Author's Notes:
Hope you enjoyed my april fools. I don't think you did, learn to be more open and acceptible of others apparent lack of consideration and etiquette. Sooner a later others will realise how much of a dick that fella is and gang up with you against that douche. Such is the way of the civilised world that we live in, don't get flustered over others. Let them do the flustering, you deserve better.
It has been brought to my attention of inquiry by Omegas where i source these names for everyone. Some were the names styled from my Nepali pen-pal, while others were from the net. I'm slightly fluent in Chinese so i can translate some Chinese and convert them to the Cantonese dialect with a little help from the computer and double check that they sound right.
As for the name Tenzin, its a pretty common name in the himalayas. And in FC4, the name of the rare Dhole. But i found it boring for Ajay to capture or kill the sacred guardians so i put this Tenzin as a human. And it matches my mythical plot since the sacred guardians of the sealing talisman to the cage of Yalung derive from the Demon Banishing patriarchs, so that would make Tenzin an descendant of that ancient bloodline. Whereas the rest would have taken the form of or possessed animals they represented and had changed their nature in the process. Food for thought.
A minute ago, there was peacefulness stirring about the air.
The citizens who were so used to the gentle breeze suddenly had a deep welling of unease when that wind that remained constant had become dead.
What followed next were the tremors and a delay of booms in the distance. Some could tell, others were too ignorant to what was going on to know.
But to the military installations, particularly the YLA Headquarters, the radar assembly, the air-defense installations, the supply depots and the barracks were the ones that suffered a cruelty they never deserved.
The inhabitants and operators of said places had suffered the fate of thermobaric explosives, fragmentation and secondary explosions from their munition caches. The cause of that instant destruction was Lupus Caelum. The Command structure of the YLA immediately fell three ranks, making the highest commanding presence a Major-General. That being General Karna Dawa, the officer currently being tortured for information on troop formations.
The sky wolves that swoop over the now-battlefield Yinke. Aviation mercenaries paid by Ajay to fly the extensive fleet of fighters and bombers while the air superiority fighters were manned exclusively by the IAF pilot that had been kept in reserve against air intrusion by PLAAF. The A-4S Super Skyhawks flew over their designated targets and dropped their GPS-guided munition upon them and turned to leave the airspace for the next phase of attack.
Less than 30 seconds from when the bombings started, a flock of military cargo planes descended from the clouds and dropped over four thousand soldiers from a mixture of Russian-originating Il-76MD and An-12 planes.
The skies became covered with circular dots and from there it became clear what was happening.
Yinke was being invaded.
On their reeling minds, to launch an airborne offensive, it could only be done by a superpower like India or China. Little did they know that it was in fact their neighbour whom had a neutral relation with, Kyrat. When the planes had dropped their passengers, the first wave of attackers in the form of the Jatayu para commandos, they returned to load up the logistics that would help them prolong their stay in hostile territory and to ferry the 2nd Hussars over with their armored battalion to counter the Republican Guards and other armored units that would have likely been alerted to the silence from their command and the tremors of explosions.
To the Jatayus' surprise the authorities had offered little resistance than expected, immediately throwing down their arms, both garrison soldier and police alike. It was just as Ajay had foreseen, in the face of possible oblivion, no one was gonna die for another if there was lenience given to them. Those that did were cut down swiftly with an impressive firing manuever employed by the battle-hardened para commandos.
As per orders relayed by Ajay was to leave the civilians alone but keep a close eye on them, out from the streets came armed thugs who had raised their weapons and declared themselves ally. They had been brought out to maintain martial law on their behalf, Ajay had also made this clear in his transmission before infilitration into the parliamentiary building. The shock and awe operation had come into effect. Seeing that there was a group of people there to protect them from these foreign aggressors, the civilians put their trust in their countrymen to stand between them in the event they go wild. Of course, there were some that thought otherwise but they were a small minority of self-entired believers who wouldn't raise arms against professional killers.
Not as if the Kyratis would ever think of doing so. The woman who met with Maya and Jeeval now-lieutenant was named Jagriti, she had apparently made a deal with Ajay to assist in subjugating the city and providing support in case of symptoms of rebellion from gungho citizens trying to be self-righteous. At first, the underworld council weren't very convinced by Jagriti's claim, but with the news and late report by a pale-faced Boss Ricky of the smuggling operations. It became clear that they were to be with them or against them. They elected Jagriti as their representative of their interests and she coordinated with Maya to locate and destroy the dens of partisans dotted about the city.
The first phase of Operation Yagna had been completed.
