Normark-Cerulea war of 1727: Difference between revisions
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Approximately an hour later, two of the aircraft began their run on the designated grid coordinates, each jettisoning two pods filled with an incendiary viscous mixture which detonated at 250 metres above the area a kilometre beyond the release point, and also unfortunately half a kilometre beyond the earthworks which were to be the ostensible target of the strike. It did however make for a spectacular pyrotechnical display, which enveloped an entire row of bungalows on the northern outskirts of Kaledonija, which had however fortunately been already cleared of occupants in anticipation of their being converted into defensive strong-points. This possibility was now thoroughly precluded but there were at least no fatalities from the conflagration. In consequence, just about every battalion and company entrenched around Kaledonija was now aware that an air raid was in progress. As a myriad of positions began firing wildly into the night's sky at the unseen intruders, the batteries of the 1045th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment were roused from their slumber and alerted that they were to be about their work, hastily dashing across to their command modules and powering up their active search radars in search of targets to illuminate – which was unfortunate news for the second pair of T-5/A-5 Tejón de Miel as they began their own attack runs. Two missiles, believed to be bastardised copies of the [[SA-1 Red Mist]], were fired, and two found their mark, resulting in two plunging fireballs falling to earth, scattering a generous field of debris over a wide radius in their wake. | Approximately an hour later, two of the aircraft began their run on the designated grid coordinates, each jettisoning two pods filled with an incendiary viscous mixture which detonated at 250 metres above the area a kilometre beyond the release point, and also unfortunately half a kilometre beyond the earthworks which were to be the ostensible target of the strike. It did however make for a spectacular pyrotechnical display, which enveloped an entire row of bungalows on the northern outskirts of Kaledonija, which had however fortunately been already cleared of occupants in anticipation of their being converted into defensive strong-points. This possibility was now thoroughly precluded but there were at least no fatalities from the conflagration. In consequence, just about every battalion and company entrenched around Kaledonija was now aware that an air raid was in progress. As a myriad of positions began firing wildly into the night's sky at the unseen intruders, the batteries of the 1045th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment were roused from their slumber and alerted that they were to be about their work, hastily dashing across to their command modules and powering up their active search radars in search of targets to illuminate – which was unfortunate news for the second pair of T-5/A-5 Tejón de Miel as they began their own attack runs. Two missiles, believed to be bastardised copies of the [[SA-1 Red Mist]], were fired, and two found their mark, resulting in two plunging fireballs falling to earth, scattering a generous field of debris over a wide radius in their wake. | ||
Scouts from the Red Division of the Nordhaer had conducted further reconnaissance missions in the days following the debacle on the 16th day of the month. A picture developed of the enemy's general plan of defence - three courses of entrenchments had been dug around the city of Kaledonija on its landward sides, interrupted only by the westwards course of the River Albanmach flowing into Lake Caledonia. In addition to these trenches were identified two redans, placed so as to control the roads into Kaledonija from the north and north-east, whilst the southern approaches were dominated by earthworks thrown-up on Braun Cairn Hill as well as the fortified structure known as the [[Kaledonija#Drooningfort|Drooningfort]] within the city, which dominated the bridging point over the Albanmach. The redans, situated close by the villages of Priestwick and Quivox, were assessed as bastions of the 97th Motor Rifle Regiment of the 19th Mechanised Brigade and the 339th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 120th Guards, these being the most last formations believed capable of holding off an immediate advance into the city. The remainder of the defensive positions were considered most likely to be held by mobilised Red Guards of doubtful worth. | |||
==International reaction== | ==International reaction== | ||
Revision as of 17:40, 30 January 2024
| Operation Northern Mist | |||||||
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| Part of Wars of the Disinherited | |||||||
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| Units involved | |||||||
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| Strength | |||||||
Personnel: 321,614
| Personnel: 295,598
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| Casualties and losses | |||||||
North Caledonia
Air war over Stoličnaja Krlska
Siege of Kaledonija
| North Caledonia
Air war over Stoličnaja Krlska
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Background
- 17.XIII.1726 AN: With immediate effect from midnight on the morning of the 17th, all adult male subjects of Normark between the ages of sixteen and forty-five were prohibited from leaving the country. Concurrently, all male members of the House of Einhorn between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five were instructed to return to Elijah's Rest within seventy-two hours of the issuance of the general summons being made.
