Kolchak had taken to fighting alongside the Guard troops in the Barious desert quite well. After all, what was sand to her and her forces but hot, dry snow? She chuckled, remembering they were still mopping up bits and pieces of a broken Eastern Imperial military force from the central front's Barious arm. Sure, they'd broken the imp troops here, but that didn't mean many of them would leave so easily.
Cooperating with the Tallarn also proved to be quite the interesting thing, seeing as how they got local tribespeople from the Barious Deserts into their ranks, which were now welled up by over 600 more soldiers. Add to that the Air Support flying all over the place and, well, Kolchak sort of felt an air of nostalgia for something she knew she hadn't partaken in.
The purr of Jet engines came from above and the jet-wash spread a storm of sand all over the fields around the Scarlet Army's positions as a Valkyrie came in to land. Touching down, the vehicle, clad in a two-tone tan-to-blue paintjob, disgorged a squad of the Imperial Guard's famed Drop Troops. Elysians, Harakoni and even Phantine soldiers stepped out onto the flattened sand, their boots crunching against it. The aircraft lifted off after dropping about twelve soldiers, followed by another two transports that dropped off vehicles with low armor and roll-bar cages meant to help them if they flipped over. Two-man vehicles, a gunner and a driver. Probably meant for scouting.
She saluted the leading man of the mixed squadron, then said "Welcome to the rally point."
"Ma'am," The soldier replied, "Captain Fyrene, of the Harakoni. These are my men, of Phantine and Elysian descent, too."
Sand washed over them as the last of the aircraft lifted off, turning toward the airfield's direction and departing. Kolchak mused, "Quite the beautiful thing, your flying machines of war..." watching as the last Valkyrie vanished past the tall sand dunes. Fyrene nodded in thanks, hefting his bullpup Lasgun close and waving his forces forward. He and the General moved down, toward where their tanks and scout vehicles were parked.
"Quite modern-looking tanks," Remarked the Captain of the airborne, "Take it we're to escort you?"
"For now, yes," She replied. "Not far, though. Only to the cliffs for one last sweep."
Troops mounted onto the armored vehicles, each man and woman piling onto one tank or another, or a combat buggy. The convoy began to roll down a travelled path, the leading heavy tank now outfitted with a dozer blade pushing aside the sand to clear its siblings from the old Imperial Army a path. The young men and women of the Scarlet Army, now clad in desert tan uniforms, scanned their surroundings with smiles on their faces.
As the tanks and their escorting infantry rolled forth, one of the youngest soldiers of the Scarlet Army's ranks began to hum. A hearty, heavy hum that led his compatriots to join him. The General herself began to sing, her voice smooth and sweet as she intuned, "To the battlefield, we march this holy morning, at the dawn, cresting the hills with a blithe yawn, for the freedom we desire, 'gainst the Foe that caused us ire."
"Forwards, you glorious ranks of iron!" Her second-in-command sang proudly, her voice lower, heavier, "For your home awaits beyond the foe, beyond their bloody treason!"
"Only our Faith can move the mightiest mountains!" Their other comrades sang, too, "Only through strength, will we retake our cities!"
Fyrene listened to the singers continue their chorus as the vehicles rolled forth. So, these were the people that Colonel Telos had fought beside before all of this. A strange bunch, but the way they sang almost reminded him of the Church days back on Harakon, before he would join the Imperial Guard. Even in the guard, the service was called in by the beautiful singing of choirs just like the makeshift one of the Scarlet Army.
They were eerily proud for what they once had been. According to certain historical data from various sources within the Principality's ranks and from written record, the Scarlet Army had once been a major fighting regiment, presumably belonging to the Royal Guard of the original Tsar of the East. Admittedly, from what the Skyborne had seen of them, they looked more like elite Shock Troops of the Valhallan Ice Warriors than Royal Guard.
He smirked, wondering if Telos had made the connection during their cooperation phases, then paused as his Vox rang. Within moments, the man turned to face the General and yelled so he'd be heard over the noise of engines, "It seems there's a situation developing over by the central area, near the enemy bridgehead at Dillsburg! The Colonel will want us to reform and go there ASAP!"
"Understood!" The woman nodded, "We will cut the sweep short, then!"
It would take them a day and a half to reach Dillsburg and repulse the Imperials' attacks. Meanwhile, they'd have to let the Tallarn know before they moved, so they could prepare accordingly for the upcoming force redeployment and adjust for any requirements of extra reinforcements, though, to be fair, one should expect that the enemy would certainly not want to engage in the deserts again.
So, with that in mind, after another short travel and a Vox in toward the Tallarn, the squadrons of vehicles all turned toward the future engagement, with the aircraft around them returning to base to rearm and refuel. Their objective:Dillsburg and the destruction of the enemy forces there. General Kolchak hoped that the Tallarn and Captain Al-Ahab would forgive them for ditching for this.
