In March of 2017 (Floreal 225), following the Britannian attack in Cape Verde, the war between the Holy Britannian Empire, the European United Republic and the Pan-Islamic League started. Quickly, all the sides involved began mobilising all their forces, including the reserves, for a war that would have been fought in every corner of the world, from Greenland down to the Cape and from the Açores to the Kamchatka.
Giulio was sitting in his office, in the base assigned to the Japanese Legion in Guinea, it was a big military complex, equipped with all the comforts needed for a Regiment. From there, in the past days, The Wyvern had repelled several attempts of landing made by the Britannians. They would always let them land, then they would provoke them with small scale attacks, pushing them to enter the jungle, where dispersed and without the naval artillery, the Britannians would become an easy target of the Japanese.
Giulio had been working for the whole day and now, exhausted, he had opened the website of Le Figaro, on his computer to check the news. He had an immediate sense of pride when he noticed that on the first pages were talking about him and his regiment (although not identified by the media) and the triumphs they had obtained. However, as he scrolled down the page, he noticed a titles that immediately left him rather worried: 'Zero strikes again, Victim a Britannian Princess.' He immediately opened the link. Bon Dieu, tell me this is fake news.
'H.I.H. Princess Euphemia li Britannia, 16, Vice-Governor of Area 11, seem to have been killed in terrorist attack carried on by the Black Knights during the event for the launching of her project, the Special Administrative Zone of Japan. The BBC has provided us the footage in which Zero shoots her in the stomach. With Princess Euphemia, all the hopes for a reconciliation between Britannians and Elevens are dead.'
Giulio rose his head, looking at the closed door of his office. It took still some time for him to come to terms with the fact that Euphemia, a person that was always in some way close to him and that he loved, was now dead. Why she? What did she do to deserve that? Probably she was the only one in that family not to deserve such a cruel death. Always gentle, kind-hearted and sweet, she never wished anything bad to anyone and always tried to find solutions that could appease everybody. Yet Zero, this Eleven terrorist who claimed to fight for justice had shot her to death. Miserable bastard!
Leila entered the office bringing some papers.
"Here are some papers to sign, I honestly don't know why they keep sending…"
"Not now, Leila, please."
"Are you alright Giulio? You seem…" She immediately noticed how her superior looked saddened.
"Ce n'est pas serieux, I just need to stay alone for a few moments, nothing more."
"May I bring you something?"
"No… thank you, I really just need a few moments, I promise you I will be better."
While tens of thousands of Britannians were slaughtered in the West African Jungle, a second army, led by Princess Cornelia li Britannia landed in the Cape Colony. There, after defeating the local European contingent, the Army advanced northwards. By the summer of that year, the Britannians had already reached the Tanganyika, firming their positions there and in Bas-Congo. As the risk of a landing in the Western Coast was now avoided, the Joint Military Council (JMC) of the EU dispatched the Japanese Legion to Eastern Africa, in the hope of stopping the Britannian advance.
The base of the Japanese Legion was now on Nafuba Island, a small island in the Lake Victoria, off the coast of Tanganyika. The island was completely uninhabited, and partially covered by a savanna bush. The European base was large, having structures to accommodate all the 2.250 soldiers of the Regiment, the officers and the additional personnel, had a harbour large enough to host the boats needed to transport the soldiers to the shore, an airfield and a helicopter field for the supplies, other than a serie of comforts for the officers and some members of the personnel. A rather good solution.
"This is a lovely place! Tomorrow I am thinking about going for a walk in the nearby forest, it will be interesting to see what's there." Commented Anna Clément with Leila. They were on a terrace of the main command building, looking at the sunset, the Legion had just arrived and there was still a lot of movement in the base.
"Just be careful and keep in mind that this is Africa, Anna."
"Oh, don't worry, I should be fine. And how is Giulio, by the way?"
"He is still dealing with the death of Princess Euphemia, he said more than once that he wants to find Zero and impale him, he is completely out of himself."
"Je vois, I had no idea he and Euphemia were so close."
