Chapter 37: A surprise they never asked for
February 1947
Falmarr
The Coalition had successfully defeated the Seiga forces in Yoroppa and in Assuwa and now they were turning their attention back to the Empire of Sadera in Falmarr. The Coalition now reinforced by the newly modernized Alliance forces began to retake their frontline positions, surprisingly, Falmarr has been a surprisingly sector in the war and this made the UNAF commanders nervous, very nervous as past experiences has shown that bad things happen when the front becomes too quiet.
15th February
Three kilometres west of a town
"I don't like this, sarge" A Liberion rifleman said as his unit advanced towards the town, "It's too quiet"
"I share your worries too Joe but command wants us to take the town and its crossroads" The sergeant said as she looked around.
The riflemen approached the town yet they not met the enemy. This unnerved the Liberion riflemen as usually they would be attacked by the Saderan foot soldiers. The push was part of a preliminary push before the Coalition launched a renewed offensive; this push was codenamed Operation Starter.
"I got a bad feeling about this, Lieutenant" A soldier said.
"Calm down Tom, everything will be fine" The lieutenant said. Suddenly windows of the nearest houses opened up and they saw Imperial troops stand at those windows.
"What the hell?" A rifleman uttered before the familiar sounds of gunfire filled the air as white smoke came from the houses followed by some of the Liberion riflemen dropping onto the ground, some soundlessly while others screamed in agony.
"Fuck! They got guns!" A rifleman shouted.
"Take them out!" A sergeant shouted.
"Medic" A rifleman shouted, "We need a medic!"
"Fuck they got Bill!" A riflewoman shouted.
"Fire back!" The lieutenant barked.
"Eat lead you bastards!" A rifleman shouted.
"Joe, suppress them with the BAR!" The sergeant barked.
"Got it sarge!" Joe stood up and opened up with his M1918 BAR.
"Throw grenades!" Another sergeant ordered.
"Have a grenade, you fuckers!" A rifleman shouted as he and other riflemen threw grenades.
"Lydon, clear the houses with your platoon" The lieutenant ordered.
"Got it, Karl" Lydon said, "1st Platoon on me, we got to clear those houses!"
"James! I want 2nd Platoon to support 1st Platoon" Karl ordered.
"Got it boss" James replied.
"Paul, I want you to flank the town and make sure these bastards don't escape" Karl ordered.
"Consider it done" Paul said, "3rd Platoon, on me!"
The Liberion rifleman company were soon able to capture the town but it cost six KIAs and nine WIAs and they were not the only ones that suffered losses as Coalition forces advancing into Saderan territory were met with musket and cannon fire resulting in significant losses on Operation Starter with 155 soldiers KIA and 500 soldiers WIA. This alarmed the Coalition commanders by the Sadera's sudden acquisition of firearms and now they were wondering what or who gave Sadera guns but it soon became clear when a Karlslander tank company captured an officer that was different from the rest of the Imperial forces as he wore a uniform similar to what a Gallian army officer wore from the early 1800s or to be precise from the Napoleonic Era and this man spoke Gallian. The Gallians and Perancisans were surprised by this and began interrogating him and with a little help from the Lady of Knives, they found out that another empire had come to Sadera's side and it appears to be a Special Realm Napoleonic Era Gallian Empire and they are not friendly.
This prompted the UNAF to undo the restrictions on the United Kingdom of Falmarr's Armed Forces with the UNAF and Alliance Nations agreeing to upgrade the Falmarr Armed Forces from late 19th century to the First Neuroi War standard which means an air force and naval force are to be created. This also meant that the armed forces to be increased from 100, 000 soldiers and officers. However their logistical and support equipment will be of 1940s standard as to not fully restrict their capabilities. This however meant that the Coalition Armed Forces will lose the forces of the United Kingdom of Falmarr for several months. So that means retraining for the older soldiers which means a lot of barking.