- 18.XIII.1726 AN: Previously designated border crossings points between Cerulea and Normark are blocked by detachments of the Elian Militia. Ostensibly the closures are to prevent violations of the travel bans instituted on the previous date. Notably these measures were not however implemented on the border between Normark and Mercury.
- 19.XIII.1726 AN: Further declaration of a "National Emergency". The Chief of Operations of the Nordhær instructed 38,417 telecommunications employees and 19,208 postal workers across the realm to send out news of the declaration to the 159 second and third line regiments scattered throughout the far north of Keltia to begin mustering their reservists. The Nordhær requisitioned from Jernbanekompaniet i Normark and Trans-Keltia Railways 5,700 locomotives, 12,500 passenger coaches, and 153,700 freight cars. The mobilisation transports started moving immediately upon their assembly at railway marshalling yards. Effectively disrupting the operation of the Trans-Keltian Express within Normark. Einhorns received at Elijah's Rest by the King: Stefan Einhorn, Valde Einhorn.
- 20.XIII.1726 AN: Amnesty offered by the crown to those living descendants of Riccard Amundsson who would present themselves to the crown as part of the summons of the Einhorns, excluding the sons and daughters of Knotaric, who remained attainted as traitors.
- 21.XIII.1726 AN: Hitherto quiet about events in Normark, the Cerulean government began mobilising its own forces along its long borders with the Green, but with extra focus along the border with Normark and adjacent border areas. Commissar for foreign affairs, Ilia Abram Shvets, decried the Norse provocations and urged calm and peace, as well as a "return to the fruitful cooperative atmosphere that Cerulea and Stormark achieved around the time for the Cerulean Extradition". After that statement, Shvets was asked "Stormark? You mean Normark?", whereupon Shvets replied, "Yes, indeed, but for me, they're pretty much the same. Like Stormark, Normark has a perverse colonial attitude that needs to be stomped out. We need an auspicious occasion to save us from the Stormark-like imperialism we see in Konungsheim."
- 22.XIII.1726–24.XV.1726: Deployments of Nordhær regular forces sees the Red Division and 1st Logistics Brigade of I Corps concentrated at Galvø, whilst the first wave of mobilised reservists were assigned to formations within II (Reserve) Corps and deployed to bailiwicks along the frontier with Cerulea. 30,000 Nordhær personnel, both regulars and reservists, were accordingly assembled at forward deployment points formed out of a series of fortified encampments.
- During a similar period, Keltia Command identified Cerulean formations including the 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade and the 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade as having been moved into northern Caledonia, estimated as having a combined strength of 6,150 paratroopers.