"Me neither! Also his mother told me that they were good friends with Prince Clovis, which makes definitely things worse."
"Bien sur, the death of two close friends in few weeks."
"Bonsoire mademoiselles." Saluted Giulio from behind them. Both immediately made the military salute, he invited them to remain comfortable with a gesture.
"Sunsets in this part of the world are wonderful, don't you think?" He said going towards the railing.
"Are you better?" Asked back Leila, already worrying that he might want to jump.
"Oh yes, much better, at a certain point we have to get over some things, as they won't change anyway."
Anna Clément tried to comfort him: "Colonel Galahad, if it might help, we are here to give you any support, we know it must be hard."
"I appreciate that, Anna, I am sure that one day Zero will pay for his crimes… or I will make him pay."
"He deserves that, but as you said, let's move on; by the way, I wanted to ask you about what would be our plans for tomorrow."
"Tomorrow I will go for a recognition of the territory. The sooner we attack the Britannians, the better. If you want, you can join me."
"That would be great. I think that also Anna wanted to go explore the forests."
"Oh no… I would be happy just with a walk here on the island."
"Here you should be safe, as there are not dangerous animals, besides some insects and snakes. If you want to go elsewhere, however, I would advise you to take a few soldiers, for your safety."
"Sure, I will keep it in mind, Sir."
"Well, looks like We have finally been able to get a cocktail bar in this base, after I have been insisting on this for a while. If we go to the other terrace we might get one, would you like?"
"A Spritz, why not. Answered Leila."
"I will join you." Said Anna.
The following day, Leila and Giulio departed by helicopter from their base. In a not very practical manner, the helicopter was also transporting a container with two horses in it. Both were wearing a khaki safari outfit, even with the characteristic pith helmet.
"I don't understand why we had to dress like Cecil Rhodes and Livingston and use horses and those guns for hunting instead of going with our frames." Complained Leila, not enthusiastic about Giulio's decision.
"It's safer: we play a lower profile, since we can be taken for hunters and we will be more silent than with those things."
The helicopter landed in Mhunze, a small village inhabited by natives very close to the frontline. With the advancing of the Britannians, the town was now hosting a European camp. Leila and Giulio, as soon as they landed, took their horses and started riding towards the no man's land, between the European and Britannian lines.
A peculiarity of the African theatre was that there was not a defined frontline. European and Britannian bases were distributed irregularly, on a battlefield of continental size, where skirmishes and guerrilla fights prevailed most of time, with few major battles.
Around 13:00h, they stopped on the top of a hill to have something to eat.
"You see the base down there?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's the JOC of the Britannian forces. If we conquer it, we force them to retreat."
"And you think it's doable? I mean, we are in an area that seems to be solidly under their control."
"Seems to be, but I doubt it is. Guerrilla actions, as you saw, are widespread, even this morning we could see a few skirmishes. Problem is that the Britannians are used to guerrilla warfare, yet we are not, besides something against stupid negroes. Now, we could take over their JOC if we organise a serie of diversive manoeuvres with 75-80% of our forces and then we lead just a small group until the JOC."
"So we open the way with most of the force and then we go straight to the JOC with a small force?"
"Yes, but we must be quick and be at the JOC in less than one hour, if we take more than that, either they organise the defence or receive reinforcements and it's done."
"Then we will need to keep the JOC. Or not?"
"Not necessarily, if we blow its system of communication, we will generate enough chaos among the Tommies to make them collapse at the first major offensive. Of course, then we will hope that the Army will do her job."
"So that's the bulk of the whole strategy: chaos."
"Yes, war in Africa is a war of chaos. There cannot be frontlines in the jungle, desert or in the savanna, and our generals have not yet learned it. Have you ever read about Che Guevara, by the way?"
"No, who was him?"
