Arc Two, Chapter Seven Maneuvering Into Position
North Africa, Tunisia, Sfax
Thirty Five kilometers from the front lines with Britannia inside an underground bunker,
A week later
Lelouch browsed over the map detailing the placement of his little surprise as a way to kill time. He already knew the map by heart; he had designed it after all. The real question was if everything still worked like it was supposed to, after all these years of inactivity.
Lelouch posed the question to one of his technical support staff in the command centre. "So are the systems still intact?"
"Yes they are sir. " confirmed a eager employee who had been one of the first to sign up for his 'education program'. "But do you really think this will work?"
" Of course" nodded Lelouch " Every time someone organizes a large group, there will be some chaos and confusion. In war lives hang in the balance, so it only gets increased. Many generals have tried to reduce it by employing standard protocols and double checking everything, but they never eliminated it."
Lelouch saw he had the attention of the whole room now focused on him " Once the battle is joined by the African remnants and the Britannian vanguard. The fog of war will descend upon them yet again, and their generals will be struggling to keep up with events."
He walked up to the wall-size map hanging on the right side of the room to point out key positions for both armies. Despite the anachronism he had insisted on having a actual map in the room. Because nothing beats an actual paper map, when you had to look at the big picture in a fraction of a second.
"The Africans are desperate and likely to use traps and the Britannians are now overconfident and likely to give chase. A perfect cover story for our involvement is already written and the starting conditions are cleared." Lelouch proudly exclaimed to his civilian subordinates, who had never held a gun in their lives.
Let alone some decent military training, but they were loyal and eager to strike a blow on Britannia. But none of them really wanted to risk their own life, so when he offered them a chance to do so from a safe distance away, they all jumped at the chance.
Though he had been annoyed five years ago when Britannia re-conquered Japan, because possession of the Sakuradite mines could be the tipping point in the war. He couldn't argue with all the willing recruits he got from it.
They were also willing to break EU laws with only a little convincing. They never really accepted them to begin with, thanks to the EU's lackluster treatment of them.
In a small part of his brain he secretly just loved it, when everyone crapped all over a oppressed people even more, it made binding them to his cause so easy.
"Commander, sensors are reporting that the britannians are moving up their lines, to engage the Africans!"
Lelouch smiled at the unnecessary announcement as he could watch it on the tactical map himself. But these things needed to be said, so everyone knew they were on the same page. Confusion became infectious when people didn't voice out their actions. So to prevent uncertainty about whether or not something was done or not, they built in a ridiculous amount of redundancy.
Lelouch watched the britannians' first wave probe the African positions and get repulsed easily, because the Africans had the field advantage with their embedded positions.
"Why are they still using the Glasgow despite the fact that they already have a better model designed to fight against other knightmares?" wondered Jeremiah out loud as he observed the African Glasgow variant kill the originals.
" There are probably two reasons for that Jeremiah. First off is their inability to freely interchange parts with the glasgows. They can't custom repair special units during a crucial operation, when they don't provide a overwhelming advantage over their predecessor. The new Sutherlands are good but a skilled pilot can still even the odds between them. "explained Lelouch casually for the benefit of the room rather than Jeremiah because he already knew this.
In fact he had instructed Jeremiah to pitch him this question casually during the opening phases of the operation. It would reassure his men that he knew what he was doing and it would fill in their gaps of knowledge without making them feel like idiots. They would lose some respect for Gottwald, but that was negligible in the grand scheme of things.
"Secondly they are afraid of a repeat of the 'Japan incident'. Where they believed Japanese forces captured, reengineered their frames and sold them to the rest of the world before they could press their technological superiority. They lack the logistics to salvage all the wrecks. So they will be forced to abandon Sutherlands if they use them."
And there he put in the seed that he was the one who actually sold the EU the knightmare blueprints by placing some condescension in his voice when he said 'where they believed'.
They wouldn't realize he said it, but a few would start wondering and starting rumors and further build his image. His graduates knew he started the crisis, so selling the blueprints sounded credible enough.
"I see that is quite smart strategically speaking, but the men in the rank and file must be cursing their commander's name." commented Jeremiah
And that put some warm feelings in his subordinates' chests , convincing them that they were appreciated enough, because they were nice and comfy even during a war zone. In fact he might just turn the air conditioning up a notch to drive the point home.
"True and they are about to get more than ample ammunition to do so." chuckled Lelouch darkly
" Indeed, even with their numerical superiority, they seem to be having trouble breaking through their lines."