Ved stood watching in horror as his adoptive home was lost to them by the very force he tried to destroy. He felt like laughing at the whole farce he had worked upon, not knowing that Kyrat was no longer the same as when he last left. The main difference was this demon-like opponent that had rivalled his Devas brothers and outmatched them all at once. Pagan's most powerful trump in the form of a young man that wore the demon mask of Yalung and an emblem of the demon god upon his shoulder badge.
Ajay passed a soldier the head of Sanjeev to display on the flag pole at the town centre, knowing that sooner or later a scout would spot it from afar with Binoculars.
"What will you do with us?" Swara asked as the 1st Kshatriyan Lord had just let them watch from the balcony unrestraint.
"Like I said, watch." Ajay said as he donned the final piece of his new armor, the mask. At this point, the captured crowd shuddered at the sight of such a terrifying motif, Ved understood in an instant how his Golden Path brethren couldn't help but run at the sight of it. Whoever Badala was, he was a master of manipulating minds. Causing his enemies to fear and and allies to revere his existence, he was like Mohan except without the persona of benevolence but vengeance.
"Two Devas of Golden Path, and you're just gonna let us live?" Dr Ved was confused.
"All I see are two political leaders of Yinke currently in my grasp. As I've said before, Dr Ved. From the moment you came back with that regiment of commandos to aid Mohan you lost your qualifications to be a Kyrati."
(Bzzzzzzzzz) "AAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The sound of General Dawa being tortured in some room nearby the function room could be heard clearly by the crowd and by Swara and Ved. Most terrified of all was Karna's wife, their daughter had complex feelings about the situation.
"….. What I had done was wrong, but need you come back to exact vengeance upon my people?!" He admitted.
"Who ever said I was exacting it against your people, unless 'your' people also includes the civilians who I've excluded from the equation. Be honest now, Dr Ved. Before that slideshow did you know that Namdak's men did any of that, do you even know what kind of shit the people you call brothers and sister have been pulling off for the last sixteen years while you and Swara have been away?!" Ajay shouted angrily at him, his voice shook the walls of the function room they were being held.
"To you and your brothers, Lanka was the crown jewel that defined rule over Kyrat. But to me, it was my home and home to fifteen thousand others! And what were your rules of engagement you decided before entering? Kill all on sight?! You couldn't possibly imagine how many of my friends you and your witless bunch of self-righteous junkies have killed." He said in a vicious tone. Dr Ved remained silent, he knew he was now beyond talking terms with Badala.
"Have you ever watched young men and women who you trained to protect themselves get chopped up in the midst of sadistic cries of soldiers, crazed fanatics who babble about maintaining traditions whilst breaking covenants as they kill and ransack homes, bastards that let foreign intelligence agencies wrought ruin upon our country for their own selfish interests? Have you ever been right where it all occurred and fought with every muscle to protect them only to fail and worse… be the only one left alive?! HAVE YOU!?" Ved collapsed on his knees, hearing the horrible experience Ajay had gone through and imagined if he were in his shoes. It was a nightmare!
"I'm only here for one thing. To hunt Golden Path and kill ever last one of the Yinkian soldiers. If any civilians take up arms despite my warning then they shall share the same fate as the others before them." Ajay reminded him.
"The soldiers here have done nothing wrong!" Swara shouted from her place.
"And neither did my people at Lanka. I'm just letting you know how that feels right now."
"…Then why haven't I been the one to receive punishment?" Ved asked on his knees, his eyes redden from grief and despair to the force he knew he shouldn't have messed with. Grief that Golden Path was no longer the protectors of the people but an armed gang of thugs, how could Mohan let this happen?
Ajay had regained composure after he let loose his boiling rage upon an ignorant fool that ran on the first sight of trouble, ignorant to what was the damages incurred by his actions. Swar had the same feelings as Ved, devestation.
"Who said you weren't."
"What?"
"Your punishment is to watch. And once we're done with the Yinkian Armies, with Golden Path and with that hollow will of Mohan. Only then,….."
"You have my permission to die."
It was early in the morning, their first night had passed in Yinke without a hitch. From the reconnaissance reports by the scouts and remaining hunter cadres, the Yinke forces stationed at the borders and other regions were only just suspected the absence of their Headquarter's daily hails and were sending troops at about battalion strength from each of the six camps in the country. Making up about a regiment of mixed forces. Still no sign of the Republican Guard who were supposed to be stationed in the City itself, although interrogations on garrison soldiers and searching through whatever was left of the headquarters indicated that they happened to be out on an exercise near the Tibetan border with some of the Chinese troops. Likely, they would have been informed of the silence in their command and rushed back to investigate.
Although it was good news for Ajay and the Kyratis as all forces were accounted for on the ground and their supplies had been fully taken stock and were in the midst of unassembling.
