Battle of Berlin
Kaiser's Bunker - Berlin - German Empire - 7:45pm CEST
Kaiser Wilhelm IV watched a holomap of the Separatist forces approaching the Imperial Capital. Chancellor Kohl grimaced. Both men began to speak, in German of course. "Will the Americans be here?" Wilhelm asked. Kohl shrugged. "They can't commit that many troops to us, they're busy defending their own nation. The Republic is going to be giving us a large number of clones, but, I don't know if that'll be enough."
The Fatherland's capital was defended by 70,000 regular German troops, 30,000 Polish troops, 12,000 Baltic troops, 200 Flanders-Wallonian troops, 500 Dutch troops, 3,000 Ruthenian troops, and 4,000 White Ruthenian troops, along with 3,000 American soldiers and 50,000 327th Star Corps clone troopers under the command of Commander Bly. Bly stood in front of the Reichstag building with two German Majors and Master Yoda.
A Ruthenian infantryman and two clones stood by the edge of the city, watching as the Separatists -200,000 strong- began to advance south. German tanks were entrenched in defensive positions, and they began to fire on the incoming CIS, as AATs and MTTs moved closer. However, the CIS had made a grave mistake by assaulting Berlin, a city that, only three years ago, had fended off a massive Soviet attack, and these German and Reichspakt soldiers were not about to lose the fatherland. The Luftwaffe began an unrelenting assault on the incoming droids, with the aid of Republic fighters and Y-wings. The Imperial Tricolor flew high over the city as the German battalions turned to face the invaders, their Major crying out a yell of "Für Gott, Vaterland, Freiheit!" For God, Fatherland, Freedom. The Germans and their vassals began to assault the incoming Separatists, a mostly-Polish legion holding off the incoming enemies as a German and Ruthenian division flanked the Separatists.
The Reichspakt troopers held off the Separatists for around an hour, killing about 16,000 before being forced to retreat to the outer edges of Berlin. Yoda ignited his blade as Bly raised his blaster. Cries of "Für das Vaterland!" were raised alongside many separate warcries in everything from Dutch to Polish to Ruthenian to English. The droids launched several Hyena bombers, which were able to damage part of outer Berlin before being taken down by the Republic and the Luftwaffe as the Heer stood to defend the city, the first droids making their way into the tight streets. The strange European style of this city was jarring to the droids, with even tighter streets than New York or Chicago, almost no Separatist vehicles could fit down most streets, with the exception of a couple major roads.
German Panzer X tanks fired on MTTs and AATs, as bombing them wasn't an option in Berlin, as Kohl had specifically forbidden bombing in the major cities. Bly shot the head off a droid captain as his men moved forward to meet a division of 15,000 droids. The urban warfare was tough, and bloody, however, Bly's force managed to exterminate 8,000 droids, as the CIS force swung around to the west of Berlin to attack from two sides, all while being ravaged by aircraft.
The combined north/west attack managed to work, allowing the droids to pour into Western Berlin while the defenders were forced to retreat towards the eastern half of the city. Bly and Yoda split up, Yoda and two German Captains leading a major force to retake western Berlin while Bly and his force stayed to defend the north. Bly was surprised by the tenacity of these Germans and their various client states, their warcry propelling them to assault the Separatist lines, a hail of bullets, while many were able to dodge the slow-moving blaster bolts.
Back with Yoda, the agile Jedi Master was leaping around the tight Berlin side streets, slashing droids while the troops behind him -mostly Germans and Americans- cut down row after row of droid, abandoned cars making great cover for the troops. The droids, however, just kept coming, forcing Yoda to order a retreat, but in total the droids had been cut down to 170,000, while the defenders had been cut down to 120,000, with all of the Ruthenians, Baltics, Flemish, Dutch, and White Ruthenian troops dead and a sizable number of Germans, Americans and clones dead.
Not only that, but the sudden attack and lack of an efficient evacuation center meant that thousands of citizens were caught in the crossfire or killed by Separatist bombings. Yoda's force retreated towards Central Berlin, on the other hand, Bly's force was successfully pushing north, taking down thousands of droids along the way. However, the Separatists retaking Central Berlin began to move north, sandwiching Bly's men. Yoda, realizing this, launched an attack on a weaker part of the CIS advance, splitting about 16,000 troops from the main body.