"it's a problem specific to desert warfare that you wouldn't realize unless you had experience or did the research." shrugged Lelouch "It's called refraction, which means that light gets bend over distances longer than 1500 meters." seeing even Jeremiah was looking a bit lost he decided to explain it in full
" The effect of refraction during the day time causes the target to appear ½ a target downwards and so you need to correct that amount upwards. It's why their shots keep hitting just in front of the Africans, and kicking up more sand cover for them, making it hard for the britannians to adjust by trial and error. It's solved easily enough by taking a position ten meters above intervening terrain but they don't have that luxury with those artillery batteries on top of the biggest sand dunes in the area."
" Wait does that mean they're helpless against the Africans" asked one of the puzzled civilians.
Lelouch shook his head " Far from it, they just need to close within 1500 meters and it's effect will be marginal at best. But right, now they're shooting at ghost targets and even their laser targeting equipment is getting bend."
"Hmm but they don't seem to be charging recklessly to get within range. I don't think they actually realize what the problem is?" observed Jeremiah
Lelouch had been watching the tactical screen as well and had to agree. " My guess is they don't know or they are waiting for cloud cover."
" Cloud cover? " questioned Jeremiah
Lelouch didn't blame him it wasn't a strictly military term but rather a meteorological term." Refraction needs clear skies to work Jeremiah, specifically less than 3/8 cloud cover. So turn on the news and see if any clouds are coming our way"
The highly trained soldier turned on the television in the corner and started flipping through the channels to look for one about the weather. Lelouch could hear him mumbling about something, but it didn't sound like insubordination. If anything he seemed to be ranting about the inflated reputation of the Colchester institute.
Before Jeremiah finally found a weather channel one of the civilians piped up " I found a weather site online. It says there are some clouds coming our way in three hours."
Lelouch thanked the man for his initiative while Jeremiah silently grumbled. " So that points towards them biding their time until the refraction wears off, though it doesn't explain why they moved up their execution time?"
" How thick is that cloud cover Mcavoy?" asked Jeremiah seemingly on to something
" Its long and thin, meaning it will only cover the area for half an hour at most, sir. "
" Hmm so they're getting into position, so they don't miss their narrow window." realized Jeremiah.
Lelouch nodded " They probably realize the reduced speed of knightmares in the desert and are willing to risk some losses for a more advantageous position from which to start their coordinated assault."
" I don't even know why they insisted on knightmares in the first place. Everyone knows that agility is key in the desert. Though the knightmare is king in that regard on paper, in the desert it's another story. Their weight isn't well distributed and as a result they sink into the soft sand, not enough to get completely bogged down but they would have been better off using a tank."
Lelouch shrugged " Blame the nobility's obsession with being armchair generals. They spend more time romanticizing war than actually studying it, so they might not even know that. They just know that the nobility heroically charged into Japan and conquered it with nearly no casualties.
They want a repeat of that, to gain more glory and everyone knows it."
Lelouch frowned "It's the primary reason why the Africans are so unprepared. They didn't think Britannia would use their knightmares in the desert and Britannia already decommissioned their conventional weapons, giving them the illusion they were untouchable."
"Hmm I thought their solution of creating narrow walkways in the desert where the knightmares could use their land spinners was quite inspired." mumbled a civilian operator
"Off course it was, I whispered it into the general's ear when I realized they weren't going to buy more Bamimedes. But those roads built in the desert were more expensive than just coughing up the money for the knightmares. But building infrastructure in the desert to improve the economy sounded more palatable to the people."
" Still, the effect should be similar to the trenches of the great European war. They should be able to hold out for years with little troops, unless Britannia is willing to throw away their troops in a desperate attempt to overwhelm them." countered Jeremiah
Lelouch sighed " You forget the Africans didn't have time yet, to place anti air guns in the whole desert. Nor did I expect them to, with that vast expanse to cover, it would be very cost ineffective. But the end result is that Britannia can easily bypass their line of defense by airdropping units behind their lines. "
"So it's all show and no substance then?"
"Well It could have worked quite well, if they had gotten their act together and emplaced those anti air guns. It would have been a death trap and probably will be one, by the time the britannians reach el Alamein.
But for now the britannians will drop in from behind, destroy their combat support and blow up their fuel depots and water tanks. Once that happens they practically have no choice but to surrender."
" Hmm that tactic sounds a whole lot more effective than I remember learning about, in the military academy" pondered Jeremiah
"That's because traditionally it's done with soldiers not knightmares and they had to go in light and were often engaged by garrisoned troops. They still caused a lot of chaos but lacked the supplies to hold their ground."
