Prologue - The Darkest Day: Sunset
Many asked me then why I sent support to Azerbaijan. Put yourself in my situation. As the president of Armenia, a country that has been fighting Azerbaijan for decades, I sent support to it, despite the possibility of conquering a large part of its territories. After all, despite having a smaller army, we were attacked by a much smaller force than Azerbaijan. In addition, our relatively quick use of the War Gases that we received from Russia when the situation intensified in the world allowed us to eliminate the enemy forces relatively quickly. Azerbaijan had no War Gases or other weapons of mass destruction, and by the time what was left of Russia launched the Nuclear Missile in Baku, hundreds of thousands of these monsters were already on the loose, and Azerbaijan itself had suffered heavy casualties in earlier fighting. But then a thought popped into the back of my mind. Armenians and Azerbaijanis are still humans. We can get along somehow. With these monsters, it's impossible. That's why I decided to put aside decades, if not centuries, of hatred and take a step toward the survival of humanity.
Interview with the Last President of Armenia, Vakhtang Markarian, 31 AW
=location: Putian, 15h from invasion=
The Chinese city of Putian was a great concourse of refugees. The monster armies were approaching at a fast pace. Although nuclear weapons annihilated many of the cities that were where the monsters began to come from, millions have already fled out of reach and started murdering everything in the vicinity. A small brigade-sized PLA force defended the city.
"Don't let them pass!" - shouted the officer over the radio - "There are half a million people in the city now, if they break through, they will kill them all."
"I know it." - said to himself, PLA Sergeant, Dong Du, shooting at another with those black, demonic dogs that were secreting some acid from their mouths. His QBZ-191 has already allowed him around 8 kills. But these creatures just kept coming.
"Get down!" - another soldier shouted as balls of toxins, acid, or whatever it was, fell behind nearby cover. Moments later, more soldiers could be heard screaming in pain, dying in one of the cruelest ways imaginable.
Dong looked around the battlefield and quickly spotted new, huge, and even more disgusting monsters. With spider legs, a humanoid upper body, one arm as a cannon, and the road as claws, in the colors of rotten green and several shades of bronze. Hundreds of meters from their position, they were closing in and continuing to fire this acid.
Dong quickly took his radio and said - "Putian HQ, this is Sergeant Dong Du, Xiayong defense. Hostile forces have driven out a new kind of Artillery monster. We can't hold on without reinforcements."
"I understand, Sergeant Du." - someone from HQ replied - "Reinforcements are on their way. ETA 2 minutes."
The next 2 minutes were the longest minutes of Dong's life. Due to the occasional acid blast, the soldiers were forced to reposition themselves to minimize the chance of being hit, bringing the enemy dogs to dangerous distances, and only using half of the grenades the unit had was able to withstand the wave. But if those reinforcements are even a minute late, then they're over.
Suddenly, Dong heard the sound of a cannon shot. He quickly looked back in the direction where the bang came from and saw several armored cars that he quickly recognized. After all, this is a series of CM vehicles from the armed forces of the province of Taiwan. But later on, he will worry about why the forces of the supposedly rebellious province are helping mainland China. Now he'll worry about how to kill those green monsters. Fortunately, the armored cars quickly destroyed the Artillery monsters and switched targets to other monsters. Then half a hundred soldiers got out of the 8 vehicles and with our support wiped out the remaining monsters.
As soon as the fighting was over we started tending to the wounded and fortunately, our new allies' medics quickly helped us pick them up in a nearby car which quickly drove them to a field hospital a few miles away. It was also then that Dong met his saviors.
"I understand you're in charge here." - Dong said, approaching one of the Taiwanese.
"Correct." - replied the officer - "Sergeant Lei Xiang, Republic of China Army."
"Sergeant Dong Du, People's Liberation Army." - Dong said before offering a handshake - "Thank you for saving my men."
Lei accepts the handshake - "No need to thank me. We were simply doing our duty to the nation and the world. But more on that later. Since the nuclear attacks, satellite communications have improved dramatically. We learned that more of these monsters are coming soon. We have to prepare the defense."
"Of course, Sergeant Xiang." - said Dong - "But who is in charge?"