Meanwhile the UNAF began distributing body armour to their soldiers so to give them protection from bullets and knife attacks. Furthermore the UNAF called on more witches, this time from a small nation which most of the soldiers has never heard of, the Republic of Conch, a nation made of small islands just south of the tip of Florida however it is basically a protectorate of Liberion but it has big friends as the big nations such as Orussia, Gallia, Britannia, Karlsland and Liberion have recognized the tiny nation especially after the service it has done for the United Nations especially in safeguarding the convoys from neuroi surface and submarine raiders despite having a carrier that reminisces to Liberion's first carrier, the USS Langley, the CRNS Calypso, a carrier born from an old steamer as well as an old Clemson class destroyer as the carrier's sole escort but what's more interesting about this carrier is that it has only had twenty planes and these are all P-26 Peashooters. However what makes the carrier special are the witches that were stationed on her. These witches formed the 555th "Young Blood" Joint Fighter Wing and they are special because they are far below the proper age to be in the military age as the average age of 6 years old with the oldest is 12 and that girl isn't the leader, the leader is a young nine year old girl called Diana Evans and she holds the record for being the youngest lieutenant colonel in the Liberion Military and the Young Blood witches will soon join the frontlines.
March
Imperata
In a tall tower near the centre of town
A Karlslander Panzergrenadier division was facing heavy resistance in the city as the Saderan troops fought a very stubborn defense with the assistance of cannon fire from a fortress in the centre of the city and artillery bombardments from the division's artillery regiment were proving ineffective as the cannons still fired on the Panzergrenadiers.
"Damn it, those cannons are a real pain in the ass!" A Karlslander rifleman complained.
"Yeah and our artillery aren't doing shit to that fortress" Another Karlslander rifleman said.
"Don't worry lads, we got air support coming, they will take out that goddamn castle" A lieutenant said.
"That's great news!" The first rifleman said.
"Who do we get coming?" The second rifleman asked.
"The 500th "Black Panther Witches" Joint Fighter Wing and the 555th "Young Blood" Joint Fighter Wing" The lieutenant said.
"The 555th?" The first rifleman asked, "What JFW is that? You know that Jacob?"
"No, I thought we only got to 520th JFW" Jacob, the second rifleman answered.
"Well, whatever the Joint Fighter Wings will be arriving to give support" The lieutenant said. Just then the roar of jet engines and the hum of propeller engines were heard.
"Looks like they had just arrived" Jacob said.
"Kurt, I want you to handle air support, if you see a target, you tell those girls" The lieutenant said before he left the
"Roger sir" Kurt said as he took the radio receiver, "This 100th Panzergrenadier Division to allied Joint Fighter Wing, can you hear me?"
"This is Colonel Kenadee Reynolds of the 500th "Black Panther" Joint Fighter Wing, we read you loud and clear" The commander of the 500th JFW, the first all-black JFW, replied.
"This is Lieutenant Colonel Diana Evans of the 555th "Young Blood" Joint Fighter Wing, we all can hear you" The commander of the 555th JFW replied.
"That's good news" Kurt said though he noticed that Evans's voice sounded younger, "Now, we got a mission for you; there is a castle in the middle of the city that holding up the entire division's advance and artillery does shit to the castle so can you take it out, that would be lovely"
"Roger, we will take out that fortress for you, no problem" Kenadee said.
"Yes, we will take out the bad castle" Diana radioed back.
With the 500th and the 555th JFW
"Alright girls, you heard the mission, we have a castle to flatten, now let's get to it" Kenadee said, "Time for the 555th to "detach" and get into the fight"
"Aw, but I wanted to hold on to Caroline a little longer" Veneshia pouted. Squadron Leader Veneshia Dawson of the Britannian Royal Air Force was the 500th's main sniper with her scoped Lee Enfield coupled with her magic ability, Ballistic Stabilization. Her strikers are the Gloster Meteor.
"Come on Veneshia, we have work to do, you can cuddle her later" Deoshia said as she cocked her 50 cal machine gun. Captain Deoshia Kennedy from the Liberion Army Air Forces though that will soon change as the Air Forces will become a separate branch of the Liberion Military so soon the witches and pilots will no longer going to be associated with the army. Anyway Deoshia's magic ability is foresight and she is equipped with the witch variant of the M2HB Browning 50cal machine gun which has a buttstock and a rifle trigger. She flies the P-80 Shooting Star.