Still, she was sure they understood the importance of the objective that lay ahead of them all. Their fight remained the same:To throw the False Imperials out of Gallia and then advance into the East, to retake their homes, from Monschau to Schwarzgrad itself. They'd burn the palace to the ground with the Reginaves inside it with disregard for any pleas for mercy, just for what they'd done...
Kasr Creed.
Matt watched his Troopers begin the drills for the Darcsen Corps. Though several of the youth and elders that had joined the ranks could not fight, they would still be trained to wield firearms and run faster than they did right now. He regarded the training that Colin had decided upon as satisfactory, of course. Though the training itself meant that any Darcsen Corps members that lacked combat experience would stay behind.
Ryan's boys, Emperor bless their souls, had gotten through the hell at Barious and the battle for the Border City. That meant they had combat experience behind them, with the NCO Darcsens from the First Europan War being promoted to Commissioned Officers in the Corps so they'd have a leader. They gladly answered the call to arms and seemed ready to lead from the front of the formations of their new troops.
He looked over to Colin, then stated, "Looks like the Corps is taking shape... Rather quickly, may I add."
"Several of the Darcsen have ranks in the Militia, surprisingly. Several more have actually seen combat. Best we can hope for is that they do not break when battle arises," Colin remarked, arranging his greatcoat and cap, "Permission to ask, sir, but should we not prepare a new weapon type that can safely be built within Gallian factories without much fuss?"
"Perhaps," The man nodded, "The Lasguns we recover off the battlefield are not enough to fill an entire new force like the Corps. I can ask Isara to help draw up a design."
"That would presumably help. They could also arm their other troops with it... May I suggest an autogun? Rifle-type, semi and fully-automatic," Colin offered. Matt took a look at his comrade, smirked, then nodded. That would do fine. Add a bayonet to it and they may have something usable and worthwhile for the Imperial Guard as well, provided the troopers would want to carry the ammo.
They regarded the youth of the group training, their faces in the dirt as they crawled through ditches, carrying the equipment. Newly-manufactured flak jackets and helmets, colored with the patterns of the Darcsen on shoulder pads and helmet sides, rifles of all makes, including False Imperial, repurposed for use in battle against the foe that assaulted their home and drove them into the refugee camps.
The Cadians still needed to prepare. He'd asked Colonel Stern to let him know how the fighting near Dillsburg was going, for the sake of being aware how much time he had before he had to send reinforcements. He gripped tightly his Power Sword, looking at the Cadians training their newfound fellows, before stating, "I will head for Fort Amaranthine. Get miss Gunther's help..."
"Very well," Colin nodded, "I, Ace and Amy will keep an eye on the training while you are gone."
Matt offered a curt nod to his fellow officer, before departing toward the Fort of the Gallian armed forces.
Meanwhile, above, the Aeronautica Imperialis kept watch, their Combat Air Patrol-or CAP, for short-held at Angels two-point-five, their radars scouring the skies for the enemy's own Marauder bombers. The Adepts Mechanicus was building the last of the important sections of Kasr Creed's airfield. The radar station and control tower were operational, at least.
The pilot of the leading bird spoke, "This is Talon One to all Talon elements, prepare to return to base for refueling. Enemy air assets are nil factor in our area."
"Emperor's blessings, sir," Replied Two as the birds banked to the left. The pilots all scanned the sky as the second squadron of aircraft took off from the airfield and moved to replace them in aerial patrols. The aircraft banked to the left, their fresh coats of emerald-green paint and Imperial Aquilas shining in the sunlight. Settling in at the same altitude as Talon squadron, the new wing, called Shadow, held altitude and entered CAP-mode.
In Randgriz, Cadian troopers on leave that weren't busying themselves with training the new units of the Guard marched through town, looking at the city and people they worked to defend. The people had welcomed them with food or gifts wherever they went, to the point Lieutenant Maaran had no idea what to do with half the stuff in her backpack as she and one of her troopers marched through.
"Incredible, what a little goodwill can do to bolster a people's will..." Murmured the Lieutenant.
She marched toward a stand in the market and picked up an apple. The Imperial Guard had been receiving payment in the form of Gallian Ducats for a while, now, what with them working as pretty much a private army that would stand side-by-side with the Militia until they finished this war against the invading East Imperial forces. Fair enough, the Lieutenant thought, they needed an incentive at times to fight aside from the God-Emperor's blessings.
She thanked the man at the stand as she bit into the apple, then marched to rejoin her teammates, stopping only when she heard a whimper from an alleyway. Turning to the right, the woman marched into the alley, a damp, darker place where the only things visible were puddles of water, trash cans and the clothes above hanging out to dry on wires. She, however, caught a glimpse of something hiding behind one of the trash cans.
Marching up to it, the woman was greeted by a tiny creature with four legs, a black snout, greyish-cream fur and big, black eyes. It looked up at her, dirty, tired and afraid, whimpering like a pup. She knelt in front of it, surprised, then murmured to herself, "A dog..." before she took her knife out and sliced a piece of the apple she was eating and extended it to the creature. It sniffed it, looked up at the girl, then bit down on the food.