Opposing Forces
Keltia Command
| Formation | Commander | Subordinate Formation | Commanders |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Echelon | |||
| Red Division | Generalmajor Odin Christianssønn Einhorn | 6th Command & Control Regiment | Oberst Sigmundr Birgir Tarjeisson |
| 3rd Brigade of Foot | Brigadier Ottar Einhorn Mossing | ||
| 4th Brigade of Foot | Brigadier Otto Einhorn al-Osman Kåveland | ||
| 4th Commissariat Regiment | Oberstløytnant Åsgeir Einhorn al-Osman | ||
| 1st Reserve Division | Generalmajor Stefan Einhorn | 10th Command & Control Regiment | Oberst Emil Josef Tarjeisson |
| 1st Reserve (I Slevik) Brigade | Brigadier Oddvar Einhorn al-Osman | ||
| 2nd Reserve (I Jelsinga) Brigade | Brigadier Alexander Einhorn Mossing | ||
| 1st Reserve (I Eikbu) Demi-Brigade | Oberst Áki Friðrik Tarjeisson | ||
| 9th Commissariat Regiment | Oberstløytnant Vidar Einhorn al-Osman | ||
| 2nd Echelon | |||
| Security Police Division | Generalmajor Oddbjørn Gruntland-Einhorn | Regional Security Command Detachment "Normark" | Oberst Torbjørn Einhorn al-Osman |
| Regional Security Command "Nyland" | Oberst Markus Arnoldssønn Einhorn | ||
| Regional Security Command "Østfold" | Oberst Filip Einhorn Dahle | ||
| Regional Security Command "Dalen" | Oberst Arnhöfði Einhorn Tarjeisson | ||
| 18th Vanguard Division | Archon of the Third Degree & General Fredrik Michael Tarjeisson | 1st Einhornselskapet Brigade | Brigadier Auðun Fredrik Tarjeisson |
| 2nd Einhornselskapet Brigade | Brigadier Valde Einhorn | ||
| 3rd Echelon | |||
| Salbnan Ulrich Welf | 4 Grenadjärregemente | Ahmst Bræþstranin Viktor Weigand | |
| 22 Infanteriregementet | Ahmst Bræþstranin Achim Geissler | ||
| 59 Infanteriregementet | Ahmst Bræþstranin Wernher Porsche | ||
| 24 Ingenjörregemente | Ahmst Bræþstranin Emil Adamsen | ||
| 25 Artilleriregemente | Ahmst Bræþstranin Dan Brahms | ||
| 26 Luftvärnsregemente | Ahmst Bræþstranin Lukas Evensen | ||
| 27 Signalregemente | Ahmst Bræþstranin Eirik Riese | ||
| 28 Trängregemente | Ahmst Bræþstranin Oddvar Reiter | ||
| Salbnan Albert Tanner | 92 Command & Control Regiment | Ahmst Bræþstranin Bahador Kasabian | |
| 16 Air Support Regiment | Ahmst Bræþstranin Hameed Khachaturian | ||
| 24 Air Support Regiment | Ahmst Bræþstranin Jahangir Alinejad | ||
| 32 Air Support Regiment | Ahmst Bræþstranin Parwiz Alinejad | ||
| 40 Air Support Regiment | Ahmst Bræþstranin Ghulam Jamshidi | ||
| 69 Commissariat Regiment | Ahmst Bræþstranin Karim Charmchi | ||
| 124 Inspectorate Regiment | Ahmst Bræþstranin Ghulam Sherazi | ||
| III (Reserve) Corps | Generallöjtnant Jørgen Dahle | 3rd Reserve (I Konungsheim) Brigade | Brigadgeneral Jonas Dahling Einhorn |
| 4th Reserve (II Konungsheim) Brigade | Brigadgeneral Georg Lysne | ||
| 5th Reserve (III Konungsheim) Brigade | Brigadgeneral Carl-Petter Carstensen | ||
Peoples' Armed Forces of Cerulea
| Formation | Commander | Subordinate Formation | Commanders |
|---|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | |||
| Central Garrison | Generál-Leytenánt Anatoly Gogol | 336th Missile Artillery Brigade | Generál-Mayór |
| 465th Missile Brigade | Generál-Mayór | ||
| 111th Artillery Brigade | Generál-Mayór | ||
| 188th Engineer Brigade | Generál-Mayór | ||
| Eastern Operational Command | |||
| 11th Guards Mechanised Brigade | Generál-Mayór Valentin Mischkov | 11th Guards Mechanised Brigade Headquarters | Polkóvnik |
| 153rd Independent Guards Communications Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 9th Independent Guards Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 249th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment | Polkóvnik | ||
| 1073rd Independent Material Supply Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| North Eastern Operational Command | |||
| 19th Mechanised Brigade | Generál-Mayór Georgi Ourumov | 19th Mechanised Brigade Headquarters | Polkóvnik |
| 97th Motor Rifle Regiment | Polkóvnik | ||
| 1081st Separate Material Supply Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 74th Separate Equipment Maintenance and Recovery Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade | Generál-Mayór Stefan Orlov | 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade Headquarters | Polkóvnik |
| 381st Guards Airborne Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 382nd Guards Airborne Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 101st Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade | Generál-Mayór Arkady Koskov | 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade Headquarters | Polkóvnik |
| 357th Guards Airborne Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 572nd Guards Mixed Artillery Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 116th Guards Anti-Aircraft Missile and Artillery Battalion | Podpolkovnik | ||
| 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade | Generál-Mayór Grischka Meyer | 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade Headquarters | Polkóvnik |
| 339th Guards Rifle Regiment | Polkóvnik | ||
| 310th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment | Polkóvnik | ||
| 1045th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment | Polkóvnik | ||
Campaign
Invasion of Caledonia
- I.1727
- 22:
- Without the issuance of any prior ultimatum or formal declaration of war, Krlsgorod is bombed by four waves of F-9 Ashavan II aircraft, flying under the insignia of Normark, whilst Nordhær troops cross the frontier into Caledonia from the directions of Eikbu, Galvø, and Slevik.