The highway that was now used as an unprepared runway for the cargo planes and close air support craft manned by Lupus Caelum. Mainly the squadron of turbopropeller A-29 Super tucanos and Su-25SM Frogfoot ground attack planes. There was also an addition of helicopters with them, the S-70 blackhawk transports and the Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopter gunships.
There was a total of 6835 Kyrati personnel in Pada Mo City, that comprised of the Jatayu Para Commando Brigade, the 2nd Hussars Autonomous Armored Battalion, Two Artillery batteries, one air defence squadron, The helicopter and ground attack aircraft squadrons. David's force reconnaissance marines were here as an advisory presence due to having no legal protection in engaging in war as their allegiance was with the US Commander-in-Chief which was the United States President. Hurk was no exception to this, he had chosen to take part in the war as a Kyrati. Defending the interests of his new adoptive home, Ajay didn't refute him, his soldiers might need the presence of the legendary sniper 'Mizaru'. All of them fell under the unit called 1st Expeditionary Division or what the folks at home were dubbing 'Garuda Legion' due to their misunderstanding of the Jatayus' sigil emblem that matched the other celestial bird.
But Garuda Legion it became for naming sake.
"Still no sign of Tenzin, you sure he hadn't left the country?" Maya confirmed with him again.
"Given his personality and patriotism he wouldn't leave even if he wasn't wanted by the people. But if he did, then it makes very little sense for us to hold this city any longer. We'll just settle with this current government signing an armistice then."
"What's so important about Tenzin?" The one thing that bugged Maya the entire trip.
"…." Saras, Jeeval, Raja, and Jagriti were no exception.
They all looked at him with eagerness from him to spill the beans.
"This is entirely based on the King's master plan, do we agree?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, I guess."
"Wasn't this that King who was very weird?" Jagriti asked Maya whom she had been coordinating in suppressing rebel sympathies and providing the civilians with regular rations of food and other necessities in hopes to win the cities people over that they had no intention to harm them.
"Velvet, Raja, Nagesh, Samuel, give us a moment." Ajay told his subordinates and Jagriti to allow him to speak with his closer advisors in this theatre. She did not take offense as Ajay had proved that he had only ill intentions towards their National Army and the yet to reveal themselves Golden Path terrorist groups.
Once they had left and closed the door behind them, Ajay stood nearer to the desk with the map chart unfolded for them to see.
Only this map wasn't of just Yinke, but the entire local Himalayan region complete with the four nations, Papir, Kumsa, Yinke and Kyrat. They studied the map and then Jeeval started off with his inquiry.
"Teacher, why didn't you give the order to attack their external camps? I'm sure there wasn't a limit to the guided bombs available to Lupus Caelum and the Air Force." Ajay was a little glad he noticed that but had hoped he would have seen the reason as well.
"Quite right, they were left alone intentionally."
"Why?"
"Because depending on the Yinkian Army's capacity to handle the invasion, Beijing can't intervene." Saras answered with distinction, Ajay nodded to confirm.
"So you let them muster to mount an assault on the city." Maya confirmed High Command and Pagan's intentions.
"Quite right, think of it this way. It'll give our men a real taste of war they've been dying to have since they attacked Lanka. It'll let us work out all the bugs and concepts left unproven. Your brother and Sam would probably get the most experience dealing with their Armored units and perhaps even this fabled Republican Guard."
"That last part was not a single bit funny." She said in regards to her brother's safety.
"Oh stop babying him, he's a grown man. Maya. That aside, I have full confidence in him dealing with the Republican Guards if they meet."
Maya puffed unsatisfied.
"Once we deal with their mustered army, it'll be a made dash to the Yinke-tibetan border where they'll likely flee."
"To secure and deter the PLA?" Saras asked.
"Yes, although our presence will do little to deter them but we can at least keep them back long enough…."
"For what? We've incurred the wrath of a superpower with no official backup. Unless you're saying India has pledged to intervene." Maya said in a pragmatic way but she wasn't wrong either.
"No, it'll be something better." Something better, what could possibly keep China back other than a superpower?
"Jeez, what is it?"
But Ajay's mouth was locked tight. He had been sworn by Pagan not to reveal it even to his most trusted friends. This was strictly only between Pagan, Yuma, Noore, Gary and him
"Didn't Yuma tell you?" He thought she would bother to tell Maya at least given her status as an adoptive daughter but it apparently didn't seem to be the case, probably to protect her.
"Can't you?" But Ajay's mouth closed again.
"So his Royal Highness has a strategy to deterring the Chinese completely?" Ajay nodded to Jeeval.
