Chapter 66
Battle of The Ardennes Pocket
The Gra Valkas Empire, South Ardennes Battle Group, 22nd June 1527 / 228
The Gra Valkas Empire has lost at least two Divisions because of the Monsters appearing around the Ardennes Forest intentionally or coinciding. Some monsters were fleeing from Celestina soldiers as they were hunting monsters for food and materials, while others were attacking the Gra Valkas Imperial Army out of the blue.
"How long until we're made it out from the forest?"
"Be patient."
The Gra Valkas Empire's march has been slowed down by a week behind schedule, while the reinforcements from the Subjugation Army take another two months to arrive. If the Subjugation Army is with them, they will leave the monster extermination to them as the Imperial Army moves forward.
"We're almost out of the woods! I can see the exit!"
"Stay on guard, everyone! We may expect an ambush!"
The Commanding Officer of the invasion unit, Lieutenant General Osakyo Kato, continues to update their march. They were supposed to exit the forest and capture the Town of Ardennes a week ago. However, the appearance of the monsters and the invasion unit does not consider putting the Subjugation Army into the invasion unit causes the invasion to be delayed for at least one week than scheduled.
"These monsters are tougher than we could expect… We were even getting ourselves behind schedule!"
"Well, at least no wonder why Mu won't put any defenses inside this forest. If there weren't monsters, we may already break through th eir defenses and have Ardennes by ourselves."
"True that!"
The Celestina Empire, Battle Group Valkyrie
"White Knights in position."
"Red Valkyrie in position."
"Red Rabbit in position."
"Black Valkyrie in position."
"Blue Rabbit in position."
"Blue Stallion in position."
"Rookies are in position."
The Gra Valkas Empire Imperial Army slowly marches out from the forest, unaware that Celestina has already set up a trap for them. The 3rd Regiment, "Boudica Boys," is expecting the Gra Valkas Empire's arrival as they finish loading their guns and aim towards the forest exit. Battle Group Rookie Divisions are redeploying from Ardennes Beach to the forest, and they were stationed ten kilometers away from the Gra Valkas Empire's marching route.
The Eclipse Empire's Schutzstaffel Units are assigned to close the southern pathway, creating a pocket to trap the Gra Valkas Empire. Their orders are to close the pocket, capture those who surrender, and kill those who resist. The Main Council expects the operation to end in three days since the Gra Valkas Empire has established a six hundred kilometers line, from the forefront to the rearrest part of the Army. Their march rate is slow, up to sixty kilometers daily due to the appearance of the monsters inside the forest.
The Gra Valkas Empire Army forms a fifty kilometers wide battle line. General Walther Dietrich wants to deploy the second group of the attack, consisting of eight hundred thousand men, as soon as the first group captures Ardennes. After hearing the report of the monsters inside the Ardennes Forest, the Gra Valkas Empire dispatched three Subjugation Armies to suppress monster activities inside the Ardennes Forest. The reinforcements will arrive in two months as scheduled.
Sasha Sylwinder, the Commanding Officer of the 15th Regiment "White Knights," looks at the Gra Valkas Empire's Army movements through one of the bushes. She gave instructions to her personnel to fight with caution.
"As soon as the first group is out, we will commence the attack."
When the Boudica Boys unit spots the Gra Valkas Empire's Army coming out from the forest, they hold their fire for a while. Lieutenant Colonel Blackburn looks at the Gra Valkas Army marching slowly out from the forest, "Steady now. We need to lure them in further. As soon as those soldiers come out from the forest, open fire."
"Sir. We have contact, Panzer IV, Panther, some of Pershing, and… We got a Tiger Tank."
"Load the APFSDS and aim to the Tiger Tank. For Panther and Pershing Tank, we will use APDS and load the rest with HEAP."
"Yes, sir!"
Following Blackburn's instruction, the Anti-Tank crew are loading respective ammunition and aiming at the targets.
"The soldiers are out from the forest."
"Fire!"
BOOM!
The Battle of The Ardennes Forest begins with the attack from Boudica Boys Regiment.
The Gra Valkas Empire Ardennes Forest South Battle Group
"Man, after those weeks inside the forest, we're finally able to make it out of this forest!"
"Yeah. I can't wait to have fun at the Ardennes Town."
"Their city is quite large since it's the border town. I heard from the intelligence that their population is around three hundred thousand?"
"We can relieve ourselves to beating those men and raping the women!"
"Ha ha ha!"
As they were out from the forest, they didn't see anything since Celestina concealed themselves with the Active Camouflage technology.
"Hey, did you see anything strange?"
"No. Why do you ask?"
"I thought I saw something."
"Must be your imagination."
When Blackburn opens fire, it surprises them as the tanks targeted by Boudica Boys are knocked out.
"Ambush!"
"It's an ambush!"
As soon as Blackburn opened fires, the chaos erupted at the entire Gra Valkas Battle Group. The ambush did not only affect the front line but the whole battle lines were affected.
15th Regiment "White Knights." 40km Before Ardennes' North Exit
Looking at the Gra Valkas Empire's Imperial Army marching through the forest, the White Knights personnel perched on the tree are preparing their ambush. Because of the density of the forest, the Gra Valkas Empire was unable to detect any personnel hidden around the jungle. Celestina did not make the platform on the tree to increase its concealing capability.