However, Bly's force was still forced to fight two fronts at once, allowing the droids to slowly them. Realizing what was happening, fourteen Panzers left their positions to aid Bly, firing on the incoming droids and bringing down three AATs, with only four of the Panzers being lost. This small thing effectively saved Bly's force, allowing him to entirely focus on the northern attacks while Yoda and his men fought the bulk of the droid army.
The droid commanding this operation watched from his AAT, noting now he had to capture this... "Racks-tag" building, thus, he ordered 600 droids to assault it, unaware it was being defended by 700 Americans and 1,000 Germans. The 600 droids walked into a slaughter, with the Reichstag remaining free, its flag flying high above in a symbol of defiance to the droid army, a symbol that the Fatherland would never fall.
In southern Berlin, German and American reinforcements were arriving, totaling 10,000 troops, while more Polish, Baltic and Ruthenian troops were amassing in Danzig, Prussia, preparing to defend Berlin. Dutch and Flemish troops were heading across northern Germany, however, they were moving too slow to be much of an asset. In Berlin itself, the reinforcements began to pour into the city, taking the pressure off Yoda's troops, and forcing the droids to fight on two fronts. David Rommel, now a Brevet Colonel, back in his homeland, shouted orders at his men, alternating between English and German, as both Americans and Germans customarily learnt each other's language, making communication much easier.
The German/American force moved into South Berlin, taking many streets and presenting a united front against the droids. Rommel fired off his M16 as he commanded his men, Panzer tanks rolling across Berlin's streets. The droids were shocked by these tanks, and EMP attacks had proven useless, as unlike CIS tanks, Terran tanks didn't hover. The droids were beginning to falter, being forced to retreat in both the North and South, the commander ordered an advance east, which worked, but only succeeded in thinning the force Yoda and Rommel's groups had to face.
The droids began to fortify in eastern Berlin while Yoda and Rommel struck forward to break the droid lines and join their forces. The attack succeeded, however, droid reinforcements were beginning to trop into east Berlin, while Polish reinforcements began to trickle in, as Republic starfighters and the Luftwaffe finished establishing air superiority above the city.
Shouting "Za Ojczyznę!", the Poles and their tanks crashed into eastern Berlin, causing the droids to fall back as their reinforcements consolidated. Yoda and Rommel moved west, focusing on clearing the western half of Berlin of droids while the Poles hit the east as Ruthenian, White Ruthenian and Baltican reinforcements kept arriving. In the bunker, Kohl and Wilhelm watched the holomap with unease. Wilhelm sighed and began to pray softly as his terrified wife and children huddled in the corner. Kohl frowned. "Your majesty, the Americans and Jedi have an evac plan if the capital falls." Wilhelm shook his head. "You may take the kids and my wife, but... I am Kaiser. Even if I have no power, this is my nation, I will not flee."
Kohl nodded. "Nor shall I, Wilhelm." Outside, the battle raged, Berlin's defenders dropping at high rates, but so were her attackers. Rommel and Yoda's joint attack succeeded in breaking a line through to the western edge of Berlin, while the east was deadlocked in a stalemate, as the north fell to a joint attack of Germans and clones. The east remained somewhat intact for the CIS, however, they were beginning to collapse, when, at around 9pm the commander received a message from Grievous ordering him to evacuate Berlin and move to Petrograd. With that, the droids began trying to flee in their dropships, as hundreds were dropped by the German/Republic aircraft.
The Germans, their allies, and the clones began to cheer as they watched the cowardly droids flee the city and gradually get shot down. About 4,000 fled the city on foot, heading east through Prussia. They would be chased down within time.
Battle of Petrograd
Kremlin - Petrograd - Republic of Russia - 12:34am MST
Russian troops -with around 3,000 clones- fought desperately to fend off the CIS, however, the droids had surprised Russia and were fast approaching the Kremlin. President Boris Yeltsin prepared his terms of surrender and request to ally with the CIS. He placed the papers in a yellow envelope, and exited his office when he felt a gun barrel press against his neck.