It was almost unheard of for Pagan to conduct a military strategy, perhaps it was because none of them were born when Pagan achieved the feat of taking the throne and beating the Nationalists singlehandedly with wits and mind games.
But to see that Ajay had wholeheartedly trusted in the word of the King they couldn't help but trust in Ajay's own belief that what he said would be made true.
"Not a very convincing plan, isn't it?" Ajay laughed nervously.
"Do you believe it'll work?" Saras asked.
In his mind, he'd gone through it many times. There were several variables to watch out for. One was the predictability of the Yinkian forces now that their highest-ranking officers were six Colonels whom commandanted the camps outside and their elite armored force. He did indeed trust Bipin was more than capable of handling that, he had been tutored in armored strategies at the Indian Military Academy and had read through copies journals of armored officers, including that of the renown general Israel Tal who fought the arab states at suez.
Two was Golden Path, knowing Mohan and his affiliation with Yinkes ideological doctrine he would expect the latter to appear like a saint to the Yinkians and save them. He had an unhealthy messiah complex that he did.
The last was China's People's Liberation Army's ability to respond to a request for intervention should the Yinkian military officers deem it impossible to fight them at their odds. Tibet was an autonomous region surrounded by mountains so it would limit the types of forces the Chinese could send at the quickest possible time. But he knew they wouldn't disappoint, it was a matter of how fast the Royal Army can corner the routing forces at the Yinke-Tibet border and stand in the PLAs way to Yinke. From there, the rules of engagement become different. It was a matter of who shot first, they would fortify on opposite sides waiting for someone to cock up and shoot or accidentally cross that thin border line. Then it was up to Pagan on how quickly he could resolve his part.
Five days, that was the minimum that Pagan told him to hold from the day he invaded Yinke. He also needed a representative of Yinke to be flown back to Kyrat to speak with. Pagan's first choice was Tenzin, but if he chose not to appear then the current president who was reading Ajay's terms to end the war would do. Although, he doubted that the president would agree to his conditions so readily if he didn't cause a bit more terror which he wouldn't for the sake of civilian relations.
His demands were a significant demilitarization of Yinke's premier armed force, a debt of $80 Billion including the damages and grievance pay to the families at Lanka and the drafting of a thousand young men and women as a part of the Kyrati forces. Knowing him from the party yesterday, Ajay highly doubted he would agree to the second condition. But that was his term for them to keep their sovereignty.
"Five days…" Ajay murmured, but smiled widely on his end. Pagan was expecting an enormous amount from him that few in his retinue could pull off, Ajay guessed that Gary was capable of doing so but lacked the military authority which would be his handicap and not what Ajay lacked in.
"I don't really know. But I've always wanted to see what was it like to work under Pagavel." He said with a fearless grin. They all recognised the grin.
He showed it in the Battle of Ratu Gadhi, in the Meh Teh Offensive, the New Year Disgrace, The Battle and Atrocity of Lanka. On all occasions, he was vastly outnumbered.
But that was the exciting part. When he overpowered overwhelming odds with shear brute force.
Such was the way of the vengeful Asura.
Day two of Invasion, 0027HRS –
Bipin sat gazing up into the sky from the commander's cupola of his tank destroyer, he had been waiting for Samuel to return from the meeting. Apart from his own vehicle crew members, communicating with the other companies and even platoons were a hassle. They intentionally made things difficult for him along his journey since joining the unit two months ago. It felt like day one in the academy all over again.
Despite his rank as Captain he was placed to man the independent tank destroyer platoon instead of a company of his own or even be part of the command team with Samuel. Even so, he was not at all upset as he had gotten along well with just his platoon in contrast with the other companies or command group. His men understood his competence and depended on him to get out of tight spots. His platoon, 7th "Night Haunters" Tank Destroyer Platoon of 2nd Hussars was overall equipped with the battalions' biggest gun, the 105mm Tank destroyers. His current strength was about five vehicles with two spares hanging back with the logistics company in Pada Mo city.
"Sir, the Commander is back." At least not everyone thought the same way as a majority of their peers. Meng Kit, his sergeant major was a good friend and dutiful soldier that looked pass backgrounds and origins.
"Alright, thanks Chief. Tell the men we'll be moving out soon so take a piss, drink up or eat up while you have the chance. We'll be staying buttoned up longer than usual."
"Aye, sir. Jou San, leng neoi meng! (Good morning, pretty ladies!) Get your shit packed, we roll in five!" Sergeant Major Meng Kit called out to the lazing members of his autonomous platoon.
