March 12th 1935, Imperial Airship LS-04 "Schuttlanz"
"Well, the military of the federation isn't as well standardized as ours. While an infantry platoon from Wese might not be able to stand up to ours when it comes to raw firepower, the typical infantry platoon from Assen usually has an unusually large amount of support weapons attached to them." "Interesting. But i think that is common knowledge by now…." the Lieutenant Colonel replied while he scratched his neck. "I meant more regarding tactics, potential combat strength and similar things." "Oh. That. Well, their logistical system is less bloated compared to ours. While our troops have some sort of supply-unit attached to them,starting at the regiment level, most units in the federation have no dedicated supply-company or anything like that. Instead most of the armies have a dedicated supply-brigade which is tasked with conducting supply operations on a larger scale by setting up supply bases large enough to support entire battle groups, sometimes even army groups. From there, the supplies get distributed to the smaller units via the Federations Transportation Corps ." The Commander just nodded while he took a sip from his glass. Valentin took a breath before continuing. "Due to the high grade of motorisation, it is rather easy to keep the troops supplied, even if the supply base is several kilometers away from the front. In the Kingdom of Edinburgh for example, around a half of their infantry was motorised or mechanized from what i have seen. The sole exception is the Republic of Arion. Their basic supply structure was more akin to ours, when i was there. Even though they were in the process of switching to the standard federation system, i highly doubt they were able to fully change it, considering they are more conservative than most of the nations within the Federation. So if there were any changes, i doubt they would be substantial enough for the new system to be fully operational yet. They are rather fond of using horses for transportation and they are still clinging onto their cavalry, so rapid motorization is unlikely." "Thank you for your insight Major. Would you mind writing that down so our radio officer can transmit a message to the General Staff?" The Commander then asked. "There is no need for that. It was already included in the report i had to file in after my return in which i had to make an assessment about the Federations capabilities in case of war."
"Huh...well, what was your assessment Major? If you don't mind me asking, of course." Seems like something had caught the Commanders interest. "I argued that a war with the federation has to be ended quickly or else there will be a similar situation like during the Great War. If the Federation was able to fully mobilize, a long drawn out and bloody war can't be prevented." Colonel Lindtmann just grunted at that."Well, if that ain't the bloody truth… sucks that that is exactly what happened…. Commander, would you mind going for a smoke with me?" Colonel Lindtmann then stood up, followed by the commander. "Of course, lets stop by at my quarters so i can grab my pipe. Don't you want to join us Major Martinek?" "No, thanks, i don't smoke." Valentin replied. Alone again. He looked around before getting up and heading towards his quarters. "I wonder when we will reach our destination…" He said to himself as he opened the door and sat down on his back while he took a look at a photograph.
March 14th 1935, Imperial countryside
Rain. To make things worse, it also had to rain. The roads were already poor enough, in Christopher's opinion. At least they would reach the railway station soon, from there, they would move as close as possible to the front. They just had to arrive at and capture the industrial center of Kijell before the 30th. The Major had told him that until that date, they would receive support by heavy field artillery as a battery of heavy field howitzers and field guns had been assigned to them for this timeframe. Afterwards they would be transferred back to the the southern part of the center front.
Kijell… capturing it would seal a severe blow to the empire. Not only was it a rather large city, it also was quite a significant industrial center in the region. Capturing it would probably cause supply issues for a while. Once they met up with the 12th Infantry Brigade and the 2 Republican Guard Regiments from Roseleare, their numbers should be enough to besiege the city. And with the heavy artillery supporting their advance, the siege might even be over pretty fast In the center, the 1st Battle Brigade was rapidly advancing according to the newspapers, so that should be the main front for imperial forces for now.
Suddenly the vehicle came to a sudden stop. "What's the matter?" Christopher asked. "Look ahead Lieutenant Thorn. Roads blocked." came the reply from the driver. He wasn't wrong. In the middle of the road stood the wreckage of an imperial tank. Probably blown up to avoid capture. "Well, drive around then. Or use the winch to pull it off the road." "And risk sinking in? Ain't gonna do that. This baby wasn't built for driving through mud." Christopher sighed. "What would you suggest then?" The driver reached into his breast pocket and fished out a misshaped cigarette while he searched for what Christopher guessed was a lighter. "I don't know. Get your tank, i would guess. That one at least should be able to get out of that mess without help." Christopher let out another sigh. "Very well then…" he said as he knocked against the back of the cabin. One of the soldiers jumped out of the back and ran towards him. "Yes, Lieutenant?" "Get to the back and tell Sergeant Foucault that we need her over here with the "Roller"." "Yes Lieutenant." The man replied before running back. Christopher already felt sorry for the guy. Bridget was definitely going to hate this and knowing her, she would audibly voice her complaints...