"Hmm the same applies to the knightmares with their limited energy supply, but the Africans won't have the capability to destroy the knightmares that deep within their lines with all of their knightmares tied up at the front. "
"Exactly, the Britannians think they will be free to wreak havoc at their supply lines and have the trenches collapse in on itself once they run out of energy."
" Hmm a classic diversion and sneak attack then." summarized Jeremiah
"Correct but the beauty of it for us is that they will be landing on one of our prepared sites and they will go radio silent to prevent the Africans from getting wind of them."
Three days before the britannian attack
Doctor Ashanti pov
Port town Sfax
" That's going to cost you at least 5000 dinars " said Ashanti dispassionately to the soldier in her office
The soldier gritted his teeth and clenched his fist before he erupted " That's an outrage, I could just rub onions in my eyes and get MEDEVAC that way!"
Ashanti just stared him down, the soldier realized their relative bargaining positions and calmed down a bit.
" The britannians didn't use mustard gas, so anyone with a brain will deny your sick leave. I however can provide you with official paperwork that gives you a legitimate reason for desertion." She put some extra emphasis on official and legitimate, and let him soak in the full implications, before she continued " And best of all, they can't disclaim my diagnosis without a state of the art hospital."
The soldier fidgeted in his seat a bit, but the reminder that it was this, or desertion would soon make him see things her way.
" Can't you lower the price a bit, that's practically all I have." He bargained.
Ashanti however wasn't moved, by the selfishness of the soldier. Didn't he get, that for every man she helped, it became that much more suspicious.
Never mind the fact that he was asking her, to let him abandon a whole city of a hundred thousand innocent civilians, to the whims of the britannians. The nerve of the man!
" I won't and I won't accept credit either, so don't bother asking. If you can't come up with the money, then we're done here. Please see yourself out."
The man looked agitated and his eyes flicked to his side arm.
Ashanti pretended not to notice while she fingered her own pistol strapped to the underside of her desk. " I said get out, I have other patients waiting from the 75th regiment."
The man seemed startled, probably with the realization that there were half a dozen armed soldiers waiting just outside the door, with a big stake in keeping her alive. After all, how were those healthy young men going to get declared unfit for duty, if not by her?
The soldier excused himself and mumbled something about trying to get the money, but she barely listened to him.
If he didn't have it now then he wouldn't have it in time for the siege. Unless he robbed someone, she doubted he could scrounge it together.
Well if worst came to worst, he would probably shoot himself in the foot or take a bad fall on purpose and get declared the normal way.
Former viscount Jack Curtis pov
Jack threw his phone against the wall while cursing his frugality. He had justified it at the time as being cautious.
After all people got agitated if someone bribed the key officials before they got to know the man. But his penny pinching had screwed him over big time.
The bloody britannians were practically at his doorstep and his friends at the admiralty hadn't even given him a fucking courtesy call.
He spotted his wife lugging another suitcase out of her room, so she could make room to pack another. He refrained from telling her to pack only the essentials.
It would only start another row and he frankly didn't have the time for it. He would just tell her his servants would take them, while keeping quiet about the fact that it would probably end up getting stolen.
Being robbed by his own servants! So much for living like a king!
It was the prince's revenge all over again. No warning! Just a tidal wave of anger and resentment, just this time not from the commoners and the royal family.
No he had the luck, it was just the emperor and his fucking army. He would have preferred the unruly mob any day, if the alternative was trained soldiers.
" Calm yourself Jack, and take inventory of the situation and then calmly decide the best course of action." said Jack to himself to calm himself down.
The words his father used to say to him, when he was but a mere boy still worked to this day. Albeit with a somewhat diminished effect, without his father's calm soothing voice.
Okay, he was wanted for charges of treason and was persona non grata with his former friends. His assets were scattered over several banks but mostly in Europe.
His attempt to carve out a little fiefdom for himself through bribery had failed, mostly because there were larger fish in the pond, with deeper pockets.
He had already decided to cut his losses but he probably couldn't get out of town in time. Which meant he had to hide somewhere and escape once the dust settled.
Okay that meant bribes for the port authority to arrange a ship for him later and some normal family who could hide him in their basement or something.
His mansion was too conspicuous and would draw any looters like moths to a flame.
But if this family knew his identity then they could leverage it against him. He didn't relish getting blackmailed by peasants. So he had to pretend to be a peasant for a while.