Bipin left them to work on their things as he made his way to the Command Tent near the forest. A helicopter flew over him from Pada Mo City, guessing it was Samuel who had returned from discussing strategy and orders from Ajay. When he reached the tent, as expected the five company officers gave him a cold shoulder not even greeting him despite their lower rank. To them, he was never an equal. This was a contrast to Han Feng's hateful glares, for fair reason too. He was associated with Badala. But that cold attitude ended with Samuel's return.
"Room!" The officers and NCOs stood at attention at Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Min's return.
"At ease." She said at the wave of here hand.
They gathered around the table to discuss further on the battle ahead.
She placed out a plastic sheet overlapping their map which presented their orders and movement, explaining their strategy in a few short minutes. Though most were reluctant to work along with the demon, they couldn't help but be impressed with the strategy that was planned. The demon had even anticipated the movements which the defense forces would take when their command structure failed to report. Or perhaps it was Yuma's protégé or Marshal Roka's daughter.
"UAVs have spotted a massive convoy approaching our guard sector, their destination is the city." The group of officers were excited, they'd finally gain some action after a long time of being left stagnant on standby running exercise after exercise. How difficult could they be? Not as difficult as Golden Path since their special forces were held back by Badala with only a battalion of garrison soldiers and PDF.
"What's the strength, sir?"
"Around two thousand, thermal exhaust readings and silhouette scans indicate Type 69 and type 62 Light Tanks among their arsenal along with a mixture of BMPs and BTRs." It was a full-on mechanized force.
"Do we have fire support?"
"An artillery battery has been reserved for us as well as the close air support if we encounter heavy armor."
It as more than enough firepower to obiliterated any force out of existence.
"And the Republican Guard?" Bipin asked to which they gave weird glares.
"No word or sign of them yet, His grace also said you would be able to manage it if you encounter them." She said with a smile.
"Hmph! Why are we even having this conversation? If you're so ruffled up by this so-called group of elites then go fight them yourself. Since you're the only one that he thinks is capable of handling it properly." Han Feng declared.
"As it stands, '1st Lieutenant' Sun. We have no available ordnance to deal with their workhorse armor head-on. If they catch us by surprise they'll do more than hurt us and we put this operation at risk from their lack of our armor to provide high ground mobility and support." Bipin reminded him his rank and who he was talking to, not as if they ever took it to heart. He had already given up getting them to respect him, but he needed them to work with him at least.
He turned back to Sam.
"Is there any intelligence on their T-80s?" He insisted on pursuing the Republican Guard as a threat. Because they had equipment that was above the rest of the armed forces but also because they had received training from PLA armored forces, the same way Bipin learned from the Indian Armored forces. Both had a credible armor background and at one time it was the core of their ground strategy. But unlike the Kyratis, the Yinkians had both their commander and men train alongside them overseas, so they knew each other like the back ot their hand expressing superior coordination between the ranks.
"Humph!" Han Feng snorted.
"Actually yes, Badala asked me to hand you the entire dossier on their latest findings on the Republican Guard." Bipin took out the documents from the sealed envelope and read the headlines. His face turned grimmer that moment.
"What? Did their armor scare you already?" Han Feng taunted.
"Han Feng, shut up!" Sam roared.
"Ok! Ok! No need to get on my case, I'll be headed back to my company now to be ready." He quickly submitted and left not even wanting to take heat from Samuelle.
The other officers saluted and left while Bipin stayed to inquire further.
"So what's it say?" Sam could not erase the doubt in her heart that even Bipin who was cool headed during their discussed strategy against 1st Battalion commander Kuber and Anish during their cross-opposing force training. She laughed sadly when they won the long stream of competitiveness due to a strategy if luring in Kuber into a cliffside for their forces to ambush and 'kill' the Command platoon. They cheered for a much-awaited victory, yet there was not even a soul among them that congratulated Bipin for providing them that strategy. It made her sigh with regret at how conceit the Cantons were, there was no way their fellow cantonese in Hong Kong were this much of bastards. So how did they turn out like rotten eggs? It must have been that lifestyle of growing with a silverspoon that was affecting their brains. It had to be that case base on what were hers and Bipin's childhood and upbringing. Although Bipin had suffered worse, he never once complained about the situation, she was glad he was her to help her through this.
Who knows, perhaps with him the road to attaining the Sigil of Valor wouldn't be far, especially now that it was war time.
"Not good, its about their model of tank."
"Does it make a difference?"
"Significantly. T-80s had been fabled for being less than they'd originally been thought out to be, but most variants have corrected that issue and improve over it. They're operated mostly by former-soviet states. To think they're all the way out here, was it truly the Ukrainians that supplied them these vehicles through China? Or is it someone else we hope it isn't?" Bipin implied the very supplier of airframes to their country might be supplying both sides in their hatred for one another.