"Fine" Veneshia pouted.
"Alright girls, let's give these bastards hell" Rebecca said as she loaded a round into her 37mm anti-tank/neuroi gun. Rebecca Taylor is the 500th's heavy gunner with her Super Strength and her 37 mm cannon which she had ripped out of a disabled P-38 and she has used it ever since. She flies the F-86 Sabre, a brand new jet fighter.
"Oui, we will take out that castle" Joséphine smiled as she cocked her FM 24/29 light machine gun. Joséphine Brunet is a Gallian Algerian and her magic power is Storm. She uses a FM 24/29 LMG which was rare as most Gallian weapons were lost in Gallia back in 1940 however several survived in Algeria which included the FM 24/29 LMGs. She flies the Gloster Meteor.
"Let's take out that fucking thing so our fucking soldiers can get fucking moving" Megan barked as she pulled the bolt back on her BAR. Megan Wilson is a Laurentian Captain in the 555th Young Blood and is one of Laurentia's youngest captains at six years old. She has the mouth of a sailor given her background from lumberjacks but she is a caring person. She has Enhanced Strength and also the ability to harden the air around her into a hard shell that can cover her and anything she carries including another person if they are in direct contact. She uses the F8F Bearcat striker.
"Maleshoane, you're up" Diana said, "Tell the bad men in the castle that we are coming"
"Yes Diana, I will make them wet themselves" Maleshoane said. Maleshoane which is Basotho for Ladybird is a 9 years old South African flight lieutenant of Zulu and Basotho descent in the 555th Young Blood JFW; she is one of South Africa's youngest air force officers. She flies the Hawker Tempest Mk V and her main weapon is a Hispano Mk V 20 mm cannon. Her magic ability is Battle Cry and she is about to use it.
"Give them hell, Ladybird" Megan cheered. Maleshoane flew to over the castle as she took out an old Zulu shield and a spear before she took in a deep breath before she banged on her shield with her spear.
"USUTHU! BAPHAPHAME FUTHI BAFE (WAKE UP AND DIE)! URA~!" Maleshoane shouted. Her voice boomed throughout the city and its effects were immediately felt as Karlslander soldiers noticed the Empire soldiers began to lose their nerves while they themselves felt energized to fight.
"Alright, that was one hell of a battle cry" Kenadee complimented, "let's give them hell!"
"Into the fray girls" Georgette shouted. Georgette Lerue is a one of the oldest members of the 555th JFW at 11 years old. She is a Gallian witch with a special ability called 3D Space Understanding Power which allows her to detect and identify all units in terms of number, type, position whether friendly, neutral or hostile within 40 kilometers. She mostly flies in the rear of the pack in Hawker Typhoon strikers where she can do her detection work but she is armed with a Bren gun to defend herself but today, she is on the offensive.
"And there goes Cindy" Tracie said. Tracie Osborn has a very excellent photogenic memory as she can memorize an entire map and be able to get to any point on the map despite horrible visibility or lack of landmarks though people often mistake this as her magic ability; her real magic ability is Saviour Magic where she can recover her magic as fast as she uses it if she lowers outputs of magic which makes her practically invisible to radar which sometimes annoy radar operators. She alternates between the Boeing P-26 Peashooter or the Grumman F4F Wildcat strikers depending on whether she needs lower magic signature or speed and combat performance and today she's flying the Wildcat. Her weapon is the old but still potent Fedorov Avtomat M1916 assault rifle. The Fedorov is one sense a ground-breaking weapon as it is the closest to being the first standardized weapon for a Joint Fighter Wing as most of the witches in the 555 have a Fedorov rifle though the reason is because, the 6.5 mm cartridge is weak enough for the young witches to operate without much problem.