His wife was going to kill him when he had to tell her to wipe coal dust on her face and walk hunchbacked like a old woman. Well, maybe she wouldn't, if he could come up with some convincing story about how they would rape her, because of how ravishing she was.
It would be a bold faced lie but he didn't care. Heck he didn't care when he married her either. All he could see were the pounds, so he didn't mind if she put some on.
He loved money above all else and he had found fellow believers in this little slice of heaven where everything was for sale. But now, those heretics who didn't care about money, but foolish things like: pride, honor, glory and appearances were coming to ruin it, once again.
Maybe he should have bought a private army? Maybe he still could?
Village Boy pov
He shifted the water jug on his back a bit to ease his strained muscles. But he didn't put it down and take a breather, no he kept on walking.
He needed to stockpile supplies for the siege, just like everyone else. If he dallied, then he would become a target for those who already fortified their house.
He grunted with the effort but he couldn't stop. Without this water, he would die as would his family.
There was no telling how long this siege was going to last but relief wasn't coming. The old men in the coffee shop said the fleet was being repaired in Alexandria and thus couldn't escort any supply ships.
The Europeans could, but that might provoke a war with Britannia.
He didn't get how simply guarding merchant ships was allying with the African federation. Or why they even shied away from allying with them, when they had sworn to do so since before he was born.
"Politics!" He cursed under his breath
They were more concerned with doing what looked right than what was right!
If he had been president of the EU, then he would have declared war already and sent his entire army to help out his countrymen. But then again he might be biased, he chuckled to himself.
Though it was hard not to be, as he passed through 'quarter to eight o'clock ' square. He didn't remember the proper name and he doubted anyone except the old guys at the coffee shop knew what it was called before the great European war.
The clock tower had been bombed then by a air strike, and no one bothered to fix it. Lack of funds they said, and he couldn't argue with that, seeing he was starving when he heard it.
But they hadn't bombed it, the Europeans had! When they were caught up in their war, that for some reason had to engulf Africa as well.
"Strategic value!" He spat
There was nothing but sand and rocks for miles around.
And those politicians wondered, how the radical movement was gaining strength in Africa.
Italo Calvino: 'For many of my contemporaries it had been solely a question of luck which determined what side they should fight on.'
Three days later
Britannia mobile command
General Calares pov
"Transmission coming through sir."
General Calares nodded as he braced himself for the prime minister of the Holy Britannian empire and his greatest detractor.
But the prince appeared on the screen with a warm smile, like he was greeting an old friend.
" Hello general, I hope I didn't catch you at a bad time?"
" Not at all, the fight has yet to start in earnest, just some probing and feints for now." He replied back affably
" Oh good, I worried you might have already taken over the town."
General Calares was confused, was he being recalled, after already engaging the Africans?
That couldn't be, if they retreated now, then the sanctions to pacify the Africans would be just as costly as just continuing the war. He had ruined them, at the strait of Gibraltar, and yet again, when he caught them out in the open desert.
" Sir, are you calling off the invasion?"
Schneizel smiled patronizingly at him " Off course not, you're doing fine so far. No I was just commenting on the rushed nature of this campaign. "
General Calares ignored the smile and just nodded " Well they did catch us with our pants down, if we don't attack now! Then we might as well, never attack."
He referred to the corruption plaguing the build of the defensive works suddenly disappearing. This caused several soft targets to turn into hard ones; and the costs in taking them, to increase dramatically.
Schneizel returned his nod " I agree, I doubt I could rustle up enough support to send billions of pounds and thousands of men to die in this desert for marginal gains."
As a military man he wouldn't call securing his flank marginal, but he had to agree that he couldn't justify it either.
Nor did General Calares mention, that even this campaign was lacking in the artillery department. Or that he desperately needed more naval forces in the area, to secure his supply line.
Instead he smiled widely and professed his thanks to the prime minister and declared this offensive couldn't have been possible without him.
It wasn't a lie; but the prince had to compromise on some points to push this offensive through; among which was his appointment as commander.
" It's funny how economics is often more vital in determining the victor than individual heroics. Though I suppose one could make the case that these new workers who have speeded up the construction to nearly inhuman levels; are heroes in their own right." mused Schneizel
General Calares gritted his teeth as the prince subtly downplayed his own importance in history. " While our industrial might certainly makes things easier, it doesn't replace the need for courageous men."
" And I never would dare to imply so. I was just reminiscing on the conversation I had with the EU, about the use of their territorial waters. " replied Schneizel and let a silence hang in the air.
General Calares wondered if it was a power play to force him to beg for the prince's wisdom. It would subtly place him in a subordinate role, while he officially didn't have to answer to Schneizel in this campaign.
