February 23rd 1935, somewhere near Deventer
It was quiet. A bit too quiet for Valentins taste. A Federation-Base should be nearby, yet there was almost no activity. He sighed and looked through his binoculars again. Everything was still the same, except some puddles that had formed during the rain. Still no sign of any Federation soldiers… Valentin thought it was odd. He shrugged and then lowered his binoculars, stepping down from the rock. "Hopefully they are done with the preparations when i get back…", he thought to himself as he made his way back to the camp.
Two months...it had been almost two months since the Empire they had crossed the borders of the Atlantic Federation, laying waste to what- and whoever dared to stand in the way. Considering that it hadn't been that long, the offensive went pretty smoothly so far. Summer was still far away and they already had captured more than a quarter of the quarter of the Federations territory. At the beginning, he and the others from the 10th Mountain Artillery Regiment had been pressed into service as frontline artillery due to the lighter weight of their guns, which made them easier to move around, but since they had reached the mountain ranges in the south, they started fighting in the environment their equipment was actually made for. Valentin was still a bit disappointed about the lack of specialized mountain troops on the other side. He had seen what Federation Troops are capable during his time as a military attaché and with the right training some of them would make fine mountain troops... he should probably be glad, that that wasn't the case though. If it was, this whole operation would be an awful lot more difficult. He still felt like this was all a bit too easy…
Maybe the Federation wasn't as quick at mobilizing all the troops as the Empire was. Maybe it was an elaborate plan of the Federation to lure the Imperial Forces into a trap. Valentin didn't know, and quite frankly, he didn't care either. In either case, it wasn't his task to think about that. All he had to do, was defeating the enemy in his sector. At least until new orders arrived. Speaking of which, hadn't Bauer said something about a message from HQ a bit earlier? Valentin stood up and walked out of his tent to get to the communications-trench. On his way he saw some soldiers that were patrolling and greeted them and not long after, he hopped into the trench. Just a few more steps through the muddy mess and he would be there. Personally he would prefer it, if they had placed some planks on the ground, but trees were scarce up here. After another minute or two, he had reached his destination.
The man working at the radio, Corporal Bauer, noticed him and quickly stood up to greet him. "Major Martinek." he said. No saluting or anything else Valentin would refer to as "groveling". He had told the men, which served under him to ignore that if no one else was around. "Corporal Bauer….any news from the Head Quarters? I remember hearing that you have a message…" Valentin said. "Nothing important. Orders are still the same, but the brass wants to get the 7th Battery transferred to a new division. They will even get some new howitzers, since they will have to leave their guns here. Heard from a friend, that some folks in R&D decide to put howitzers on tank-chassis, so that might be what they will get…" Bauer responded. That was good to know, Valentin would have to take that into consideration in the future. With another battery gone, it would just be them and the 8th. At least they would have plenty of ammunition now…
February 27th 1935, somewhere near Deventer
Valentin looked at the map the Colonel gave him earlier. The Scouts had located the base a few kilometers away, just a bit outside of the range of the 150mm guns. That meant that some of the guns had to be brought onto nearby mountains, which should allow them to open fire on the outpost. Two howitzers from the 6th and 2 from the 8th were supposed to be moved onto a mountain on the left flank while the smaller 75mm guns would be relocated onto a plateau near the base. Valentin had heard that HQ wanted this war to be over within the next two months, therefor it was necessary to force the Atlantic Federation to capitulate as soon as possible. Valentin still had his doubts about the whole operation, but it was not like his opinion mattered to anyone in the General Staff. He was just a lowly officer from one of the less prestigious branches of the Imperial Army, and even in the artillery branch, the mountain troops were not held in high regards. So all he could do was wait for the inevitable to happen. This war was still going to easy… Valentin couldn't help but feel uneasy about this whole thing. Something was about to happen and Valentin feared that it might be the Empire who will draw the short straw…
He sighed and looked at the map again. He couldn't worry about that with an operation underway. For now, he had to shove his doubts aside and concentrate on attacking the base. The terrain was favourable, from the gun positions they would have a good view. With a forward observer that scouts ahead of the advancing infantry, it would be an easy task to eliminate any threats that could potentially turn the tide of battle in favour of the Federations. After quickly glancing over the map one last time, Valentin got up. Time to report to the Colonel and ask for his approval of his plans.