- Command and control nodes, as well as critical infrastructure such as international airports and railway marshalling yards, in Kaledonija, Krlsgorod, and Škoda were struck by an unidentified type of ballistic missile, presumed to be variants of the S-3 Schlächter provided to Normark by the Benacian Union.
- Surviving members of the largely defunct Nordisketing assembled in Elijah's Rest to hear a proclamation from the throne read by the Prime Minister, Ragnar Filip Tarjeisson. "Having long heard the groans of our Nordic cousins, who languish under the foul tyranny of false egalitarianism, we, mindful of our duties as humanists towards our neighbours, are committed to the liberation of our kin and the establishment of a reorganised nation under our protection and tutelage."
- The Cerulean People's Air Force claimed to have shot down twelve intruding enemy aircraft during the day's series of air raids for no losses of their own.
- 23:
- Bulletin from Keltia Command stated that three enemy aircraft had been engaged and "forced to ground" during the course of the previous day's sorties, in turn acknowledging one allied aircraft as having returned in a damaged condition whilst another had been regretfully lost owing to mechanical failure, with efforts to recover the pilot being ongoing.
- A storm system developing over Lake Caledonia restricted air operations by both sides, with planned air raids against targets in and around Krlsgorod being cancelled.
- 3rd Brigade of Foot, advancing along the Galvø axis in northern Caledonia, reported to be heavily engaged in fighting against border guards under the command of the Cerulean KGB.
- 22:
- II.1727
- 1:
- Elements of the Cerulean 19th Mechanised Brigade, reinforced by mobilised reservists of the Red Guard, begin to concentrate around Kaledonija.
- Impacts from multiple suspected short-range ballistic missiles reported in Jelsinga. Electronic communication and information networks are "throttled" in the immediate aftermath, most probably in an effort to prevent the circulation of images of destruction or news of civilian casualties.
- Detachments from the 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade begin to engage the 3rd Brigade of Foot in forested and wintery conditions, where movement on both sides were impeded by heavy snowfall - a consequence of the previous day's storm.
- Concerns in Keltia Command that the appointment of Einhorn family members to leadership positions in the invasion force meant that the lessons of the Liberation of Dalen had not been learnt.
- 2:
- 2nd Reserve (I Jelsinga) Brigade, reinforced by contingents of Elian Militia, departed southwards into the Green of northern Keltia.
- 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade engaged on its right flank by regimental battle groups of the 4th Brigade of Foot and obliged to withdraw before lines of communication towards Kaledonija was cut off.
- 3:
- Red Guard militia engaged by vanguard of the 1st Reserve (I Slevik) Brigade and obliged to retire towards Kaledonija.
- 357th Guards Airborne Battalion of the 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade moved by road to reinforce the 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade and counter the flanking manoeuvre of the Nordhaer.
- Emergency services respond to a serious fire at a fuel depot attached to the Sårensby Industrial Area. Sabotage suspected.
- 4:
- Further ballistic missile launches from inside Cerulea, this time towards Elijah's Rest, foiled by ABM interceptors fired from Citadele Alexandrin.
- Main lines of resistance bypassed by 1st Reserve (I Eikbu) Demi-Brigade, further threatening the right flank of Cerulean forces in northern Caledonia.