"Bad men get spanking for hurting my friend!" Cindy shouted as she flew straight for the castle. Cynthia Jablonski or Cindy as everyone calls her is a 4.5 year Laurentian sergeant. Despite being a young girl, Cindy is a very formidable and dangerous fighter especially with her late father's K-Bar knife that has been infused with magic which she has christened 'Revenge' that she uses like a sword. She is one fighter that gave Amirah and Alisa, the two of the best fighters in the Coalition a hard time in a fight though between the two, Cindy is good friends with Amirah especially since the 555th were temporarily assigned to the 501st JFW and Amirah agreed to take care of Cindy, Wendy and Mary O' Brian as there were not enough space in the 501st JFW's quarters in Fort Liberty, a new forward airbase. Cindy uses two Fedorov Avtomat M1916s as her main weapons while her strikers are F8F Bearcats. Her familiar is a Yellow Jacket Wasp which when activated are fully functional, including the stinger which for her is 6inch's long and packs enough poison to kill a man in one sting.
"Damn! She is tearing through those poor bastards" Karina said, "Almost pity the sons of bitches, almost" Karina binti Saladin is a Romagnan Libyan lieutenant of the 500th JFW. She has the magic ability of Magic Healing. She carries a SAFAT 50cal machine gun while flying the Fiat G.70 jet fighter which is a licensed Romagnan version of the P-80 Shooting Star.
"You pay for giving her scary dreams!" Cindy shouted as she slashed the castle defenders.
"Who's she talking about?" Helena asked. Helena Gregory is a member of the 500th JFW. She is the designated sharpshooter of the unit as she has the magic ability, Steady Shot which allows her to almost instantly snap accurate shots while still moving which means less time spent lining up the shot. She uses a scoped M1 Garand and her strikers are the P-80 Shooting Star.
"She is talking about her friend, Amirah" Tanisha said. Tanisha Collins is one the oldest members in the 555 at the age of twelve. She has the magic ability, Firestorm which is similar to Erica Hartmann's Sturm but with fire, it is a powerful ability but it takes out a lot from Tanisha which means she has to rest after using it. Her main weapon is a Browning M1919A4 machine gun, her strikers are the F8F Bearcat. She forms the 555th Weather Girls team with Mei Li, Vishnutharsha "Vichy" Kowrishankar, and Pirita Isometsä.
"Wait, she is friends with the Lady of Knives?" Helena asked.
"Yes she is" Tanisha said.
"Well damn, that's something" Helena said.
"Hey Tanisha, come on, let's do our special!" Mei called out. Mei Li is a ten year old Chinese Captain that formerly attached to the Liberion Volunteer Group in China. After the unit's initial deactivation, she returned to China only to be requested to join the 555th JFW which is now her new home. She flies the P-51D Mustang strikers and her weapon is the M1919A4 machine gun. Her magic ability is Typhoon which is a powerful though difficult to control wind magic. She is a member of the 555th's Weather Girls.
"Alright, Vichy, Pirita? You ready?" Tanisha said.
"Hai, ready to light up the castle" Vichy smiled. Vishnutharsha Kowrishankar or Vichy to most people is a 6 years old Navy Lieutenant Commander in the Imperial Fusoan Navy, thus being the youngest naval officer in the IFN. She is a bit of a celebrity in the Asian and Pacific theatre as she was very active in the Chinese, Burmese and South East Asian theatres during the Second Neuroi War, she first started in Fuso as normal girl until she used her magic to save her father's friend who so happen to be Mitsuo Fuchida from a bear attack with her magic and Fuchida was impressed by her magic ability and asked her father if she could join the Imperial Fusoan Navy, her father said yes and thus began Vichy's career as a witch in the IFN, and also the first Indian witch in the Fusoan Military and she started strong as she assisted in the defense then evacuation of Hong Kong and Macau, then she worked in the Philippines, then Malaya where her most vital action was supporting the Royal Malay Regiment in their defense then withdrawal from Pasir Panjang and the defense of Singapore during its evacuation before being stationed in Burma to help the Allies in their defense of Burma and India. Her strikers are the A7M "Sam" Reppū and her weapon is a modified Type 99 20 mm cannon which is most practical sense is a 20mm recoilless rifle. Her magic ability is Firestorm though hers is different than Tanisha's as hers has her shooting streams of fire at her enemy and she can use her special at least twice. She is another member of the 555th's Weather Girls.
