Leifor-Mu Empire border
A few hours before that.
The Mu Empire set up many border posts along the Leifor-Mu Empire border. The posts were equipped with radios, telephones and armed with machine guns, and around them were various mines that were controlled from the post.
It was still mid-afternoon. The soldiers stationed at guard post number A24 were resting after they had eaten lunch and checked the equipment at the post. The number of military personnel stationed there was only 8 people, or one squad. Although their post is quite small, there is enough protection. The post was made of a thick prefabricated cement wall with sand piles around and on top of it. The door of the post was at the back, so it could protect them.
Although they were still relaxing, two men remained on guard, manning the 12.7mm machine gun located in a small window overlooking the border. In front of them for nearly 100 meters was a grass field. The entire border of the Leifor-Mu Empire had now been made into a grass field, making it impossible for surprise attacks from hiding soldiers.
Suddenly, they were startled by an explosion that occurred not far in front of the post. All the soldiers who had been relaxing outside immediately headed inside the post and took up their respective positions. All the weapons that were not manned were immediately manned. Two people were busy stacking ammunition around the machine gun.
For a while, nothing was seen, but two more explosions were heard. These were undoubtedly artillery shells. The post leader immediately pressed the emergency button connected to the center and picked up the receiver that was directly connected to the sector command center.
"Command, we are under attack. We haven't seen the enemy yet, just artillery fire." The post leader said this over the phone. The phone was connected directly to the local command headquarters. In addition to using the phone, the post also had a radio to be able to contact the local command headquarters.
"Hang on there, we'll give you a hand soon!" came the reply from the command center.
The soldiers there could only hold on while holding their weapons. The post was equipped with three 12.7mm machine guns and regular rifles. All weapons were now visible in each of the designated windows, ready to fire at any enemy in sight.
For some time, there was no enemy in sight, only the occasional explosion of artillery shells. But after waiting for more than 10 minutes, a column of infantry and a number of tanks emerged from the vegetation and moved towards them at the edge of the meadow. The post leader immediately activated all the mines. The mines were made to be activated only from the post so that, under normal conditions, they would not interfere with civilians coming to or going to Leifor.
Gra Valkas Tank (Similar to Type 97 Chi-Ha Medium Tank)
Along with the infantry that took cover behind the tanks, the tanks moved slowly but surely across the border and into Mu Empire territory.
The explosion caused the entire column of tanks and infantry to stop and begin firing at the guard post. The close proximity caused many bullets to hit. Fortunately, the post on the side facing the border was not only made of thick concrete but also covered with soil and sandbags, so the heavy fire did not cause any damage to the post for the time being.
The Mu soldiers inside the guard post also did not remain silent. They began to open fire on the entire column. The 12.7mm machine gun not only fired regular rounds but also contained AP rounds as well. The 10–25mm armor protecting Gra Valkas' tanks could not completely protect them from the 12.7mm AP rounds that can penetrate a 25mm armored plate at a distance of 90 meters.
More than 10 rounds fired by two 12.7mm machine guns penetrated the body of a Gra Valkas tank. As a result, the driver and a gunner were shot dead, and splinters of steel penetrated by the bullets wounded two other crew members. The tank stopped on the spot. The wounded crew opened the tank hatch and tried to get out, but when they got out, they were very exposed to the fire coming from Mu Empire's side. As a result, only one could survive, taking cover behind the tank.
The Gra Valkas soldiers immediately took cover behind their tanks and fired back at the guard post. However, the bolt-action rifles of the Gra Valkas soldiers were not fast enough to fire at the outpost before the 12.7mm machine guns and semi-automatic rifles of the Mu Empire fired at them. A number of soldiers who did not move fast enough to take cover fell victim to the 12.7mm and 7.62mm bullets coming from the weapons of the Mu Empire soldiers.
After 3 of its tanks were out of action due to: 1 being hit by a mine and 2 being hit by 12.7mm rounds, as well as nearly 30 casualties, the column of enemy troops slowly returned to their flanks. For the time being, the attack of Gra Valkas has been successfully repelled!
The same thing happened at many guard posts on the Leifor-Mu Empire border. As of now, all attacks from the Gra Valkas have been successfully repelled. However, not all attacks can be repelled 100%, some posts have been damaged because the attacks from the Gra Valkas are so intensive.