- Defensive positions prepared around Kaledonija occupied by 19th Mechanised Brigade, comprised of two manoeuvre infantry battalions, a motor-rifle battalion and tank battalion, and rear area support elements.
- Elements of the 120th Guards Mechanised Brigade on the road towards Kaledonija from Krlsgorod.
- Logistics convoy of the 9th Commissariat Regiment out of Slevik shot-up by Cerulean attack helicopters. Dozens of support vehicles left burning or abandoned. Land Forces Command angrily demands that the Army Co-operation Corps of Aerospace Forces Command at least try to live up to its name by providing combat air patrols over advancing formations.
- 5:
- Raspur Pact recon assets detected air defence equipment, including surface-to-air launchers, being moved into concealed positions around Krlsgorod, Kaledonija, Lujamaa, and Škoda.
- 1st Reserve (I Eikbu) Demi-Brigade engaged by 357th Guards Airborne Battalion as it attempted to cut into the rear of the 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade from the east. Attacking Cerulean force was comprehensively outgunned at the initial encounter and was subsequently broken up by two pincer-attacks conducted by the second and third regiments of the I Eikbu.
- Reflecting fears of a sabotage campaign within Normark by hostile forces, the ESB (Keltia) Security Division was reactivated by the mutual agreement of Keltia Command and the Honourable Company.
- 6:
- Aerospace Forces Command refused to authorise combat sorties by first line airframes in southern Caledonia until Cerulean air defence network neutralised. Relations with Land Forces Command further deteriorate.
- Armed Forces Headquarters demanded capture of Kaledonija before enemy defensive line can consolidate.
- Alerted to the presence of enemy forces to its rear, 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade attempted to disengage from the 3rd and 4th Brigades of Foot and resume retreat towards Kaledonija.
- 7:
- Red Guard counterattacks against the 1st Reserve (I Slevik) Brigade, lacking artillery and armour support, are repelled with heavy losses for the attackers.
- 8: "Second Echelon" of the invasion, comprised of Elian Militia and 18th Vanguard Division contingents, begin to muster at Jelsinga and Galvø respectively. Aerlan pattern rifles and machine-guns were widely seen amongst the assembling forces.
- 12: Encirclement of the 38th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade and 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Brigade, along with ad hoc KGB, border guard, and Red Guard units, is completed - resulting in the creation of a pocket of enemy forces trapped by the Nordhaer.
- 16: After four days of continuous bombardment, without resupply, and unable to form viable defensive positions, Cerulean paratroopers broke up into small detachments and attempt to force their way out of the encirclement that had closed about them. The majority would be killed or captured during the course of their night-time attempt at crossing the lines.
- 24: By the end of the month, 4,759 paratroopers, along with a motley assortment of Red Guard militiamen and KGB officers had arrived in Kaledonija. Placed into the Drooningfort and on Braun Cairn Hill south of the River Albanmach as a reserve for the garrison of the town.
- 1:
- III.1727
- 1: Warbands, comprised of mounted contingents and convoys of all-terrain vehicles, travelling under the banner of the Green Einhorns were reported to have begun raiding border communities in the Ashkenazi Autonomous People's Republic.
- 2:
- Benacian Union announced decision to dispatch an expeditionary force in support of Normark's campaign.
- Eastern Operational Command of the Cerulean People's Armed Forces activated in response to raiding from the Green in Ashkenazi Autonomous People's Republic.
- 3: 11th Guards Mechanised Brigade mobilised at Škoda and assigned to the Eastern Operational Command.
- 4: Third echelon formations of the Nordhaer begin to assemble in western Normark. The use of levies taken from Elijah's Rest caused disquiet in the capital.
- 5: Large scale air interdiction and air defence suppression campaign begun by the Normark Air Fleet of Nouvelle Alexandrie and the Army Co-operation Corps of the Nordhaer with the objective of gaining air supremacy over Stoličnaja Krlska.
- 15: The onset of the thaw heralded the beginning of the "muddy season", making off-road movements and the occupation of dugouts into occasions for increased misery.