"Don't read to heavily into the political aspect of things, it doesn't suit a model soldier like you. I hope you'll look out for me in the field then, Bipin." She said with a smile before turning to leave.
"Sam."
"Yes?" She turned around when he called for her.
"We know where they are and what they look like, but we don't know the competence of their commanders. The fact that a force just rushes back without caution worries me. Are you sure Intel only reports them returning and not a few units loitering about or strange occurances around the hills?" Bipin expressed his worries.
"Not that I dug up from the intel, but have a bit of faith in me, buddy. I'm not some superior that lets his superior do everything." She said before turning on her course towards her command Platoon to direct the attack on the returning forces.
Five minutes later, Bipin returned to his platoon to have the Sergeant Major waiting for him.
"Sir."
"Tell the men to optimise load for Sabots, close range at less than a hundred." Meng Kit was shocked by what he said, that meant they were facing each other at point blank.
"Sir?" Meng Kit noticed a very serious expression on his commanding officer's face, one he rarely wore as a charming and honest fellow to talk with.
"If my gut tells me correctly, if I were a defending force repelling an invading armored force-…."
Bipin looked towards the mountains where a valley lay beyond, the enemy was reported to be appearing out of it and they would be heading them to ambush them. But how could the home team not know their own home territory.
"…. Then my enemy would be in for a big surprise when they thought I was frantically getting back."
They moved out within fifteen minutes of Sam's call to move to the designated area to engage and destroy the response forces.
As per orders, the 2nd Hussars were to seek and destroy them. And from their earlier planning, they were expected to engage them at a fork in the valley that split five ways towards the rest of the border camps, this was to be their area of ambush just after. They would spread out and ambush them from the mountainsides. While their vehicles weren't mountain goats themselves, they were slightly better off than the heavy lumbering tanks in the Yinkian Armys' arsenal which would break the soft mountain ground under their tracks and cause them to fall to their deaths.
Bipin regularly checked the surrounding hills with his binoculars, while it was a great place to ambush. They were exposed until they reached, but intel suggested they wouldn't reach till the afternoon. Suggested, that is. The problem with technology was that there would always be an over-dependence on electronics to do minor tasks for you. This was especially the problem with his men at one point, relying on the fire control software to triangulate a firing solution for the guns to the target. That was a serious drawback they had to Anish's company on multiple occasions. Bipin invested a lot of time to remedy that, because if the electronics ever failed they would be seriously impaired.
He put them through a rigourous training to fire with a crank and manual controls, to monitor the thermal bloom of their engines against anti-tank missiles and the use of camoflauge to visibly hide their silhouette. All the anti-tank hunting techniques he'd learnt from the Indian armored officer at Maharashtra. His training paid off with the natural competence of them delivering a round accurately towards a target 1.5km away and dead centre. He also had Anish teach them how to fire on the move manually and look for tank weakspots. The result of this was his platoon regularly inspecting their equipment from engine to gun barrel for the slightest error or flaw to clear or replace. They frequently read up on different armored vehicles on the internet on their spare time to learn their characteristics, their strength and weaknesses to exploit. That was how his platoon slowly warmed to him, through understanding him and working hard with him. He didn't mind sponsoring their drinks at the bar during the long weekends.
The Night Haunters would be the swift and terrible sword of the 2nd Hussars, to decapitate their enemies with.
"Still buggered, sir?" Meng Kit watched the anxiousness in his officer.
Bipin pressed his control radio to the command frequency.
"Cataphract Zeta to Cataphract Actual, I'm going dark for a few. Maintaining radio silence, how copy, over."
*Cataphract Zeta, I read you. Report in half hour or upon first encounter. Happy hunting, out.* Samuelle gave her permission for him to leave.
*Don't run out on us now, Captain.* Replied a voice full of malicious intent.
*Cataphract Actual to Cataphract Gamma. Stay off the command channel if you have nothing useful to contribute. Out!* Sam warned Han Feng who was taking point towards their destination.
And so, the Night Haunters increased their speed, passing the convoy and heading in the direction of the mountains to the left. Some of the officers from the different companies snorted while others silently approved of his initiative. Because in the 2nd Hussars, it was taboo to side with outsiders less they become outcasts themselves.
A half hour had passed with the formation reaching the place they call Banshur's hand. That was so, because of the five different valleys it expands from the valley they came from that represented the wrist and forearm. How curious, that once upon a time all the four nations worshipped the same god once before they adopted different ideologies to suit their social and geographical needs. The temple ruins around Pada Mo city showed evidence of this, unfortunately none of the men or woman in 2nd Hussars were devotees, not even Bipin. At least that was a common ground their shared.