The members of the White Knights Regiment are mainly late-teenagers and early 20's. In the eyes of the military, they're just a bunch of rookies or cadets. However, in the eyes of the Celestina Empire, they're the top tier of the elite when it comes to sub-zero, snow jungle, and snow warfare. They're on par with the Valkyries when it comes to warfare related to the cold and during the winter season.
The Gra Valkas Empire is setting up several outposts to maintain communication with the base. They also saw the Gra Valkas Empire parking the M12 Gun Carriage, Hummel, and M7 Priest to bombard the Town of Ardennes twenty kilometers away or ten kilometers before the forest exit.
"Boudica Boys has launched the assault."
"Execute!"
The ambush starts with the White Knights members slamming right to the middle of the Gra Valkas Empire's advance. The Gra Valkas Empire received ambushes from the sidelines; the White Knights leaped down from trees and struck them.
"It's an ambush!"
"To your station! Fight them back!"
"They're just a bunch of kids!"
"T-that's absurd! Does Celestina practice underage conscription!?"
In the eyes of the Gra Valkas Empire, seeing the late teenagers, early adults, or around their early 20s are attacking the Gra Valkas Empire's Imperial Army. However, when they witness the skill of the White Knights Regiment, they realize that they were experienced and well-trained for this war.
"Shit! We have to get their technology somehow!"
Sasha Sylwinder, the Commanding Officer of the 15th White Knights Regiment, observes her unit's movements through tree branches. She was accompanied by her Second in Command, Lieutenant Colonel Palmyra, and three other members of the White Knights Regiment.
"We should be thankful to those monsters that manage to delay the Gra Valkas Imperial Army. Otherwise, we won't be able to set up ambush like this."
"Are we going to take them all down?"
"The rule is the same. Kill those who resist and capture those who surrender. We need to take out their armor as well since those tanks can be a nuisance to us. Spare those who surrender."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Spreading out to conduct the assignment, the White Knights continue their attack.
Gra Valkas Empire, Lieutenant General Osakyo Kato
"They're just kids! Did they actually recruit those children!? I see nothing but a bunch of kids going rampage around here!"
The Gra Valkas Empire noticed that the Celestina Empire was using teenagers to join the war, which according to the law, it's prohibited unless they were forcibly conscripted to service. However, Celestina accepts the voluntary enlistment from the age of 18, with an exception for those who manage to skip school due to their high value at academics and adventure. Most of the Battle Group Valkyrie members skipped class for at least one year, which enables them to enter military service before 18. Sasha Sylwinder, the strongest kick in the Celestina Empire, was enlisted as a soldier when she was fourteen years old. In four years, she manages to fill the seat of Main Council's adjutant due to her kicking power and her value as the youngest Village Chief of the Okaminokage.
Her homeland, Okaminokage, is one of the unique cities that boast extreme cold weather. It also serves as the Headquarters of the 15th Regiment "White Knights," known as the military Regiment expert in snow, jungle, and sub-zero warfare. The Commanding Officer, Sasha Sylwinder, is also the owner and guardian of the Beirumanian dungeon, which is also known as notorious for extreme cold weather and monsters who were stronger in unfriendly terrain.
The highest temperature is twelve degrees Celsius during summer, while the lowest temperature can plummet as far as minus fifty-five degrees Celsius during winter. Only three months in summer, when the snow does not fall, the mountain terrain prevents the snow from melting entirely, as the wind temperature constantly blows at sub-zero.
Even though her main composition of the Regiment is teenagers, they have high value when it comes to fighting. Although some of them are delinquents at school nonetheless, Sasha admits them to the White Knights Regiment because their skills are not just a talk or a boast.
"What kind of weapon is that!"
Gunshot keeps firing when they are attempting to defeat Celestina's intrusion. However, the member of White Knights moves too fast, as some are using anchor on the skateboard to launch the attack, while some of the personnel use other methods to cause more confusion.
"Fire! Fire! Fire!"
"What is that!? I've never seen anything like that!"
The Gra Valkas Imperial Army's confusion rises as the equipment used by the Regiment members are varies. A turret arm that can transform into a stationary turret to provide covering fire, a Cannonade, and Rail Gun to snipe enemies and destroy the tank from distances and other weapons they've never faced before.
"Get them! Get them!"
The intrusion is not only happening at the battle lines where White Knights ambush them, but also from other Celestina Regiment and Division who comes to pin all the battle lines.
"More enemies incoming!"
"Ah, shit! How did they can pass this forest without encountering those monsters!"
"This is absurd! How did these guys can set it up without making any noise!"
Days of encountering monsters in the forest should prevent Celestina from establishing ambushes, but they haven't got proper intelligence on how Celestina's military unit is dealing with the monsters. The intelligence provided by the Information Bureau was very limited, as Naguano, who was recently promoted to an Officer months ago, has been assigned exclusively by the Imperial Palace to investigate the Celestina Empire.