However General Calares didn't have the time for such petty games, his operational window was coming up any second now and if he missed it, than he could be stuck for months waiting for another one. " What did they say?"
" They agreed, to let certain ships slip through their unofficial naval blockade. Off course, they won't openly admit that they are threatening to block us; or even that their fleet is present in the Mediterranean to begin with. "
It made some sense guessed general Calares.
If no one knew that the European fleet was there, then no one would feel the need to complain why they weren't stopping Britannian supply ships
"How much are the Europeans demanding for the privilege? "
"Only a arm and a leg, but it will be well worth it, if this campaign succeeds." the prime minister gave a stern look to general Calares to emphasize the point.
General Calares tugged slightly at his collar before he replied " I'm confident that my plan will succeed prime minister, well that is if I can execute it on time."
Schneizel got the hint and said "I'll leave you to it general, I'll expect to hear from you soon."
The transmission ended and general Calares relaxed in his chair and demanded some water be delivered to him.
" Is the cloud cover in place colonel Fulbright" He asked
"Yes it is general, and I've already ordered the distraction to start on time on your standing orders sir."
General Calares nodded absentmindedly, thanking his foresight to give those orders. If he hadn't; then everything would have run behind schedule, thanks to the chatty prime minister.
However, everything was going to plan and soon his special unit would land behind enemy lines and take up a advantageous position over the trenches and then penetrate the lines even more to destroy their fuel depots and water tanks.
"…"
"…"
"…"
That is if they finally got to work as planned " What's the ETA on those VTOL colonel Fulbright! " yelled general Calares impatiently
" They will be in place in T minus five minutes sir. They had to take a detour to circumvent a unexpected anti airgun emplacement."
Calares scowled fiercely" How did you know about the new anti air gun when they are supposed to be radio silent? " He asked in outrage
The colonel flinched "My apologies sir, but captain Zimmerman felt he had to inform you in case you hadn't already committed to the frontal assault."
"We started the assault twenty minutes ago! How did that idiot think his message would reach us in time?"
Colonel Fulbright hastily explained "The time code on the message is from half an hour ago sir, but it got overlooked by the support staff during the preparation chaos."
General Calares glared at his support staff " Who the hell is responsible for this screw up?" He had specifically asked to be kept up to date on anything relating the airdropped platoon, mostly because his victory depended on them.
No one answered, either too chicken to fess up or they were so incompetent they couldn't remember who was responsible for it.
Luckily colonel Fulbright cleared it up for him "That would be communications officer Ramirez sir."
He remembered that name as a officer from south America. "A filthy number huh, we are generous enough to grant you a high ranking position within the military; after we maintained the peace for many years in the area, and you repay us with your incompetence!" He yelled at him
The officer in question just looked like a deer caught in the headlights and unable to defend himself, well not that general Calares wanted him to.
"Do you have any idea how many Britannian lives are being sacrificed as a diversion right now?" general Calares glared harder at him to prevent him from mentioning they were honorary britannians "I guess you don't care or maybe you have been compromised."
The officer was still tongue tied, but shook his head vigorously to deny the accusation of being a traitor.
"In either case, princess Cornelia has established military protocol that all soldiers must do their duty or die trying, to prevent the military from breaking down during a hostile situation. And of course she recommends the death penalty for traitors, so in either case the protocol is clear on what to do with you!"
The officer gulped in fear" Please have… " that was as far as he got before general Calares executed him with a single shot with his sidearm from up close.
"Let that be a lesson to all of you, that I don't tolerate incompetence from my soldiers." He wiped away some of the blood splatter that landed on him, and returned to his seat.
He knew it was over the top, but he couldn't earn the loyalty of his men through love. They were honorary britannians and hated him by default. This meant he had to control them through fear, or else they would disobey orders or worse actively sabotage him. He couldn't allow that, so he had no choice but to rely on some brutal methods that would only be effective in the short run. But so long as he won this campaign then he didn't care.
He looked at his men and saw that the message had sunk in, when they hastily got back to work. He sighed and wished once more that he could have picked his own subordinates.
If he had free choice then he wouldn't have picked any honorary britannians. But sadly prime minister Schneizel thought it was a good idea to let the numbers participate, to help them feel included. So they didn't resist tax hikes.
Though of course the quiet argument that they couldn't let the numbers outnumber them was also taken into consideration. With the rapid expansion of the empire it would soon become impossible to hold it by pure britannians alone, and a revolt was inevitable. Unless they completely culled the natives into submission and thinned their numbers a bit.