- 17: Pause in the air campaign. Normark Air Fleet endured heavy losses albeit at the cost of unsustainable losses for the Cerulean People's Air Force and ground-based air defences.
- 20: Gennady Voljakov, Admiral of Caledonia, a figure long accused of being the instigator and beneficiary of piracy on Lake Caledonia, is received in Elijah's Rest as a guest of the crown.
- 21: x43 F-18 Cyclone and x14 C-12 Sojourner assigned to the Wechua Air Fleet and tasked to conduct a strategic air campaign against Cerulea. Haifan airbases made available to allied aviation assets by the Imperial Federation.
- IV.1727
- 4: Benacian Expeditionary Force attached to III (Reserve) Corps, the lead formation of the 3rd Echelon.
Siege of Kaledonija
As the fourth month of 1727 progressed, the formations attached to the first echelon of Normark's invasion force began their steady advance, converging upon Kaledonija in parallel lines of advance from the north. The invaders, with air superiority now established, were able to advance in three separate columns, these being headed, from west to east, by the 1st Reserve (I Slevik) Brigade, the 3rd Brigade of Foot, and the 1st Reserve (I Eikbu) Demi-Brigade, each reinforced by detachments of armour, artillery, and the ever present contingents of the commissariat and inspectorate bringing up the rear and establishing their various posts along the lines of communication stretching all the way back to the frontier.
On the 14th day of the month, the snatch land rovers of the 1st Reserve (I Eikbu) Demi-Brigade's reconnaissance squadron were rewarded with their first view of the landward approaches to Kaledonija from the north. They were duly obliged to retire at the approach of a regiment of ill-dressed brigands playing at the role of red cossacks. They had however been able to note the trenches and earthworks which had been excavated by the defenders of the city in anticipation of their arrival. This report was duly delivered to the commander of the 1st Reserve Division, Generalmajor Stefan Einhorn, at the 47th Agricultural Commune, which his staff had requisitioned for a headquarters. The Generalmajor had been using the brigade leader of the kolkhoz and his family as subjects for his sabre practice out in the barn when the report first arrived, and was obliged to send for a bowl of warm water and towel with which to clean himself as the summary was read in his presence by a somewhat perturbed adjutant. Having enquired how as to how quickly field guns could be brought up, and being evidently unsatisfied with the answer, the Generalmajor directed for an air strike to be requested against the enemy's position.
The request was duly communicated to Joint Operations Command in Elijah's Rest, however the staff officers were embarrassed to discover the absence of any officer at general headquarters sufficiently empowered to authorise an air strike. The Director of Joint Operations, Brigadgeneral Jonas Dahling Einhorn, having departed for the field to take command of the 3rd Reserve (I Konungsheim) Brigade on account of the dearth of officers in the Nordhaer with sufficient rank to command the higher formations when deployed. Ostensibly, this matter ought to have been simply addressed via the means of a simple signal to the headquarters of the brigade where Jonas Dahling Einhorn had taken up command. However, since the units of the brigade were in transit from Elijah's Rest towards the theatre of operations, the communications net was non-functional, the radios and satellite phones being packed away for the journey, and it was necessary to send a motorcycle courier chasing after the column of trucks and armoured vehicles heading towards the frontier.
Fortunately, someone at Joint Operations Command had the presence of mind to call a counterpart in the Elian Militia and place alerts with the regional security commands along the brigade's expected line of march. The Director's staff car was accordingly flagged down at Kongsviken by a militia patrol, and prevailed upon, after some testy exchanges with the militia officers and a telephone call to Armed Forces Headquarters, to pull over at a service station and await the arrival of the courier. Jonas Dahling Einhorn duly read the missive in a spirit of acute agitation, demanding to know why requests for anything so trivial as air support were being brought to him, before pausing and remembering that it had been his own instructions which had established the present decision structure. This realisation did nothing to improve his mood. He duly scribbled a series of instructions on the margins of the crumpled signal print-out and handed it back to the courier, curtly dismissing him from his presence. The Director decided thereafter to requisition a suite at a suitable hotel in Kongsviken, which is to say the least wretched one his adjutant could find after browsing the local directory. The Brigadgeneral duly settled down for the evening, having further requisitioned a bottle of cognac whilst his staff were scattered to the four winds recovering encrypted communications equipment and any plausible NCO from a signals unit so that no further repeat of this debacle could be expected.