"Don't worry they will cool down after I am done" Pirita smiled. Pirita Isometsä is a 4 year old Suomish sergeant who has a very unique magic ability called Frostbite which she uses to unleash sub-zero freezing cold air at her target either to freeze it or jam their equipment. Her magic ability is semi-active so even when she is not using it, the air around her will be much cooler and this has caused problem as her weapons would freeze up as well that was until Ursula Hartmann created a special variant of the MG42, called the MG-44 "GMG" Gefrorene Maschinengewehr LMG which will continue firing despite being ice-cold. Pirita flies a rare variant of the Ta 152, the Ta 152 H-2. She is the final member of the 555th's Weather Girls.
"Alright but let's make sure Cindy is out of the way" Tanisha said.
"Give them a spanking" Cindy said as she flew away from the castle.
"Alright, blow them away, Mei" Tanisha said.
"Roger" Mei said as she flew to the castle and took a deep breath before a wild torrent of air slammed into the castle.
On the ground
Karlslander troops all stopped their attack as they heard the roar of the wind grew louder and louder and the wind began to pick up speed. They then looked up towards the centre of the city and saw a witch using wind magic on. They watched as the wind began to rotate.
"Hans! Reverse now!" A tanker said as his Panther began to reverse back up the road.
"Fall back! FALL BACK!" A lieutenant hollered as he began to fall back away from the centre of the city.
"What is going on?!" A corporal asked.
"There is a tornado forming!" A sergeant shouted, "We are getting away from that thing!"
The Saderan soldiers who saw the Karlslanders began to cheer but their celebration were fatally premature.
In the air
"Holy shit, look at that girl go!" Kenadee said as the 500th watched Mei blow a massive gust of wind in the compounds of the castle.
"Shit! She just made a twister" Deoshia shouted.
"Everyone! Fall back!" Kenadee ordered. The wind that Mei was blowing began to twirl around inside the castle and this began to spin faster and faster until it formed a large tornado and it already began tearing through the castle. Karlslander troops immediately hid in buildings or closed up their tank hatches and continued to fall back away from the tornado. The tornado turned sickly black in colour as it tore apart the castle.
"Alright Pirita, make it cold" Mei said as she pulled away but her twister continued spinning still roaring like a freight train going at full speed.
"Brace yourselves, talvi on tulossa (winter is coming)" Pirita smiled as she then unleashed a torrent of cold air that killed the tornado but began freezing the castle and its defenders and began blanketing the castle and its defenders with snow and ice.
"Wow it looks like the castle was made of ice" Deoshia said.
"Ma parole (My word), so pretty" Joséphine said as Pirita stopped freezing the castle and its defenders as she then took a bottle and blew into it before capping it.
"Have an iced Molotov; it's on" Pirita as she stretched back with the bottle in hand, "THE HOUSE!" The bottle flew from Pirita and landed inside one of the towers in the castle and exploded as shards of ice reached out in all directions.
"Nice work, Pirita" Vichy praised, "Now it's my turn"
"Yeah, they can sure use the heat" Pirita said as she fell back so Vichy came forward.
"Alright, let's turn up the heat" Vichy smiled as she flew up to the battered castle.
In the castle
The castle was a state of chaos as men were now losing their nerve and their discipline was quickly evaporating.
"Oh no, here comes another Valkyrie!" A Saderan artilleryman pointed into the sky.
"RUN! EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!" A Saderan rifleman shouted as he and some of the Saderan soldiers started running, joining those who had ran before the ice Valkyrie attacked.
"AAHHHH!" A Saderan soldier screamed he caught fire as torrents of fire slammed into the castle and its defenders.
"PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT!" Another Saderan soldier screamed in horror as the fire spread across the castle, causing chunks of ice to come crashing on the defenders inside the castle and to make it worse the castle was crumbling as the fire lashed around. The Saderan defenders were in absolute anarchy as their commander was sucked away by the tornado and the deputy commander was crushed by ice.