Samuelle remained in the upseated position of her command vehicle assessing the grounds they could use. They could set up at each finger of the mountains and simultaneously attack or reinforce their fellow companies in the event they were fighting too intensely. The ground which they stood was the centre plain of the 'palm' and was to be the killzone. The once place that no one should be less they had a deathwish to be surrounded and die.
Samuelle pressed her radio on the command channel.
"All units, halt. Take your respective places an await further instruction."
*Cataphract Alpha copies, over.*
*Roger, Delta reads you, over.*
Several other companies reported and understood.
*Gamma here, will comply, over.* Han Feng said with a lazy answer.
"Of course you will, damn it! Take that shit out of your head before I stuff it somewhere else!" She rubbed her head as the heir to the Sun family was giving her a harder time that any to deal with, even during a war. She just couldn't believe how stuck up he was.
"Gamma, answer!"
*…. Gamma reads you, over.*
"Don't screw with me, Han Geng. Or I'll make life miserable for you later." She warned him, but received no reply. She wondered where did five years of military training go to, he acted like he owned the 2nd Hussars. Partly because Sun Kwan donated the most to sponsoring the commissioning of the 2nd Hussars.
"Cataphract Zeta, report. Over." But as she called out, no reply came in for a particular amount of leeway time.
"Zeta, do you read? It's the appointed fall in time, report. Over." Only static was her answer from Zeta who had kept radio silence despite her instruction to call in. She was having a worrysome feeling that something had happened or was about to happen.
*Sir, everything alright?* Her adjutant, who led her command group elements for her as she coordinated the rests' movements and tactics inquired from the radio of the vehicle next to her.
"Something's up with Zeta, keep a lookout."
*Perhaps they'd encountered an advance scout and were in the process of destroying them to kill their report of our presence here.* Her adjutant was rather optimistic in his views towards Bipin's work, she was glad that at least he could see that Bipin was nothing but hardworking and earnesty.
"I hope so."
*Honestly, do you really think that Kyrati loser would want to stay to fight?* She didn't know hold Han Feng had the keys to her frequency with her command group, but he'd violated the radio chain of command.
"Little bastard. Get your ass out of my channel or I will have you court martialled for insubordination!" She scorned at him over the radio set, she hated that her command team had to hear that side of her when they were good subordinates that didn't need her to remind.
*Right Right. I was just checking if you were still game for a fight so I had your subordinate hand me the codes. A little insurance to know that you wouldn't just run off when things went sour.*
"Han Geng….. If you do not step back and tuck that tail between your legs, I will bring you back to your father in a body bag." She said in a chilling tone that caught even Han Feng by surprise.
*Gamma rolling, out!*
"It's over, not out! Fuck! Where did you learn radio callsigns?!" She shouted angrily into the radio for his intentionally crusade to piss her off.
She turned to her adjutant who had opened his hatch.
"Siu Wei, relieve Gamma Company of its commander. And bring a section to take him back to the city."
"Aye, si-(BOOM)" Before he had a chance to finish, an explosion rocked the plains and the dirt kicked up from an area next to a group of dismounted soldiers. The radius of the fragmentation killed two men.
"CONTACT FRONT!" One of the soldiers shouted at the top of his voice.
"All units mount up and disperse. Forget about ambush, don't let them hinder you!" She said into her open channel.
*Delta copies.*
*Alpha copies.*
*Beta copies.*
*Epilson copies!*
*Theta acknowledges!*
*G-Gamma acknowledges!*
The companies began their dispersion to allow for room to manuever, mobility was key to their survival since the Yinkian armor possessed weapons with greater penetrative power than autocannons or heavy machine guns which was the Patria AMVs protective limit.
No sooner did the first round hit and scored a fluke kill did several other rounds fly towards them from smoke puffs coming from the entrance of the mountain valleys. And at that distance, why didn't they see them coming? They didn't account for one thing, slopes.
They had assumed that the whole road was a flat ground easy to see and traverse. But they hadn't physically been there to know it was that way.
There were enemies coming from three different directions, at the spearhead were the heaviest and most protected armored units. Type 69 main battle tanks, the workhorse of the Yinkian Armored Division. Were taking the brunt of the return fire from the surprised Kyrati forces.
*Gamma, requesting fire support for my location! Over!* Han Feng sounded worried over his channel with the tide worsening on his end.
"Cataphract Gamma, you will hold back the enemy and your tongue. Or death will be the least of your worries." But though she said that, she ordered Theta who was in reserve to support Gamma Company.
