A/N: The second in a series where I cover major battles of Ace Combat. As was the case with Solis Ortus, certain liberties have been taken. Mostly to paint the Eruseans as not crumbling in ten minutes and cause, again, logistics are a thing. Also tides favor the attacker in the morning for these kinds of operations.
Prologue: Final Approval
January 22, 2005
Allenfort Air Base, North Point
The older gentleman looked up from the computer's keyboard and re-read the letter he'd typed. It was his resignation, written ahead of time when he could confidently maintain his composure. He planned to lead those under him to victory, but until it was firmly in his hands he would prepare for the worst. Not since the days of the Great World War had one man in Her Majesty's armed forces bore so much responsibility. Thoughts of men like Sanford or Montgomery seemed to pale in comparison. I should be slapped for that the man thought with a smirk. He even looked up to the faux-wood ceiling a minute after thinking he could compare to two of Lenshire's heroes.
"Forgive me, Duke. You too, Monty; just nervous, you know? Could use some wisdom about now." Field Marshal Stanley Pembrooke whispered. Instead of seeing Bernard Montgomery appear in his mirror, the phone on his desk rang.
"Pembrooke speaking." He said in a soft voice matching his gentlemanly appearance.
"Sir, Air Marshal Denton just arrived. RMPs say he passed through the gate a few minutes ago." His secretary reported.
"Good, good. Thank you Miss Day, I'll be along in a minute."
"Yes sir. Should I ring up Corporal Steerman?"
"No no let the boy sleep. I can put on a sweater by myself."
Pembrooke hung up and marched across the room to a closet. He took a green pullover-style sweater from one of the hangers and put it over his uniform blouse. The man turned towards a mirror next to the closet and grabbed a dark-blue beret from a coat stand next to it. He drew himself up to attention and put the headgear on. He turned to a small table with several pictures on it, chief among them his late wife. The curly-haired woman's gaze made him look back into the mirror and suck in his gut a little more.
"Oh give me some credit, Maggie; For my age I'm doing pretty good." He chuckled.
With the quick adjustment of his tie, he turned and walked out the door into a large room. His secretary stood up from her desk and rendered him a salute as he passed. He returned the gesture, did the same to the radiomen and the sentries, then walked through another door into a narrow hallway. He saluted two more sentries and pushed open a pair of doors leading to a meeting room covered in the same faux-wood as his quarters. Officers of almost every rank snapped to attention and rendered crisp salutes to the man, who returned them and walked to a massive sand table surrounded by tables and chairs.
"Good morning everyone, have a seat so we can get down to business." He remarked as he went for a chair at the head of the room.
The first order of business were the strategic and logistical situations. Papers from folders were shuffled to bring up tables on tables of equipment. Even before ISAF's members had left the mainland, they'd been doing everything they could to replace their losses and ready a counterattack. Moving production, begging (or bullying) foreign suppliers for help, building artificial islands, underground shelters, taking uninhabited islands, and every idea just crazy enough to work. Major General Henry Mansfield, the man in charge of ISAF's logistics, stood up and cleared his throat.
"Currently sir the logistical situation remains the same. All 16 divisions we have mustered are fully equipped and manned. The three division-sized formations we have allotted for this operation are in place on the Comona Islands or at their final holding positions northeast of that. The numbers show that we can support the landing operation without sea ports for a total of eight days. However, this would be without much of the heavy equipment that would be needed to expand our beachhead. It would likely take three to four days to get any heavy division ashore and organized." He announced.
"What's the status of our convoys from Chakari and other overseas territories?" Pembrooke asked.
"They are due to arrive approximately six hours before the landings start, at which point the process of transferring their cargo will begin."
"Good. Based on these reports all air assets have received their proper weapons and petrol allotments. In accordance with reports from meteorology and the needs of our combined air forces, deliveries have focused heavily on weapons using TV, radar or GPS guidance?"