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Sector J-1 Command Center
The leader of a sector consisting of 20 guard posts is commanded by a major. Guard Post A24 was a guard post under the command of Sector J-1. This morning, the major in charge of the command center was away, his deputy, Captain Kalles, was leading the command center while reading the reports. Captain Kalles was very anxious, given the warning from the center about the activity of the Gra Valkas troops in Leifor.
Suddenly, there was tremendous activity. All of the communications officers were busy with calls coming in simultaneously to the command center. This caused the normally quiet command center to become extremely busy.
"Captain, we have reports from almost all border posts that Gra Valkas is invading Mu Empire territory! They're requesting assistance to deal with it." Said an officer who ran up to Captain Kalles.
"Report this to a higher level. Prepare our artillery and also send additional troops according to procedure!" ordered Captain Kelles.
"Yes, captain." The officer said.
On the map displayed on the wall of the room that depicted the territory they controlled and the location of all the guard posts, the posts were marked red, which meant they were under attack. But until now, no outpost had been given a black mark, meaning it had been successfully destroyed by the enemy.
"I hope we can survive this time." Captain Kelles said to himself.
Meanwhile, the order to mobilize was relayed to the nearby military camp, which was also in the complex where the command center was located, causing the camp to be alive with activity. Military trucks began to start up, and a large number of soldiers began to line up to pick up equipment and then head towards the trucks. Elsewhere, artillery cannons could be seen being prepared to be taken to other positions outside the camp or placed in firing positions towards the Leifor-Mu Empire border. Likewise, AA guns or batteries were also being prepared.
In less than an hour, all the carefully rehearsed preparations were completed. All vehicles had gone to their respective destinations, and the military camp was quiet again, but all personnel were ready if needed.
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Guard Post A24
A truck arrived at post A24 carrying a number of additional soldiers who reinforced the existing soldiers at the guard post. The 8 soldiers constituted 2 mortar gunner groups who immediately set up their 81mm mortars at the rear of the post, where they were protected from direct fire from the border. Another eight soldiers carrying an additional 12.7mm machine gun and two 7.62mm machine guns immediately entered the guardhouse to place their machine guns in the prepared positions.
They prepared for a follow-up attack from Gra Valkas. However, only the three Gra Valkas tank wrecks were visible in front of them. Until now, there had been no further attacks from the Gra Valkas. But using binoculars, they sometimes saw movement in the forest in front of the guard post. Strangely enough, there was no follow-up attack from artillery, so it was likely that the artillery attack that took place earlier came from tanks, not from field artillery.
The military truck delivering the additional soldiers immediately drove to a safe distance but remained in the area to be able to evacuate the soldiers manning the guard post in an emergency.
As soon as they were installed, the two mortars started shooting at Leifor's side with random mortar fire. It is unknown if there were any casualties on the Gra Valkas side because trees obscure it. After firing four salvos, the mortar team stopped firing to conserve ammunition. They were only equipped with 30 bullets per team.
Silence arose after the Mu Empire's mortar attack, which was only occasionally broken by the chirping of birds. It was already approaching evening, so it was difficult to carry out further attacks, both on the Gra Valkas and Mu Empire sides. However, throughout the night, a number of spotlights installed on top of the guard post were on and illuminated the grass field in front of the guard post.
---oOo---
Sky, 50 km from outpost A24
The air patrol of the Mu Empire, in the form of four Marin planes, was flying parallel to the Mu Empire-Leifor border. Suddenly, their radio sounded.
"All fighters, beware of enemy fighters. Our border outposts are under attack by the enemy. All air patrols, head to base immediately!" said the person on the radio.
Uprated Marin Fighter (Idea from Nakajima A4N)
Length: 6,7m, span: 10m, engine: radial 850HP, max speed: 440 km/h, combat range: 900 km, weapon: 2 x 12,7mm with 200 round each, 250 kg dispensable weapon on 4 wing hardpoint.
Note:
In uprated Marin, more streamline feature is added, like wheel fairings, alumunium frame (there is nearly no wood used), etc.
The four planes immediately turned toward their bases. But not even 5 minutes into their journey towards their base, suddenly one of them yelled over the radio, "Watchout, 7 o'clock, enemy fighters!"
