1680 Joint Military Exercise of the Jingdaoese-Alriggian Alliance

1680 Joint Military Exercise
Date 1678 - 1679 Location Normaria, Iron Cult Result Coincidental rescue of an important member of the Jingdaoese Sifang Suweiai.
Belligerents
Jingdaoese-Alriggian Alliance Alriggian Republic Jingdaoese Empire Krasnocoria	Benacia Command Elwynn
Strength
Northern Circle Militia 500 infantrymen (125 deployed to the region) 4th Wuqi Amphibious Infantry Regiment 4,500 infantrymen (300 deployed to the region) 2nd Expeditionary Submarine Fleet's Langqun IV 7 diesel powered attack submarines 1st Grandbay Naval Fleet Nikolaj Class Aircraft Carrier 1,200 troops 30 AFM-17 2 destroyers 2 corvettes 1 Kesh Class Submarine	Leng Garrison (enu Kalirion) garrison troops 1678 – 1,200 1679 – 22,800 ‬ Engineers – 120 GAV-5(P) Nereid – 16 F-9 Ashavan II – 4 civilian cargo aircraft – 1 Svordson Reform Settlement Cudgellers – 3,300 Task Force H Elwynn-class Corvettes – 4 Viviantia-class LSV – 5 Task Force Z Elwynn-class Corvettes – 5 Swift-class Offshore Patrol Vessels – 12 Viviantia-class LSV – 2 Type XIV U-Boat – 2
Casualties and losses
5 5

1680 Joint Military Exercise of the Jingdaoese-Alriggian Alliance was a proposed military exercise by the Jingdaoese Qiangtan Junren's 4th Wuqi Amphibious Infantry Regiment and the Alriggian Northern Circle's militia.

Background

The goal of the exercise was to test the alliance's ability to perform in an arctic climate, but more importantly to show Raspur Pact nations that they would not be able to annex the territory while the citizens of the Iron Cult of Leng's capital of Normaria were battling the demonic entity that had escaped its enclosure, the Black Cathedral. The military exercise would be held near Normaria in the territory of the Iron Cult, however with the Elwynnese Union starting their own counter-operation called Fälttåget Norrsken, the goal of the operation shifted. Alriggian and Jingdaoese troops which were already preparing for their exercise were flown into Normaria with the goal of assisting the Iron Cult in defending their territory against an Elwynnese assault. Great uncertainty surrounded the mission as it was not yet known how the Iron Cult would respond to the foreign troops landing on their shores.

The landing

Soon after the first Jingdaoese company had boarded the plane that would bring them to Leng, they learned about the Elwynnese restrictions on the airspace. Rather than risking being shot down from the skies or abandoning the operation all together, a new plan was hatched and implemented directly. Two platoons from the 4th amphibious regiment, and one platoon from the Northern Circle militia, would be launched from two different submarines off the coast of Leng. A larger pack of submarines would make less careful manoeuvres closer to the Elwynnese territorial waters to gain the attention of the Benacians and lure them away from the landing grounds. The three companies were successful in landing halfway on the island's north-western spike. To their horror the Jingdaoese found out that the batteries of their radio equipment did not function under the harsh arctic conditions. The Alriggians did not have this problem as they hadn't brought any electric equipment with them, instead they immediately started scavenging around the landing zone in order to find materials to set up camp. Few materials were found, but walls of packed snow kept the troops out of the icy wind on their first night on Leng.

Without any way to communicate with the the submarine fleet that had brought them to Leng, or even to the headquarters on Wuqi the expedition had no way of knowing whether the situation had escalated. The last thing they had heard was that the Krasnocorians had sent in their aircraft carrier. The expedition prepared for what they thought was the worst case scenario, being overrun by Elwynnese forces.

What lurks in the cold

Waking up the first morning there was no sign of an Elwynnese attack. All that could be seen was snow and ice. On this second day a fog limited visibility around the campsite to no more than 40 rics. Three groups of ten men each were sent out to scout for food and firewood.

The northern expedition

The first group went further north, navigating along the coastline in the hope that this would prevent them from getting lost. Like elsewhere on Leng, the coastline was not a sandy beach but consisted of pack ice. The crackling noise it made terrified the scouts as they made their way on it and they would scream for the Chidao Emperor to save them every time the noise became especially loud. After six hours of walking, the group had still not encountered much besides ice and snow, only a few small cabbages. They slowly ate the cabbages, which were extremely bitter. As they ate them, the ten men felt their energy returning, warmth flooding back into their bodies. One after each other they took off their fur hats, then their coats, and still felt warm. The group undressed to become completely naked before they decided to march back to the camp. As energetic as they were, they believed they could run back to the camp. They did not last very long, after two minutes the first soldier fell into the ice, unconscious. Two others tried to carry him, but they also fell. None of them survived, within fifteen minutes after they had completed their meal of bitter cabbage, they lay unconscious on the ice of Leng never to stand up again.

Another naked man

Just when the second group was ready to leave the camp and travel eastwards, into the plains of Leng where they had seen spiders that could be an important source of protein, a figure emerged from the fog. It appeared to be a naked man, with icicles dangling down from the parts of his body that are not usually named in polite conversation. The man appeared to belong to the race of the Elwynnese and the Jingdaoese soldiers aimed their rifles at him, ready to shoot him if he tried to do with them as Elwynnese naked individuals are found to be doing rather often. The confusion became complete when the man started praising the Heavenly Light in fluent Jingdaoese, with a hint of the upper class dialect that is common within the inner walls of Daocheng. The soldiers put down their weapons and gave the man a blanket and a mug of imperial white tea. The man claimed to be a Pan-Jingdaoese member of the Sifang Suweiai who had been incarcerated in the Svordson Reform Settlement in northern Leng from where he had escaped. He had come across the dead bodies of the Jingdaoese soldiers north of the camp when he was ready to quit and succumb to the cold, but the idea that a Jingdaoese invasion force could be his saving grace kept him going.

The submarines return

The entire operation had been overseen by Shaojiang Gustaaf Windset of the Wuqi Shi Corps, with very little interest shown by the Imperial Palace. This changed when Elijah Pureon, the Elw Pan-Jingdaoese member of the Sifang Suweiai was confirmed to have been incarcerated in the Svordson Reform Settlement, from which he escaped soon afterwards. When the news reached the Imperial Palace's head steward, he ordered the shaojiang to retrieve mister Pureon. Shaojiang Windset sent two submarines, to retrieve the platoons that had been on exercise on Leng for some time now, as they would be the most familiar with the rough arctic terrain of Leng. It was a happy coincidence that as the platoons were found, mostly alive with the exception of the northern expedition, Elijah Pureon was found with them. As for the military exercise, Shaojiang Gustaaf Windset received great praise from the imperial palace for the swift rescue of the council member and quietly destroyed all documentation that hinted at the failed exercise.