"The weather will hamper what weapons we can use. I've ordered that TV-guided bombs and missiles be the order of the day; laser-guided munitions will have serious trouble in this kind of soup." Air Marshal George Denten pointed out. He looked at his fellow Lenishman and land counterpart.
"General Vanburke also assures me that there will be an excess of forward air control. Inevitably, we'll have to use unguided weapons and direct them from the ground and by the systems of individual planes." He added.
"One of my goals is to have our forces seize the high ground on the flanks of each beach so those forward air controllers can have a better view. Same places a lot of our reconnaissance missions have gone to observe the beaches." Vanburke assured.
"Right, and that should take us into the plan for our landings and the latest intelligence. Brigadier Inzerillo?" Pembrooke said. A man in an olive dress uniform stood up and walked between two tables to the sand table.
"Grazie, Field Marshal. Operation Bunker Shot, as it has been named, will exploit one of the weaker points in the Erusean's sea wall and allow us to begin restoring the borders of ISAF member states to their prewar status. The landing sight has also been chosen as it is outside the effective range of the Stonehenge Turret Network. The first phase of the operation will get underway on the evening of January 23rd, with airstrikes against Erusean airfields, supply facilities and lines of communication and transport. Additionally, commando units will conduct sabotage missions and have been tasked with...removing...several high-value individuals from their posts. Targets chosen for air strikes are detailed in the provided handouts." He explained.
Pembrooke took a minute to go down the list of targeted individuals. Most of them were military men: commanders of certain "significant" units, men associated with the Erusean Federal Ministry of Intelligence, and a few members of the Aucklin National Reform Party. Sympathizers to Erusea's fascist leanings. He looked up at Inzerillo as he answered questions about targets in conjunction with Denton, then cleared his throat.
"I see that the Eruseans have also appointed a new commander of forces in this area. One Major General Danko Ikov?" He noted.
"Yes sir. He formerly commanded troops in the Saint Ark area. This assignment is part of a promotion he recently received. General Prodan Andric remains military governor of the area, with Ikov under his command."
"Do we have a file on him?"
"Not a completed one, sir. It appears he led the 49th Mechanized Rifle Division through Likada, but we have little else."
"Very well, get what you can to me by the end of the day. Brigadier Patrick, I believe it's time we got to the specifics of the landings."
The head of Operations, a Skully man, stood up and went to the side of the table opposite Inzerillo.
"At 0630 local on January 24th, forward elements of three division-sized units will land at these beaches in southeast Aucklin. These are titled Halle, Crowne, and Caranda; the timing of the landing will ensure that the tides are in our favor. The initial landings will be conducted by marine forces, supported by light armor and engineering units." Brigadier Martin Patrick said. As he went on, he exchanged several glances with Inzerillo in case the man had anything to add.
"Units of the Lagunari and San Mateo Brigades, together with the Likadan 1st Marine Brigade, will land on Halle Beach. Their primary objective is to both secure the southern flank and take the port of Murrayville so we can begin to offload heavy equipment. For this, the Cordicovans have committed two regiments, one armored and one of alpine troops to help take the city. Our timetable gives us four days to capture Murrayville. The center beach, Crowne, will be the responsibility of Aucklin-Skully forces. The 14th Infantry Regiment and Skully Rifle Regiment will form the first wave, later to be reinforced by the 5th Regiment and 6th Cavalry. Once the beach is secured, they will proceed inland to draw Erusean heavy forces away from Likadan and Cordicovan operations and to secure the crossroads in the city of Saint Marten. The northern beach will fall to Lenish forces. Both 5 and 7 Commandos will conduct the initial landings, followed by the 17th Armored Brigade. They'll move due west to create blocking positions against Erusean counterattacks."
Pembrooke leaned forward and stared down at the sand table as Martin and Inzerillo went over the finer points of the defenses on each beach. The bunkers, artillery, minefields and air defenses.
"I read recent intelligence reports showing the Eruseans have moved several fresh batteries of anti-ship missiles to the area. We are in possession of their exact locations, yes?" He spoke up when there was a pause.
"Yes sir." Inzerillo assured before clearing his throat.