The further transposing and relaying of those orders to Aerospace Forces Command had mercifully been a relatively straightforward affair, and at 2 am on 16.IV.1727 four T-5/A-5 Tejón de Miel from the Army Co-operation Corps were airborne from an improvised landing strip in a dismal tract of Northern Caledonia for a flight south-westwards.
Approximately an hour later, two of the aircraft began their run on the designated grid coordinates, each jettisoning two pods filled with an incendiary viscous mixture which detonated at 250 metres above the area a kilometre beyond the release point, and also unfortunately half a kilometre beyond the earthworks which were to be the ostensible target of the strike. It did however make for a spectacular pyrotechnical display, which enveloped an entire row of bungalows on the northern outskirts of Kaledonija, which had however fortunately been already cleared of occupants in anticipation of their being converted into defensive strong-points. This possibility was now thoroughly precluded but there were at least no fatalities from the conflagration. In consequence, just about every battalion and company entrenched around Kaledonija was now aware that an air raid was in progress. As a myriad of positions began firing wildly into the night's sky at the unseen intruders, the batteries of the 1045th Guards Anti-Aircraft Rocket Regiment were roused from their slumber and alerted that they were to be about their work, hastily dashing across to their command modules and powering up their active search radars in search of targets to illuminate – which was unfortunate news for the second pair of T-5/A-5 Tejón de Miel as they began their own attack runs. Two missiles, believed to be bastardised copies of the SA-1 Red Mist, were fired, and two found their mark, resulting in two plunging fireballs falling to earth, scattering a generous field of debris over a wide radius in their wake.
Scouts from the Red Division of the Nordhaer had conducted further reconnaissance missions in the days following the debacle on the 16th day of the month. A picture developed of the enemy's general plan of defence - three courses of entrenchments had been dug around the city of Kaledonija on its landward sides, interrupted only by the westwards course of the River Albanmach flowing into Lake Caledonia. In addition to these trenches were identified two redans, placed so as to control the roads into Kaledonija from the north and north-east, whilst the southern approaches were dominated by earthworks thrown-up on Braun Cairn Hill as well as the fortified structure known as the Drooningfort within the city, which dominated the bridging point over the Albanmach. The redans, situated close by the villages of Priestwick and Quivox, were assessed as bastions of the 97th Motor Rifle Regiment of the 19th Mechanised Brigade and the 339th Guards Rifle Regiment of the 120th Guards, these being the most last formations believed capable of holding off an immediate advance into the city. The remainder of the defensive positions were considered most likely to be held by mobilised Red Guards of doubtful worth.
International reaction
Aerla: The news of war between Normark and Cerulea was a call for concern for the government in Noursala, always paranoid of regional instability reaching their doorsteps. Curiously enough, several Noursala Military-Industrial-marked crates of weapons and ammunition were observed being transferred over the Normark and Aerla's shared border near Port Aerla.
- Soon after the outbreak of the war, Boreas Program early warning stations were placed on high alert for any unidentified foreign aircraft or missiles entering Aerlan airspace.
- In III.XV.1727, a Voice of Aerla report stated that several Cerulean families were apprehended by Republican Border Service officers at checkpoints in the Six Parishes attempting to seek refuge from the war. The Commissioner of the RBS, Dillon Lowe, stated that these families would be considered as "foreign alien refugees", and would be sent to processing centers for temporary accommodation.
Floria: Floria has called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict and would provide refuge to those affected. Floria also refused to provide military and logistical support to Normark despite still being members of the Raspur Pact after a membership referendum which resulted in the Florian public voting for the nation to leave the pact.
Mercury: Mercury has temporarily suspended border crossings to and from Normark, including those of the Trans-Keltian Express.