Sovereign

"Some folks inherit bright glowing halos. Ooh, they'll send you down to war, no."

- Fortunate Daughter

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Grand Duchy of Ludendorf

Heiflitz, South of Halia

Brül District

August 26, 2024

128th Special Holding Detachment

Three tanks were burning on the road.

Marie Wittfield stopped herself from moving forward, watching as another platoon of young men rose from the rubble of a collapsed grocery store. It was a concentrated charge, almost stopped prematurely when a mortar blast turned three men into mush, but they pushed on.

Poor bastards…

Their charge was a hasty one, just enough for her to skip through more lanes undetected, as the enemy focused fire on their masses.

Her and RIU's goal was simple. A downed Putschist helicopter crashed in one of Heiflitz's easternmost districts, near the position of the 128th Special Holding Detachment (SPHD) currently engaged in combat with a Putschist assault early in the morning. A helicopter that carried a high-ranking Putschist officer.

And…most important of all, according to one of her "captives", a file that detailed the Putschists' operational plans.

She needed to nab it quickly.

The SPHD was…well, it meant that they were a penal unit. The "Holding Detachment" was a euphemism. They were supposed to "hold" their position regardless of the cost. Which meant they weren't retreating.

In other words, they would be holding this section of the frontline to the last man. And since Marie had many contacts with JTF-Ludedorf, she "acquired" de facto command of these men.

And her commands were simple. Take their attention while she and the RIU did their job of taking something important. It sounded diabolical, but it wasn't like she had options. The 128th was here, and she had no time to redeploy anyone else.

She stopped and sent a barrage of ice spikes forward, just in time for three enemy soldiers to turn the corner. They dropped dead, and Marie pushed forward, meeting the rest of the enemy squad.

Desperate gunfire punctuated her attack, all as she left nearly a dozen dead in her wake. She wasn't stopping.

"Hostiles!" She heard from her left. She didn't pay heed, it was merely the shouts of what was probably an OAF sergeant on a parallel lane - especially when she heard another set of panicked gunfire from that direction afterward.

Seraph One. Someone said in the Astral Network. We have visuals.

She stopped in front of a road intersection, where a bunch of soldiers from the 128th found themselves pinned behind the ruined cars lined on the road, as multiple Putschist machine guns bore down on them from the rooftop of a restaurant.

She watched as they replied back with their rifle fire, while a squad of four attempted to charge forward, only to be cut down in seconds - one of them dropping right exactly in the middle of the intersection, face down. His neck…not in the best shape.

She winced in sympathy.

"Dammit…this entire thing went sideways." Marie hissed, as another group of Royalist soldiers tried another assault. Once again, they didn't get far, being cut down once again by the Putschists' gunfire.

She moved on forward, her magic almost completely concealing her when she crossed the intersection. It was already proving to be quite the journey to reach the downed helicopter when she found herself in a lane where four soldiers were bludgeoning each other to death - before a Royalist soldier managed to fire his gun at his foes.

Goddess…

At last, she soon regrouped with her RIU agents and a few Royal Guard Knights present for the operation. They mostly trickled in after the artillery barrage earlier forced them to scatter from their staging positions.

It was so severe that much of the easternmost town of the city resembled that of an apocalyptic landscape, littered with abandoned fortifications and the countless wrecks of tanks and LSS Mechs.

And up ahead, was the downed helicopter. Her RIU agents moved in rapidly, all while the participating Royal Guard Knights moved to provide overwatch from the rooftops, ready to dispatch.

Just in time for Marie to see a Putschist platoon move forward in the direction of the wreck, as the men cautiously checked the environment with their rifles.

Shame…they shouldn't have been here.

A red light of arcane runes appeared from one of the rooftops, and then - desperate gunfire responded from men on fire.

+++

Queen's Bunker

"Contact lost with the 128th SPDH. The 17th Armored Division is now redeploying to the Brül district."

The announcement didn't take Amelie's attention from the current situational report from William. She expected all this to happen. Nevertheless, it still saddened her, for she hoped that the ceasefire would have lasted a little longer.

Unfortunately, last night, the enemy made the first move.

William pointed his stick at the map of the frontline on the digital board, on the eastern part of Heiflitz.

"As such, it is clear that they are attempting to cut us off from the south. By taking Heiflitz, we would lose our lines to communicate with Southern Command, and we would only be supplied by Rebenslof and the Free Confederation."

Amelie sighed. This indeed was a disappointing turn of events. Her eyes focused on the concentration of her forces in Heiflitz. Briefly, she wondered if they would be retreating to the direction of Halia or down south should they lose.

"Can we hold Heiflitz?" Amelie asked.

But William, as always, did not have a straight answer.

"We are attempting to do so, but the situation is rapidly disintegrating. We are fighting them building by building, block to block, but their numbers are overwhelming local defenders."

"So we should redeploy our forces from Halia?"

He paused. Amelie's question made sense, yes, but that would not be too easy.

"Strategically, that might lead to losses that the defenders of Halia might be unable to take."

"From the south then?"