"Is there any indication that these were deployed because the Eruseans suspect something?"
"No sir. This deployment reflects a general trend of fortifying the coast now that the Aegir Fleet is out of action. The Eruseans know we intend to do something, but if they know where they aren't taking the steps to prepare for it. We're seeing much of the same kind of activity near Saint Ark."
"Very well...and the troops we expect to face in the area?"
"The troops garrisoning the shore defenses are a mix of artillery, air defense and motorized infantry. We estimate that they constitute three regiments' worth of men, but not all are combat troops. The Erusean 7th Mechanized Rifle Division is their immediate backup, and we can expect them to join the battle within six hours of the landings. We still face a total of four Erusean divisions and five independent regiments in Aucklin."
"And what of our air and naval situations?"
A tall, thin man with a rough beard leaned forward and cleared his throat.
"The Eruseans will not be able to mount any decisive naval offensive for the foreseeable future, Sir." Aucklin Vice Admiral Benjamin Wallington, commander of ISAF naval forces, assured firmly. He looked to Denton, who answered the other half of the question easily.
"Since their failed raid on the Comona Islands, the numbers have tipped in our favor. The Erusean Air Force has four wings of combat aircraft in Aucklin, along with the necessary complement of transport and support aircraft to maintain its operations. Anti-air units, though many of them reservist formations, are plentiful. It's estimated that no fewer than 20 batteries of static anti-aircraft positions cover our landing area. An additional number of mobile platforms, believed to be another 10 batteries strong, are attached to the mechanized formation in the area. Our initial strikes and the opening bombardment by the flotilla assigned to support the landings will target several of the static positions, and air attacks will duly attack the air defenses guarding them." He said.
"But not all of them." Pembrooke assumed.
"No sir, to try and do so would dramatically drain our ability to provide forces on the beaches with proper support. Priority will go to missiles such as the Buk and Vega series, also known as the SA-17 and SA5 respectively. We will have to destroy units that aren't attacked by the first wave will be targeted on an as-needed basis."
"And we're confident we can avoid drawing Stonehenge's attention."
"Yes sir...we have a 50 kilometer gap to exploit and, while some strikes will have to enter the engagement zone of the network, after Operation Blackout we've confirmed that the Eruseans have significantly decreased their usage of the weapon."
"I think it would be safe to assume that SIS knows something, but I'll leave that matter to my own abilities. Admiral Wallington?"
"The Eruseans still have some surface combatants and submarines, most of which have been distributed along the south and eastern coasts of the continent. Mostly destroyers and frigates, though the Tanager's sister ship, Nemosia, has been reported in the vicinity of Axel Bay. We have no indications that she's heading eastwards at this time. My assessment is that the Erusean Navy is incapable of disrupting our operations."
"Alright...where does that leave us? Weather?"
"The latest weather reports indicate the overcast weather will remain, sir, but the seas should be calm enough to conduct the landing. Meteorology indicates winds will continue to push the storm system we saw over the past two weeks inland. Clouds are predicted to be at 3600 Meters AGL, with pure soup at around 2400." A man on Inzerillo's staff reported.
"Very well...and is that the best it will get?"
"For some time, sir. We believe it best to go now to capitalize on our recent successes."
Sensing the senior man was wrestling with something, Inzerillo cleared his throat to indicate he wished to speak.
"While the weather may seem troublesome, Field Marshal, reports from the teams who confirmed the presence of those missiles are equally promising. They observed a noted slack in morale and in discipline. It seems the Erusean troops think they've won and are now simply waiting for us to give up. The conditions are as perfect as we can hope for them to be." He advocated. Pembrooke took a long minute to consider that bit, then stood up.
"I understand, and both the Queen and Prime Minister have put the power to approve this in my hands. Given all the information I've received, I find that the best option is to approve of "Operation Bunker Shot", as it has been named. I expect all forces committed to be at their proper state 12 hours before the operation begins. If there is nothing else, then it is time we got back to work, gentlemen. Dismissed."