For a mere four minutes, it felt like an hour had passed from how quickly the Hussars reorganised to fight. Soon, the men and their commanders regained their confidence and no longer required her guidance or call for fire support. The artillery seemed to be on hold for some reason, and the ground attack aircraft were scrambling from their temporary airbase.
As everything seemed to be under control, a flash of light zipped pass Sam and struck one of her command teams' vehicles. The vehicle exploded from the penetration that struck its ammunition storage, one of the burning crewmembers climbed out before dying with painful screams.
She knew what it was, a sabot round from a tank. But it wasn't that fact one of her vehicles was destroyed.
It was its directional origin.
As she turned around towards the valley in which they arrived, she saw in the wake of a dust storm a whole row of main battle tanks in wedged formations coming in to enclose around them from cutting off their exit. The Command platoon was exposed entirely to the onslaught of barrages that had a bit more accuracy than the Type 69s that were firing at the rest of the fighting companies.
Sam took her binoculars to see while the adjutant ordered a complete defensive manuever of the platoon to get out of harms way and called for the reserve company Epilson to support their relocation.
She peered through the binoculars and looked at the row of tanks that converged confidently. And it was as she had foreseen. She recognized the silhouette of the tanks from the pictures and sketches on Bipin's research files before they flew to Yinke.
They were T-80s, the Republican Guard was here, and they led the forces advance to Pada Mo City with full awareness of the situation. Sam and a few others were beginning to feel like fools to think that heavy tanks were inferior to their cross-country prowess of their high-mobility wheeled vehicles. This was Yinke, their home. Familiar grounds were always easier to navigate that with a GPS.
A reserved tank destroyer platoon fired back at the Republican Guard from their stationary position at the rear of the forces. The Tungsten-carbide alloy projectiles flew marked visually by its tracer towards one of the many tanks with the greatly enhanced accuracy of a computerized ballistic computer.
But contrary to their visualization of a burning tank, the sabot round ricocheted off the front turret and hull glacis of these greatly superior tanks. Many of the soldiers who saw that turned pale at the sight of an enemy they couldn't kill with a single hit.
Then, it was the Republican Guards' turn, smoke plums opened out from their gun barrels and delivered fin-stabilized High-Explosive Anti Tank rounds towards the thin armor of the vehicles in their possession. Some missed but did equally destructive damage to the unprotected infantry, while some hit their marks on the vehicles and caused a massive explosion followed with the turret being blow clean off the burning wreck of the patria vehicles.
It did a critical blow to the morale of the 2nd Hussars whom had their escape route cut off from them and faced a force that couldn't be dealt with easily. The birds had yet to arrive and the artillery was being delayed. The Cantons in the Hussars were now tasting the fullness of war, but on the receiving end. If this dragged out, they would be annihilated.
Sam bit her lower lip, they had been intentionally outmanuevered by the enemy with little to no alternative than to fight. She called out to the Companies to know if there was a weakened part of the encirclement for them to break out of, but in vain. The Yinkians were dead set on them dying here for trespassing on their soil, thought they were unaware of the status of Pada Mo city, they could bet it didn't look good there. They intended to make their way there quickly and with the element of surprise on their side, for that to happen though….
This Battalion needed to perish.
Sam could feel the despair of this strategy set in on her psyche, impairing her ability to relay commands. She had underestimated the competence of the Yinkian Commander and her men were paying dearly. Was this to be their Alamo-(BOOM) (BOBOBOBOOM)
She and the command team watched as the previously fearsome row of battle tanks from the Republican Guard had seven of their tanks blown to bits with their several ton heavy turrets flying in the air. The Republican Guard halted all movement and scanned the area for attackers, when two more tanks got hit and exploded. The might of the Republican Guards' Invulnerable T-80 fleet was blown away with an apparent lose of tanks worth a platoon of armor.
"What the hell?!" Her adjutant spoke those words for her.
The Yinkian Elite couldn't seem to find their hidden attackers as far as they looked, but Samuelle caught notice of glints of flying sabots striking the T-80s exposed in the rear. It was coming all the way from behind at their origin point up on the mountain. The unknown attackers had delivered the same karmic justice to the Republican Guards as they had done to the 2nd Hussars.
The death of several of their tanks and the halting of their advance encouraged the soldiers to fight with a standing chance. Just as everything seem to get stable, the open channel fizzed.
*(Static)-taphract Zeta to all forces, the Night Haunters have your back.*
Author's Notes:
We finally get some armor vs armor battles going on. Time to show that side characters aren't pushovers. GO! GO! Team Bipin!
Author's Thoughts:
(Bane Ghale): "Once Yinke is ashes... you have my permission to die." (Spoken through a crab breathing mask)