"A guerrilla leader in Area 6, a socialist. He started with the failed Cuban Revolt, of 1959, then fled to Congo, where he tried to help the Pan-Africanists, who were however far too stupid (as he also noted) to follow his orders. Then he went back to Area 6, fighting to expel Britannia and create a Latin American Socialist State. He caused many troubles to the Empire, until they sent there Lord Cecil Le Despencer, A Britannian General who had been following Guevara as a spy for most of his campaigns. Well, this guy had learned everything about guerrilla tactics and in a matter of months defeated and killed Che Guevara, and after that he dictated the Britannian military doctrine for the guerrilla."
"Interesting, we don't study this at the Academy, can you recommend me some book?"
"Sure, I can give you the book written by Le Despencer, I do have it in my office."
"It's almost 14:00h, should we head back?"
"Yes, definitely, I don't want to go back with the dark, this place becomes quite dangerous."
They had barely made a kilometer when a Sutherland stopped them.
"Halt! Don't you know this is an interdicted area?" Said the soldier from the Sutherland.
"We are hunters, sir." Explained Giulio.
"Anyway, you should not be here, and as a matter of procedures, I have to take you to the closest base."
"Sir, I can grant you that there is no need for that, we are just civilians".
"Yes, civilians in the wrong place. Now let me see your documents."
Both prepared their documents. The soldier went out from the Sutherland to see them. If I had understood well, that sword should have given me some power that may help, thought Giulio. The soldier came and saw Giulio's military documents.
"Ah, a hunter, yes…"
"Soldier." Called Giulio, making the soldier look at them. He was feeling a strange sensation in his right eye, almost as if it was burning.
"There's nothing for you here, go away!"
The soldier looked confused for a few seconds, then with a far more calm tone answered:
"Oh, yes, of course, I beg your pardon for this, have a good evening."
"He returned the documents and left."
Giulio and Leila arrived at their base already at night, after having spent the whole day exploring the field. Without losing time, Giulio called immediately all his staff, explaining the scheme he had been considering.
"Well, I might help with this." Commented Sophie Randall, by showing on her laptop a new software. "I have just been preparing a disturber of frequency, that should be able to interrupt their communications and disorient their radars for some time."
"We don't need more than one hour." Answered Giulio "If we take more than that, it's over."
"That's a quite risky tactic, but could work, once we now what we should attack in the diversive actions." Observed Major José Pereira, commander of the W-7
"Yes, and the less communication there is, the better. The diversive action will follow the 'Search and Destroy' scheme, avoiding engagements until reaching the objective, besides the units that we will destine to engagement. Me and Leila will lead the W-0 and the W-1 to conquer the JOC, clear?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Perfect, ladies, gentlemen, please assign the units to every task still tonight, tomorrow morning I will review what you did, then you will instruct the commanders and prepare the regiment for action, we will attack on the following day as soon as the sun rises."
"Wouldn't be better to attack at night?" Asked one of the officers.
"No Major Anou, most of the fights happen at night exactly because of the reduced visibility, however during the day, neither ours, nor their forces tend to do much, since it's easier to see each other, therefore, as much as it might sound counterintuitive, we will benefit from the surprise effect by attacking during the day."
The following day saw the Japanese Legion preparing for its large-scale operation, in which all the 2250 soldiers would have been employed. Soldiers and officers were instructed about their tasks, all the frames were properly prepared and equipped and Giulio phoned the commander-in-chief for that sector, General Etienne de Gaulle, to explain him his plan and to ask if they could count on their offensive as he would send them a signal. De Gaulle, who was far from being an incompetent, coming from a family of long standing military tradition, agreed with the plan. That day passed without many major events, as everything went according with the plans. At night the commanders had dinner together, making a toast to the success of the operation.
The day of the operation, the alarm ringed at 04:00h in the morning and all those involved in the operation had to quickly get ready for the battle.
Giulio was going to take part to the operation as well, exceptionally entering the battlefield, making therefore his appearance in the hangar, heading towards his frame, an Alexander Liberté. Behind him a servant brought on a course glasses of Porto for the officers. He invited them to take the wine.
Ladies and gentlemen, as we say in Britannia: today is the fox!
Today is the fox! Echoed Leila. Following her, also the others cheered.