"You, sir." - Lei replied - "You have more men and you know the terrain. Where will our armored vehicles be most useful?"
"I'll need more fire support at the hospital ruins and the next intersection. Two combat vehicles should be enough. Then-"
=location: Astana, 17h from invasion=
Kazakhstan, despite its size, had a relatively small population. So when the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, was attacked, an immediate evacuation in all directions began. However, Kazakhstan quickly decided to use large amounts of the War Gases of its neighbor Russia, thanks to which most of the monster army was killed a few hours ago.
Almost immediately, Kazakhstan began to eliminate the enemy forces. The tactic was very simple but effective, especially considering the terrain. Small reconnaissance squads consisting of several IFVs will find the target and then relay information to artillery and air forces. After a barrage that breaks the monsters into smaller groups, the IFVs will launch an attack and destroy the survivors.
Due to the small number of military units in the area, this tactic was extremely time-consuming. However, the small population density allowed war operations to be conducted without the need to worry about civilians, so the tactic worked. With more military units arriving, it was only a matter of time before the monster forces in Kazakhstan were destroyed.
But the lack of any information from the Russian Government was extremely depressing. As one of the largest military forces on the planet and the country with the most nuclear weapons, this would be a great loss to the military potential of the planet. But the Kazakhstan command had to operate under the assumption of the worst. For this reason, negotiations began almost immediately with separate commanders regarding military support and securing certain areas of Russia.
=location: Ağsu, 19h from invasion=
Since the loss of the 4th Army Corps in the Battle of Baku at the beginning of the invasion, Azerbaijani forces have been constantly in retreat. Without any weapons of mass destruction, the monsters managed to deploy over a million creatures without any problems, which massacred the command and most of the government. The lack of communication for the first few hours meant that the unprepared 1st Army Corps, which counterattacked quickly, suffered heavy casualties, with half its brigades out of action.
At Agsu they finally organized a line of defense, but the sheer numbers made it very difficult to defend. Pink creatures, some looking like 3-legged humanoids with an anteater face, claws instead of hands and a tail, another a cross between Raptor and anteater, another humanoid, hairy, multi-eyed, purple beasts, and several other types.
However, Agsu's defenses seemed close to collapsing due to sheer numerical superiority. Fortunately, reinforcements from the other Nakhchivan Garrison and the Armenian 1st Army Corps arrived quickly enough. The combined forces managed to eliminate the attacking monsters and, with the following reinforcements, managed to gather over 25,000 troops and the necessary equipment.
After the battle, the soldiers got a moment to rest and began to talk freely to each other.
"So..." - began one Armenian soldier in Azerbaijani to an Azerbaijani soldier - "who have you lost?"
"What?" - asked the Azerbaijani soldier.
"Who have you lost in this invasion?" - asked the Armenian soldier - "For me, it was grandparents, father and sister."
"Because they got caught in a fight between monsters and the Army?" - asked the Azerbaijani soldier.
"NO." - replied the Armenian soldier - "As you probably know, everyone has had this feeling when the energy is sucked out of us."
"Yes."
"And that's how old people started dying."
"It was terrifying. My parents are 49 and 50, so they'll be fine, but my grandparents are well into their 70s. They're probably dead."
"But it's not just the elderly." - said the Armenian, to which the Azerbaijani soldier looked surprised - "It seems that they were weaker people, or simply weakened. Most of those who were seriously ill or injured in hospitals also died."
"So your sister..."
"She had a car accident a week ago. As soon as they restored communication, I called her and that's how I found out."
"And you're telling me this because..."
"Honestly, I don't know. But I needed to tell someone, and I didn't want to talk to the whole platoon about it."
"I see."
Then there was a moment of silence between the two people. Until one Armenian started - "I'm Antranig Zentuntsian anyway."
"Seyran Bahadurli." - answered the Azerbaijani.
Before they could continue, suddenly the radios boomed - "To all soldiers, we have new orders. In a quarter of an hour, everyone should be at the assembly point ready to go."
"Duty calls." - Antran said.
"Yes." - Seyran replied - "I hope you survive."
"Thanks. I pray you will also survive."
More battles were still waiting.