There were different theories on how to best do it and what percentage to aim for. But overall the consensus was the same, they needed to be kept in check.
But the most popular method was still the proposal from the teenage prince Schneizel, that recommended that the conquered people should live in poor living conditions to dissuade them from having any offspring, which would solve the problem by itself within a few decades peacefully.
The current use of sacrificing them in a suicide offensive was from the more radical wing. He didn't object to the logic, but resented the smudge on his honor those high casualty numbers would be on his service record.
So he was hoping those elite pure-blooded Britannians he sent to air drop behind the western sand dune would get to work soon, to save his reputation.
If it went according to plan he could spin it to his advantage, saying how he sent in a elite team of britannians to almost single-handedly defeat the Africans in a daring offensive.
He would gain favor with his pureblood friends and the moderates wouldn't resist showering him in praise as well. They would grumble a bit about how their side objective got ruined but would be pleased with the good press.
Overall everyone wins, even the honorary britannians. That is if those elite britannians actually got to work.
"Colonel Fulbright shouldn't they have started by now?" He asked again
"Yes sir, I've been keeping a look out, but so far nothing sir."
General Calares grumbled quietly to himself. His plan was good and if it succeeded, he would distinguish himself enough to get on the wait list for a viceroy-ship, Who only had to answer to the emperor himself.
He wouldn't make the short list just yet, but this and some other distinguishable service or bribes elsewhere. Would catapult him into pole position for the next vacancy.
That is if they showed up" How long ago were they supposed to arrive colonel Fulbright ?"
" They were due ten minutes ago sir."
"Hmm that is within operational limits, but try finding out if the Africans may have ambushed them."
He knew air drops were risky but the risk should be low in their state of the art knightmares. He had reserved the few Sutherlands he had for them, to ensure they wouldn't be held up by any glasgows.
And the enemy pilots shouldn't have been able to level the playing field, because they were all aces. Every single one of them scored in the seventies and eighties in the simulator. Any higher than that and they would become eligible for the rounds.
They should have wiped away any and all resistance, once they got on those hardened roads those Africans made. Sure dodging wasn't easy and chokepoints were there in abundance. But those defenses were built facing the other way. When attacked from the rear they were designed to be vulnerable, to make any operation to recapture them easier.
A sound tactic when you expected to give up ground to buy time, but not so much when your enemy could outflank you. It would have been a veritable killing zone if those anti air guns were all in place but for now there were enough gaps to exploit.
It was a classic case of trying to come up with a perfect plan and having it all unravel by a flaw in it, because you couldn't get all the pieces in place on time.
"Sir, its been twenty minutes since they were supposed to begin the operation. And I just got word from our Intel division that the Africans haven't suffered any losses yet from behind. "
" Does that mean they knew about our sneak attack beforehand and laid a trap for us?" asked general Calares trying to make sense of it. Some of his numbers betraying him and supplying the enemy with Intel was the only thing that made sense.
" Its possible sir, we haven't gotten confirmation if they did. But if so, they most likely kept it close to the vest and sent in a special forces team to plant landmines or something."
" Try hailing them, we need to figure this out before it is too late."
" At once sir!" saluted the colonel
Calares waited tensely as he listened to the radio static and futile attempts from his men.
"What about their IFF signals." questioned Calares next
" We can't receive it from this far out sir. Unless we make a concerted push here." the colonel pointed at the map on the wall " Then we can't boost the signal enough to even know if they are alive."
General Calares mulled it over, he was loathed to lose more men in a foolhardy attempt to overtake the defenders. But he needed to win here to fulfill his plans and those elite britannians were nobles meaning he would gain a lot of enemies if he didn't at least try to rescue them.
"Advance the right flank to pressure them in a feint. Once they take it and shift their forces there, we will make a push on the left to break through and link up with them. " commanded general Calares
"At once sir!" saluted the colonel and started relaying his orders. Not once did he mention that those orders would sentence hundreds of men to their deaths, to save a few dozen aristocrats.
Author notes
I had a lot of trouble deciding which port city to pick though most of you wouldn't care. There aren't that many natural ports on the north African coast making them very valuable. A town of only five thousand can effectively control a thousand miles. In the end I went with Sfax because it has some history as being used as a supply point for the Nazis and it's in Tunisia. At first I thought about one closer to the Suez channel but it didn't make sense if Lelouch ignored Britannia for so long.
The next chapter will be the actual battle. So do you want it all at once or split up into two chapters?