It wagged its tail, happily smiling after chowing down on the thing rather quickly, then approached the woman as she sheathed her blade and pushed its head against her other hand. Switching out the apple's position, she started petting the creature, a smile on her face, then said, "Oh, you are coming with me, my friend..." before she suddenly picked it up and cradled it close. She looked at it, murmured to herself, "I'm sure the Colonel won't mind a mascot..." before smiling at it.
Near Dillsburg.
Black clouds gathered over the municipality of Dillsburg, the uninterrupted rumble of artillery echoing in the distance as the two sides exchanged shells. Sat atop her tank and gazing through a pair of binoculars, Major Audrey Gassenarl regarded the East Imperial lines from the safety of a hilltop. Behind her, sat in motorpools, her Armored Division resided, alongside elements of the First Gallian Mechanized Infantry Division and the Twenty-Third Panzer Division.
The East Imp forces had set up in several stronghold positions around the Dillsburg bridge and the small town itself, with their artillery set up near the rearguard area, where, among other things, there were soldiers of the Imperial Guard's enemy, the Severan Dominate. The enemy artillery consisted in 152mm cannons, 132mm Basilisk SPGs and other various pieces, as well as the newly-introduced Anti-Air Hydra batteries that were being set up to counter any potential Gallian-Guard Air Assets.
Admittedly, Audrey had seen those newfangled jet fighters belonging to the Imperial Guard's Air Force patrolling the skies recently, too, meaning that the enemy was not getting any supporting air raids themselves, leaving this just as a fight between the groundpounders, much like Audrey enjoyed most battles. Fight the enemy face-to-face or tank-to-tank, rather than waiting for the air war to turn to their favor.
"Ma'am," One of her own took her out of her introspective moment.
She turned to him, curious, then asked, "What is it, corporal?"
"We've got incoming. Imperial Guard force..." The man reported awkwardly, rubbing his arm. She raised a brow, asking silently for more info. He replied, "It's those masked soldiers, ma'am, the Death Korps..." and watched as his CO's eyes grew wide. Audrey had seen the Death Korps fight. They were hardy, zealous and strong, but she didn't know how they acted when it came to waiting.
She heard the thunderclap of the boots and the rumble of engines. She turned to see them, watching as the tan uniforms of the desert-fighters of the Death Korps put them at an eerie contrast in comparison to the green, rolling fields and hills around Dillsburg. Behind them, the tall stalk-like barrels of their own Basilisks and the Medusa mortars' thick barrels rose, dragged by light vehicles and, some times, even by their famed 'Krieg Steeds'.
Though light and small, the Death Korps's own artillery battalions were very well-equipped. Behind them, the logistics train stretched out, various vehicles and carts carrying the ammunition for the wheeled guns appeared. Leading this entire unit, Colonel Maria Stern marched, her banner bearer, Vox operator and other important staff, like commissars, right beside her.
The Colonel gave a single signal of the hand and the troops started spreading out. Ten thousand soldiers marched and spread across the line of battle, while their artillery and supporting elements already started digging up the defensive positions from which they would step off the moment it was necessary. The Colonel approached Audrey as the girl jumped off her tank and saluted. She saluted back, then inquired, "Our troops have arrived ahead of schedule. My men grew restless."
"I understand..." The woman replied, looking at the troops as they joined the Gallians in the trenches. So, they were eager for action, then...
A shell landed short of a Gallian position and sprayed a geyser of dirt and smoke into the sky, close enough for the Colonel to witness it. She plucked the Vox-mic transmitter and ordered, "Return fire. Short barrage, Medusas. Forty meter spread," before setting the device back onto the trooper's com backpack and straightening out the antenna. She then took to Audrey's side, pulling her own electronic binoculars out and scanning the front. She stated, "The enemy's main force still lay behind the Front Line... Something feels off."
"Think they brought too small an army unit to breach through?" Audrey raised a brow, "I told the same thing to general Damon, but..."
"That thing's beliefs do not matter when it comes to the defense of your land and our peoples..." The Colonel murmured, a hint of anger in her voice. She looked to the Vox operator and ordered, "Prepare a direct link back to Kasr Creed. I wish to speak to Colonel Telos about this... There is no armored elements ahead, beyond enemy self-propelled artillery pieces."
"Either this place isn't the intended push site, or the Imps really are dragging their asses now," Audrey remarked. She knew better than to hope for that easy a victory, considering what the East Imperials were known for:Trickery, monstrosity and willingness to do just about anything to win. Then again, Damon was much the same as them. Damn shame he didn't desert and try to join the Imps... Might've made things easier for them. She looked to the Colonel and said, "Where do you need me and my Division?"
"Currently? Where you are," The Colonel noted, "Thank you for offering your services to us, Major."
"Anything for Gallia..." Audrey murmured. And anything for her people, no matter who they were. Audrey had heard of the Guard's 'Darcsen Corps' being formed...
Frankly? Good thing they were around.
The Darcsen proved to be hardy warriors when they wanted to fight for their land...