The four pilots looked down and behind their aircraft. There appeared to be two foreign aircraft flying at the same time. The sun's glare had obscured the four Marin aircraft that were above them, so they were unaware of their presence.
The group leader immediately notified the base of the alien fighter.
"Base, this is patrol 7. We have two enemy aircraft in our patrol sector. Requesting additional instructions!" the patrol group leader said over the radio.
After a few moments, the reply was heard: "Patrol 7, if you have the tactical advantage, then you may attack them. But otherwise, avoid unnecessary danger."
"Base, we have the tactical advantage, we will attack!" said the leader of patrol group 7.
"All fighters follow me, we slap this bastard back to their base," said the 7th patrol group leader.
All aircraft fully opened their throttles and swooped down at high speed towards the enemy aircraft. Since Mu Empire's planes were always on the sun side, the fighters of Gra Valkas never saw them until it was too late.
The four planes broke into two groups. Each group took aim at one enemy plane. A barrage of 12.7mm machine guns could be heard in between the roar of the engines at full speed. Each aircraft carried two 12.7mm cannons, which were single-barreled revolver cannons. The firing speed of the canons is 1800 rpm.
The two fighters of Gra Valkas never stood a chance. Without ever seeing their attackers, the Marin fighter planes caught them off guard. The 12.7mm barrage from the two Marin for each Gra Valkas fighter penetrated the fuselage of the Gra Valkas fighter, destroying the internal works of the fighter as well as the pilot. By the time the Marin planes reached the altitude of the two Gra Valkas fighters, the two Gra Valkas were already spiraling towards the ground with smoke and fire.
The same thing happened in many places. Many were also forced into dogfights, in which the Marin as much more ancient aircraft were at a disadvantage, so many were shot down by the Gra Valkas.
---oOo---
50 km away.
A small forest near the farm.
The small forest was only 12 ha, but it hid the air defense site of the Mu Empire. A battery of Rapier missiles consisting of 4 towed missile launchers, 2 double 20mm cannons, 2 radars, and a command vehicle in the form of a box truck containing electronic equipment to control the radars and missile launchers There were also several trucks used to tow the towed missile launcher and transport the spare missiles under the dense trees of the small forest. Only the radar antenna was visible above the trees. Other than that, all the military equipment was covered with camouflage netting.
The radar officer was on alert due to the news received about the Gra Valkas army's attack on the border. Therefore, when the radar suddenly spotted a foreign aircraft entering the radar detection area, they were not surprised about it.
"Sir, we detected a large group of unidentified aircraft. They are not answering the IFF signal we are transmitting. Possible enemy aircraft Bearing 352, altitude 1,200 meters." Said a radar officer.
The battery leader, a captain named Rikate, thought that there was still time before they got into the engagement area of the rapier missile. The radar they had had the ability to see had a radius of 50 km. Therefore, he had to confirm whether it was an enemy aircraft.
"Confirm IFF using a secondary channel. Also confirm the direction of those planes," ordered Captain Rikate.
...
"Target confirmed is not our aircraft. The most likely destination is the air base located 150 kilometers south. Chances are they are on their way to bomb that airbase." The radar officer said.
"Very well. Action station! Everyone man their stations! Activate all missile launchers, prepare our 20mm cannons." Rikate ordered.
Within minutes, everyone was busy preparing for the firing of Rapier missiles and preparing to fire the 20mm cannon.
Moments later, the Gra Valkas aircraft, consisting of 12 bombers and 11 fighters, approached the Rapier missile range limit of 10 km. There were 12 fighters in the group, but a Marin patrol group attacked them and managed to down 1 fighter, but the patrol group suffered casualties with 3 Marines shot down.
"Sir, they are coming into range. Estimated entering missile range: 20 seconds." The radar officer said.
"Ready, all launchers. Target the largest aircraft first. We'll take down their bomber." Rikate ordered.
"Yes sir. Targeting. Ready to fire." Said the missile fire control officer.
"Entering missile range... Now!" said the radar officer.
Captain Rikate sighed and counted from 1 to 5 before giving the next order.
"Fire first, salvo! Reload if you can." Captain Rikate ordered.
"Missile Firing!" said the missile fire control officer.