Yeltsin turned to see Putin standing with a gun raised. "Vlad!" Yeltsin said with fake, nervous cheer. "Don't try it." Putin said, grabbing the envelope from the Russian leader. "Hey now, this is a misunderstanding, give those here!" Yeltsin protested as Putin simply tossed the envelope onto the floor. "Do not lie to me, Yeltsin." Fear shot through Yeltsin. Putin was a skilled spy, and would do anything to get what he wanted. Including selling out his country's war effort to the Yanks to get a better position post-war. "Traitor." Putin spat. Yeltsin laughed a real laugh. "Takes one to know one. Yes, I know what you did. And don't pretend you have any noble patriotic reasons for this, you want to remove me so the Americans will praise you and put you in command."
Putin grinned. "Yes. I won't pretend I have a noble reason for this, but neither do you. Selling out Russia to these Separatists currently killing our soldiers and civilians." "There's not a bit of difference between the Republic and CIS." Yeltsin shot back. "Maybe." Putin said. "But, I find it better to cooperate with the Americans, which means cooperate with the Republic. I'd rather not see Russia obliterated by some magic space empire."
Yeltsin opened his mouth to speak again before Putin pulled the trigger, shooting the Russian President in the head. The Russian spy slipped his gun back into his suit jacket, picked up the envelope and ripped it in half. He then pulled a lighter out of his jacket, burning the papers in his hand before tossing them out an open window. Putin smiled to himself as he pulled a pager out of his jacket and fiddled with it.
Outside, the droid army began to enter the grounds of the Kremlin, as they slaughtered Russian soldiers. More clone reinforcements were coming, but they were not enough. Putin walked through the Kremlin to the grounds, shooting a battle droid in the head before he was surrounded. "Hello boys." He said in English. "Surrender, Russian." A droid spoke. Putin dropped his pistol and raised his hands. "Of course, of course." He said.
Clone reinforcements began to close in on the city, about 15,000 of them. They began to drop paratroopers in, starting with the Kremlin as a major dogfight began over the city. Paratrooper clones began to land around the Kremlin, killing droids as one shielded Putin. "Don't worry sir, you're safe now. Say, who are you?" "Vladimir Putin." Putin answered. "Where is Mr. Yelt-san?" the clone asked. Putin smirked at the mispronunciation before speaking again. "He's in the building, dead. Tried to betray Russia, tried to betray you, he attacked me, I killed him in self-defense." the clone nodded. "We gotta get you out of here, this way!" he shouted. Putin followed, being given a DC-17 blaster pistol as he was led to a LAAT that had landed in a park.
As a clone helped him climb onto it, Putin reflected on what had just happened. What if Yeltsin had been successful? As the LAAT lifted off, Putin watched the destruction down below in his hometown. He felt anger at these Separatists, not just a self-advancing anger to gain himself a better career, no, he felt a patriotic ferver to end these Separatists.
Alas, that rage would not extend to the ground, where Russian troops were rapidly faltering, even with their clone reinforcements. The clones were coming in too slow to aid the city's defense, and the Kremlin was soon retaken by the droids. Over 50,000 Russians had been killed, and 30,000 civilians so far had died. The Russian Air Force had been almost entirely destroyed, ruined jets having crashed around the city, the only major victory in the air the CIS had won so far.
Eventually, the order was given to retreat to Moscow, the droids had won the day in Petrograd, their first major victory on Terra. Putin, watching the city with a look of sadness on his face, was flown to Germany, as the Russians and clones fell back to Moscow. The CIS instead struck out north into Finland, heading towards Helsinki as Sweden and Norway came to their neighbor's aid.
But, Petrograd was lost.
And Yeltsin was dead.
okay, yes, a lot shorter and more rushed than the previous chapter, but, I really wanted to get this one out, I hope it's okay for y'all. Do comment on whether I should focus on more chapters, which would be shorter and quicker to read and allow me to get more out, or focus on longer more detailed chapters that would take me longer to make.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned! Also Putin is gonna be pretty important to the story later on!