have send in all wyverns!"
"You doomed us Manu!"
Just then, small but loud and rapid explosions erupted at the front of the advancing troops, the same old light from before would also hit from behind. The Vassals soldiers that survived the initial seconds quickly brought up their shields... only to find them of no use.
The light projectiles would punch through, hell even break up the shields into smaller pieces as the battle quickly turns into one-sided massacre. Dukes and kings alike would also not so lucky as they were killed off by the unknown projectiles.
...
The sound of the machine guns firing around the same time resonates with the hills above these old-fashioned army. It's a thing that the Newberslawnian troops used to suffer from, but now it's their turn on those hills.
"Burst fires guys! Don't overheat the fucking guns!"
These 3 machine guns of 2 different calibers, alongside the light support weapons and the standard issue rifles of the Army would make a quick work of the swathes of enemy troops down there.
"Why is it not firing?!" as one of the machine gunners on the HMG wonders to himself as the weapon refuses to fire even after reloading. The same guy would open up the top cover before immediately blankly staring into what's directly in front of him, with a neutral face.
Turns out he aligned the belt wrong.
In the heat of battle, in the excitement of all, it had to be ruined by something as simple as not correctly loading the belt. Oh well, mistakes happen all the time. The gunner would snap back to reality afterwards and finally get the belt right, slap the cover shut and pull on the charging cord, and now he's able to fire again.
(For those who's wondering, NSV apparently uses a rather unique cord design for pulling the bolt back)
The other contingents at the other parts of the hills were also not in for even a hard battle, as it was pretty much impossible to break through the ambushes of the Federations. The guns of different type would reverberates on the rocks and grass of Adastra, and the bodies fell afterward.
With the battle being essentially turned into a black cauldron of death, the 2nd offensive would too ended in Newberslawnian victory and the vassals gaining nothing but 12,000 casualties alongside 100 wyverns shot down.
...
THUMP
23/4/977
Duke Manu of Tiragliua has now been pushed into a brink of insanity. In the first time, the forces he was supposed to reinforce had been completely annihilated by some eruption magics, and in the second time, the entire wyvern corps were killed off along with another armies and leaders being taken off the picture.
Heavy breath are heard through out the room with the surviving vassal leaders, all demoralized from what had happened the last two times. The Duke also wasn't having any of it either, as he again devises a plan after awhile of seething.
"New plan, we will attack at night" said the Tiragliuan Duke "We will step quietly to approach, and then we will launch our attacks. That way those Newberslawnians would be caught off-guard and they would finally be destroyed!"
"No, no no NO!" shouted out one of the other leaders in the camp "I will NOT send my troops in there ever!"
The words that came after was a shock to many. Previously, because of how powerful Tiragliua is, many weaker vassals would often try to appease them. But now, it seems that even Tiragliua now isn't safe from opposition.
"Duke Vince, of all the people here... you dare oppose this plan?!"
"That is correct my dear friend Manu" said the Duke of Scindia "The soldiers of Scindia, will not join you in this next attack"
Manu was obviously furious for this rebellious act of Vince, and he was about to say a word... only for the Scindian Duke to continue.
"You know why? Because of the last-2-times!" as he also bangs the table three times for the last three words "Kliment was killed in the magic eruption of the Adastra Hills, all of our wyverns are shot down. And yet, I swear to the Gods above us, this isn't all that these Newberslawnians are capable of!"
"That's just blasphemy!" yelled the Tiragliuan Duke "At night, it would be dark, and it's hard to see anything at the first place, and these Newberslawnians wouldn't have the ability to see in the dark so clearly!"
"Duke Manu... as much as I like you as a fellow vassal monarch... when was the last time you said they can't hit wyverns?"
The Tiragliuan was beyond words after that, he had no way to refute that.
"That's right... for the things we tried, they always have the perfect counter. The eruption magic, the rapid crossbow of light, and the anti-wyverns of light. Don't you see my dear friends? The more we walk into their territory, the more we would lose, regardless of what we do"
The other leaders in the room seems to have sided with Scindia. It's clear they don't to go anymore. Tiragliua was all alone in this one.
"Fine then... but you will regret it, I can assure that..."
...