"What did we do to anger the goddess of nature?" A Saderan artilleryman asked.
With the Karlslanders
"Alright, let's make the most out of this chance! Push forward!" A Karlslander captain ordered. The city soon fell into the hands of the 100th Panzergrenadier Division and thus another city and more importantly a new site for a forward supply depot has been secured. The 555th "Young Blood" JFW soon joined the ranks of the 501st and the 509th JFWs in terms of fame and popularity among the Coalition soldiers. Soon the Coalition came across a large private property; it was a massive palace situated on a hill, overlooking the Tuscany River and the strange thing about the palace was it had the emblem Piña Co Lada's Order of Rose Knights carved into its gates. Piña herself came to see this palace and it came back to her. It was her old summer palace named Villa La Basilia which surprisingly was left untouched by the Saderan Empire and it wasn't abandoned as well as those who worked in the palace were still there and were grateful to know that Piña was safe though they were amazed to hear Piña had become Empress of a new nation. The Coalition was then surprised when Piña gave the palace to them to use as a base of operations. This was a good thing for the Coalition as Fort Glory was becoming overcrowded furthermore; the frontlines were getting too far for the Commanders in Fort Glory to efficiently command as well as the fact that most the supplies for Karlslander forces passed through Fort Glory so that was that issue so it was agreed that the Main Headquarters for the Coalition Armed Forces will be moved to Piña's old palace which the commanders had humorously christened Fort Cocktail as homage to Piña Co Lada much to her chagrin as she realizes that her name is, on Earth is the same name a cocktail from Puerto Rico has as well. Fort Cocktail became fully operational in May 1947 and Fort Glory was handed over to Karlsland which turned it into a supply base and as their base for their Special Realm Garrison. Meanwhile as the MHQ for the Coalition was being relocated, all combat operations were halted, this allowed more frontline units to be reequipped with more modern equipment and weaponry. One of these was the new joint developed Special Forces' rifle called the M5 Folsom Carbine which many describe a love child of M1918 BAR, an AK-47 and one of the Blue Neuroi rifle, the M4, it fires .30-06 rounds or 7.62×39mm depending on which variant used as the M5A1 fires the former while the M5A2 fires the latter though both can be easily converted to fire either rounds. The Special Forces were not the only ones getting new rifles as the Britannians were now equipping their riflemen with their new L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle while the Gallians replace their rifles with their new MAS-49s meanwhile the Romagnans ditched their mediocre Mannlicher–Carcano rifles and adopted the Gewehr 43 rifles which were licensed as Carcano Modello 1946 or just M46. The Fusoans decided to completely adopt licensed copies of the M1 Garand as they found their Type 4 quite subpar compared the Liberion rifle it was derived from.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom of Falmarr Army has been expanded from three infantry divisions and two cavalry divisions in 1945 to ten infantry divisions, five cavalry divisions, five armoured divisions, and five rangers divisions. The United Kingdom of Falmarr Air Force which was formed in March 1947 consists of six fighter squadrons, four bomber squadrons and two airship squadrons. Furthermore, the UKF was also given a navy which consisted of a Britannian Colossus class light carrier, HMS Ocean; two Liberion Casablanca class escort carriers, a Norfolk class heavy cruiser, HMS Norfolk, two Brooklyn class light cruisers, two Alberto da Giussano class light cruisers, six old Fubuki class destroyers, six Gleaves class destroyers, eight Type XI submarines and ten Uragan-class guard ships thus making it a rather interesting naval force but these ships were modified thanks to the naval yards in the Kingdom of Angeloid as to standardize their armament and equipment.
Now the Coalition has to sever the supply chain for Sadera's supply of firearms before they have adequate stockpiles however the Marine Impériale L'Hexagone is going to make it hard for the Coalition but the Coalition learn from their mistakes and they learn fast and leading this operation is the newly modified CRNS Calypso of the Republic of Conch Navy.