Inside the frame, he took off his sword and said his prayer:
"God our Lord,
Protect thy humble servant from the enemy
And make his strong against them
Be his sword thy sword
And grant him victory in battle
Amen"
As by plans, they reached the shores of the lake by boat, from where, putting their frames at maximum speed, they reached quickly the enemy lines, attacking all the expected targets, while the W-0 and the W-1, commanded by Giulio, Leila and Major Aide-Capitaine Wiktor Katzinski, started heading towards the JOC.
"I am not liking it, they are better organised than we thought." Commented Giulio.
"We are still largely within the time, though." Observed Leila.
"This for sure, let's just hope we don't lose the advantage."
"What if we do?" Asked Katzinski.
"Then we beat retreat immediately."
Giulio ordered another unit that was kept in reserve to join them, as guarantee. This revealed to be a good idea, as he soon noticed a unit of Gloucesters at less than 1.5 Km from them.
"Gloucesters at 12h. W-0 to the right, with me, W-1 to the left, W-25 engage them."
The tactic worked and the Britannians remained engaged by the W-25, allowing the other two units to proceed.
As Giulio thought, the JOC was not yet ready for a fight and both units broke inside its perimeters without many difficulties, destroying the few defences ready and most of the frames not yet activated. Giulio and two other soldiers cared immediately to destroy all the system of communication and the power supply of the base. In less than fifteen minutes the base was taken and the General appeared with a white flag to negotiate the surrender. Immediately, Giulio typed to General de Gaulle the word "NOW", indicating that it was time to attack.
The demand for surrender by the Britannian general was accepted by Giulio with the honour of the arms, a practice long forgotten by the Europeans, leaving the Britannian officers rather surprised. At the same time, some of the Elevens mocked the British soldiers for having been captured by them, being however immediately scolded by Giulio, who expected the maximum discipline from his soldiers.
The Tanganyika Offensive resulted in a major triumph for the European Republic, since General de Gaulle used that moment of disorientation among the Britannians to hit them with a major offensive that broke their lines and forced them southwards. As other European forces joined him, by the end of the month, the EU had retaken Dar Es Salaam and most of Tanganyika.
The triumph gave Giulio his moment of fame, after the battle. He was in fact promoted to Brigadier General and remained at the centre of the European propaganda, being called the "Ghost of Rommel".
To celebrate that sequence of victories, the Supreme Command for East Africa had organised a gala in the recently reconquered Dar es Salaam, obviously Lord Galahad was the star of the evening and decided to go there accompanied by Leila.
"You don't seem very enthusiastic about the party." Observed Giulio while they were still in the car.
"Oh, don't misunderstand me, I am happy for you, just you know that I am not a big fan of parties."
"It's true you have never been. If you prefer, next time I can call Anna or Olivia."
"Absolutement pas!" She exclaimed taken by jealousy.
"It's a joke Leila, you know I wouldn't." He replied while both started laughing.
Meanwhile, the Porsche Cayenne on which they were travelling had entered the enormous garden of the Governor's Villa, outside the colonial capital, and was heading, through the main street, towards the magnificent residence in Grunderzeit style.
"Well, looks like we are arriving at the Governor's Palace. Now smile and be ready to answer to journalists and people of every kind… Uh look, they have even called the cuirassiers to do the present arms." Observed Giulio.
"Ah well, here we go." Replied Leila, trying to look less unenthusiastic than she actually was.
From Corriere della Sera, 10th Prairial, 225 of the Republic
Republican forces triumph in East Africa!
A major offensive carried on in the past few days resulted in a total victory of our forces, under the leadership of General Etienne de Gaulle in Tanganyika. Britannian losses estimated in 8000 soldiers dead, 5000 prisoners, in addition 500 frames of Gloucester type and 400 of Sutherland type seem to have been captured by our forces. Now the European Army is advancing in the region, retaking the territory previously conquered by Britannia. Worth of note the action of Colonel Giulio Galahad-Canossa, a young European-Britannian officer that, commanding our Special Forces had opened the way for the offensive (interview follows).