Eight missiles flew towards the planes of the Gra Valkas through the small forest. The missiles quickly headed towards the Gra Valkas planes, but the Gra Valkas did not realize the presence of the missiles because the missiles had rockets that used low-smoke fuel, and the light from the rockets was difficult to see because of the bright sun. They only realized this when the missiles passed by the escort fighters of the Gra Valkas bombers. But there was nothing they could do, as the missiles passed over them so quickly. Not more than 2–3 seconds later, eight Gra Valkas bombers exploded and fell to pieces.
"Fire the second salvo!" Captain Rikate ordered, a moment after confirming that the missiles from the first salvo had hit their respective targets.
In the second salvo, the escort fighters of the Gra Valkas were more aware of their surroundings. But once again, the missile was only detected when it was close enough to their aircraft.
"Look out!" was all that came out of the mouth of a Gra Valkas fighter pilot before a missile hit his plane.
Again, 8 missiles hit their targets perfectly, and 4 bombers and 4 fighters became casualties. Seeing this, the remaining fighters immediately maneuvered to avoid it and were no longer in combat formation. However, this did not diminish the effectiveness of the Rapier missiles fired in the third salvo, approximately 30 seconds later.
As the missiles approached the fighters, they had already noticed and immediately maneuvered to escape the missiles. But all of the fighters' efforts were in vain, as the Rapier missiles had the ability to turn much more agilely than a fighter. As a result, the Rapier missile hit the last seven fighters of Gra Valkas.
One Rapier missile that did not have a target self-destructed after running out of fuel a few seconds later.
---oOo---
Mu Empire, Otenheit.
Mu Empire Defense Command Center.
The same situation also occurred at the national-level Command Center in the capital of the Mu Empire, Otenheit. Communications from the border indicated that Gra Valkas had begun to attack.
"General, all border posts and military camps on the border are on high alert, and all military units have been activated." Reported a military aide to the highest officer in the command center, General Guidan.
"What is the current condition of the border? Have they managed to make a breakthrough?" asked Guidan.
"All attacks have been repelled. However, seven of our guard posts were damaged. Those positions are not defensible." The military aide said.
"But those posts have been reinforced?" asked Guidan.
"They have, General, for the damaged posts, we are creating secondary posts behind the damaged posts." The military aide said.
"Good. What is our casualty count?" asked Guidan.
"22 dead, and 37 wounded." The military aide said.
"Very good. Have our planes been flown out for patrols?" asked General Guidan.
"Already, general. Our F1 aircraft are already in the air and replacing our Marines for patrols. All the Marines have been withdrawn back to base. But there are some Marines involved in the battle because the enemy planes have sneaked into our airspace." The aide said.
"Oh, how did it go?" asked General Guidan.
"For now, the results are very good, we managed to down 15 enemy fighters with 22 casualties. Much better than the predicted numbers." The aide replied.
"Good. By using ancient aircraft, they only suffered 1.5 times the number of losses shot down, which is very good. But by now all the Marines are safely back at the base, right?" asked Guidan.
"They are, General," the aide replied.
"Are any of their aircraft still in our territory?" asked Guidan.
"Still General. Our F1 aircraft are still in the process of pursuing and driving away the Gra Valkas aircraft." The military aide said.
"Increase the number of aircraft in the air. Has our air defense system reacted yet?" asked Guidan.
"Yes, general. Our air defense system has already brought down 64 enemy aircraft." The aide said.
Someone handed a paper to the military aide, and he read it.
"Good news, our F1 aircraft to date have successfully downed 62 enemy aircraft, but six of our F1 aircraft have also crashed. Until now, none of our F1 pilots have been victimized, all were able to save themselves. However, 7 of our Marin pilots died." The aide said.
"Good. What about our reserve forces? Have they moved to reinforce our troops guarding the border?" asked General Guidan.
"They have, general. Currently, eight divisions of various types are reinforcing our two infantry divisions guarding the border. Our two field armies that will be used for counterattacks are also ready to attack." The aide replied.
"Very good. We are still waiting for our air force to gain control of the air above the Leifor border before we launch an attack." Guidan said. "Immediately make preparations according to plan T4!" ordered General Guidan. "Oh, yes. Inform the palace of this development."
"Yes, General." The aide said.
The military aide immediately carried out General Guidan's orders. The Command Center is also getting ready for the next stage of war.