Soldiers are still at the trench to the North of the Adastra Outpost. They're standing guard today for the night while others do their works in the night.
"Of all places, of all time, why here and night?" mumbled one of the Newberslawnian soldiers "Why not West where there is more action?"
"Hey cut it" said Yaroslav "West may have good amount of action but what if they decided to go around?"
"I... Good point"
Two of the attack attempts all came from the West of the outpost, but that doesn't mean Agrania couldn't use other direction. And just for the safety of all personnel at the base, troops had been placed to cover every direction where they could come from.
"But the thing is, it's still night" the soldier continued "How are we supposed to see anything at this time without much light?!"
And then, the skies suddenly lit up in yellow. Yaroslav looked up to see what it was, only to see the stars above them slowly falling to the ground.
"Well there's your answer..." as the Senior Sergeant would later bring out his binocular and looked through the lens. And there they are, Agranian soldiers in confusion, under the bright stars in a supposedly dark skies. Actually wait, they look a bit different here...
"Eh, doesn't matter" as he would put away his binocular "Hey Ivan!"
The soldier from before upon hearing his name turns his attention back to his commanding officer.
"You want action? Well here's your action! Just light them up!"
The soldier could not help but crack a chuckle as he slowly turns his head back to where his HMG is aiming at.
"With pleasure comrade"
...
The Tiragliuans were absolutely bewildered by the sudden appearance of the small bright suns. Before they had took small steps to keep quiet to blend in with the dark night, but these suns decided to make them stand out like a sore thumb.
"Oh dear..." said the Duke realizing his plans have been compromised "MEN! CHARGE FOR TIRAGLIUA!"
The Tiragliuan Vassal Army began to charge at the Newberslawnian lines, only to be met with the dreaded projectiles of light. Cavalries and infantry were brought down in massive numbers in such a short time.
The morale were diminished, but they were still kept together, thanks to the fact that Duke Manu is charging with them, as his horse gallops along the path. In an absurd amount of luck, he managed to avoid the lines of light, but it seems that luck wouldn't last long.
His horse was caught in some kind of metal curled up barriers, upon contact, the horse got hurt and launched the duke out front.
"DUKE MANU! WE'RE COMING FOR YOU!" as his troops would also cross the barriers. Upon getting through the barriers they would employ a tortoise formation around the Duke.
"You fools! You're making us a bigger target to them!" and as it turns out, he was right. The shields had no hope in stopping the projectiles, it just cut through it cleanly and smoothly, as if it was non-existent in the first place.
The formation fell apart, and all those that were dead in a moment's notice. He's breathing heavily once again, contemplating to the ground, seemingly out of his mind.
"Haha... hahaha... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he maniacally laughed "Of course... Agrania only sent us here to die... Curse you Emperor Cassius... Curse you all of the Imperial Family!"
The Tiragliuan Duke has given up the hope to deal at least one casualties on the Newberslawnian sides to avenge Kliment of Norvatia. He would then stand up and walked forward, dropping all his weapons in the process. The Duke now stands in front of the pile of bodies.
"END ME, NEWBERSLAWNIANS!" he yelled across the hill "For I... must redeem myself in the afterlife... for the mistakes I have done over the past 2 days..."
His wish was then fulfilled, as three bullets of 5.45 struck his chest, ending his life as the last thing he would see is the little suns and the moon fading away in his eyes.
...
The gunner is panting. Adrenaline ran quickly through his veins as he shot many of the charging ancient soldiers, coupled with the reloading that saw the guy throwing a lot of the spent boxes to the ground.
As the barrel makes the air between the iron sights hazy and the illuminating shells fade, Ivan laughs as he would glance over to the Senior Sergeant with his scoped rifle.
"I'm not gonna lie, that's gotta be the most fun I had"
Yaroslav nodded to his words.
"Still think we should be in the West?"
"No, not anymore, place me anywhere near those bitches' controlled territory and I'll let it rip"
The Senior Sergeant smiled, giving Ivan a little pat to the shoulder twice.
"Maybe in the future if we decides to go further..."
...
Tell me what's the definition of insanity?
(31/10/2023): Fixed some fk ups in formatting and a single spelling error