"Southern Command isn't going to funnel troops to a section of the frontlines that are about to be cut off," William replied as he made a motion with his stick, from Heiflitz to the major roads down south. "In actuality, they would most likely prefer to evacuate troops from Heiflitz, to prevent them from being encircled, and to shorten the frontlines."

That's…not really a bad decision. But then, I'm going to be actually cut off from Southern Orland and Western Orland. Goddess knows it would be a pain to reconnect our frontlines in that situation.

After all, the fronts of Orland had already started to solidify. Each inch of land would require an enormous amount of blood and lives spent.

That's why I cannot lose Heiflitz. Or the connection to the south. Even if I win, I'd have to send more young men to die to reconnect us to the rest of the country. But then…telling these men to hold fast would be awful too.

After all, she had heard enough reports about the casualties her troops were soaking up from their "last stand" policies. Sometimes, she wondered if that was even necessary. Many times, William would tell her that losing such positions would be unacceptable, but then, what was the point of sacrificing lives when the position would be lost anyway?

It all baffled Amelie. Such were the complexities of war.

What baffled her even further was men's willingness to die in the front. There were mutinies, so many mutinies, yes, but there were also so many that would not take a "step back" and fight till the last ammo. It was terrifying, Amelie thought.

What if it was her turn to truly attack? When she would be the one besieging the industrial cities of the Free State? Wuringen was a massive land, with almost twelve major cities aside from Eirhow.

And with the fanaticism of the Putschists, she could only scarcely imagine the stalwart resistance they would put up. Even if women fully mobilized for the Royal Guard, they would have to clear out almost half of Orland, now occupied and fortified by the Provisional Government.

Halia was already extremely bloody. And this was just one city. She remembered the harrowing reports from Western and Southern Orland, where Royalist forces stalwartly defended each city with casualties already mounting to five hundred thousand.

Soon…Rolentz and Thein too. Defense or offense, this is all too costly.

But she had to hold on. The Kingdom was fighting for her without reprieve - the least she could do was to lead them better.

And thus, she had to make a decision. To hold Heiflitz at all cost - or to abandon it.

Both had downsides and advantages she would have to weigh. Losing or keeping Heiflitz would be a decision that would have massive consequences for the course of the Halian campaign.

"Then what do you think is the best course of action, William?"

Even William didn't truly know. And neither did anyone in JTF-Ludendorf. War after all was full of uncertainties. Strategically, abandoning Heiflitz would cut off Halia from the rest of the Royalist holdings.

Tactically, holding Heiflitz would be extremely risky, costly, and difficult, and it might not even change the outcome anyway - if they lost Heiflitz.

And so, he showed JTF-Ludendorf's three main battleplans on the screens.

"This…" He paused. "Are our options."

+++

Heiflitz

Brül District

17th Armored Division 'Standhaft'

19th Tank Battalion

The night was already crawling near, but there wouldn't be sleeping today.

Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Prul watched from his vantage point (a Hotel turned into their forward HQ) as another airstrike destroyed a block on the area captured by the Putschists in the easternmost parts of the Brül district.

He placed down his binoculars. This truly was beyond tedious.

"Sir!" One of his staff officers called, handing him his radio. "It's General Holl."

He quickly took it and answered. The 19th was currently awaiting their assigned AO (Area of Operations) and combat objectives. Due to the sudden earlier artillery barrage, much of the 128th SPDH was lost, their HQ losing contact with the rest of HEICOMM (Heiflitz Command).

As such, the forces of the 19th had to move in and re-establish themselves in the district. General Holl was cautious, however, as he only sent his scouting companies ahead of the 19th Armored's main force.

But Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Prul knew that sitting around would be unproductive, and dangerous even. The Chief Air Marshal wouldn't be able to hold the temporary Royalist air superiority above Heiflitz.

CAP (Close Air Support) missions were already being called off, as the Putschists were pushing Royalist squadrons off the skies. Many expected that by 18:00 hours, the enemy would go on an all-out night operation to soften them up for the next Putschist assault by dawn.

"This is Lieutenant Colonel Prul on the line, sir."

"What's the situation over there?"

He eyed his men down below. They were already preparing their parked Löwe tanks scattered on the roads leading to the frontlines. Many were tossing used shells, others were checking their vehicles, all while lines of mechanized infantry marched forward in irregular formations.

"We're preparing for the deployment."

"They're not sending shells your way?"

"I would have reported it if they did. Still, this is a major vulnerability. General, I request that we start moving."

"I understand. Our scouts reported that there are presence of hostile LSS Mechs in your assigned AO."

"Sir?"

"You've heard it right. We're facing LSS Mechs."

Normally, he would not react badly to that news. But those things already had a reputation for chewing Löwe tanks in constrained urban environments.

"Well…it's to be expected, sir."

"The Queen still hasn't made a decision. As such, we have to make do and hold this city with what we have until she does. You will defend what you can defend in your AO, but pull back if necessary."

Of course, they were an armored unit. Löwe tanks were valuable on the battlefield, unlike the penal units that previously held this district. It would make sense that they didn't want to lose more armored assets if necessary.

"Understood, sir."