Scrutinizing every piece of information obtained from the book will take more time, as Naguano has to verify whether the information was real or not. So far, all intelligence related to the Celestina Empire is accurate, and the Gra Valkas Empire's homeland has already compromised the moment Naguano opens the World Map book. This discovery means Celestina can attack their homeland at any moment.
"Don't let them get away!"
Since Celestina is attacking them from both inside and outside, the Gra Valkas Empire got disoriented. The inside-out attack is more confusing since the Gra Valkas Imperial Army cannot pull the trigger as quickly as usual. It forces them to do close-quarters combat by affixing bayonets to their weapon. Some who use knives and carry a sword are quickly unsheathing it from their sheath.
"Yaaaaahhhh!"
They won't use their guns to kill Celestina soldiers. Rather, they choose to stab and shoot them to make sure they're dead.
Charging towards a girl with light armor, they knew if they could overwhelm her, they could kill her. But, fate seems told differently. She knew she was surrounded, as she quickly drew a knife, throwing it towards the skull of one of the Gra Valkas Infantry, then ducked under another infantry attack and grabbed its collar with her left hand. She then kicks another infantry's arm, tossing the weapon upwards. She draws her pistol, shoots right onto another charging infantry's head, and finishes off the man that she grabbed the collar earlier.
Another Gra Valkan Infantry is charging in with a bayonet affixed to her. She quickly ducks, grabbing the man's collar and abdomen, shooting her pistol with her right hand at his abdomen, and tossing him aside.
One of the tanks fires HE round and hit near her, as the shockwave knocked to the tree.
"Aaaah!"
Her shield is down from the blast, and the shockwave forces her to vanish her weapons. Little do realize that she was surrounded by several Gra Valkas Infantries, lusting for her sexy appearance.
"Ho ho ho, what do we have here?"
"Oh, look at her. She's so hot!"
"Let's have some fun with her!"
Some soldiers start to hold the green-haired female while some are pointing their guns at her and other directions surrounding them.
"Sir! We're still in chaos here!"
"Shut up! We can have some fun before we can kill this girl!"
"L-let me go!"
They start to rip her clothes apart, but it's difficult to break because of the Sage Ore augmentation.
"Damn it! This clothing is too tough!"
Using the knife, some of the Gra Valkas Empire Infantry start to strip her forcefully until her whole body is exposed and her breasts jiggled from it.
"I'll make you the first one to fell victim to—"
"Sir!"
A shot from the Cannonade hits him on the head, killing him instantly. Another second is some of the soldiers were about to pull the trigger, but they were quickly taken care of by several Celestina's infantry. They quickly leap into the field and exfil the wounded female out from the battlefield.
"Let's patch you up once we're in the safe zone."
"Thank you…. I need time to recuperate my clothes."
The Celestina Empire, Battle Group Valkyrie, 81st and 102nd Special Combat Support Division
"Up you go!"
"BWAH!"
The Coffee Rabbit 1st Assault Company is making their attack run towards the Gra Valkas Empire's 98th Panzer Division. Some of the Coffee Rabbits beastman is attacking them with either bow, dagger, or even baton. For the Gra Valkas Empire, their methods of warfare are entirely unorthodox.
Both Lily and Lyla are performing a unison kick, separating the turret and the body of the tank of the Chi-Nu Tank. The separation kills any crew sitting between both sections, with only driver and machine gunners surviving intact, but the tank commander loses its leg. Fresh blood gushes out from any of those that have their body separated.
"Aaaah! My legs! My legs!"
BANG!
The chaos around the Gra Valkas Empire 51st Army continues as the 81st and 102nd Special Combat Support Division attacks from inside out. Sienna's Machine Gun with Grenade Launcher as underbarrel attachment does quick work for several motorcycles that were dispatched to scout the surrounding perimeter. Nene Polar Bear's large anchor flattened any light tank they could find. Blustone Medical Regiment, a dedicated medical unit, can perform a fast treatment and an additional magical buff by chance.
"Bollocks! How did these guys can still standing!?"
"Get that medical unit! They can recuperate their troops as it was magic!"
The 5th Blustone Medical Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Theresa and Major Joy, attached to the 81st Special Combat Support Division, and the 9th Blustone Medical Regiment, under Lieutenant Colonel Therapy and Major Alia, attached to the 102nd Special Combat Support Division. Both of the Regiment becomes a threat that must be eliminated immediately by the Gra Valkas Empire.
"What's with these soldiers!? We've never faced them like this back in our world!"
"Even Kain Kingdom personnel are not as crazy as these people do!"
Back in the war against the Kain Kingdom, the government of Kain can rally people colonized by the Gra Valkas Empire to become soldiers that can do Kain's bidding by conducting some black campaign to wither Gra Valkas' influence over Yugudo. Their tenacity was noted by the Gra Valkas Officers as one of the dangerous threats if not handled appropriately. Here, in front of them, the Celestina Empire possesses soldiers with more tenacity than Kain soldiers, to the point where the zealousness surpasses every Kain fanatics.
"Oi! Oi! You gotta be kidding me!"
"We need to retreat! They just keep coming!"
"GYAAAHHH!"
"W-where's that lightning coming from?"
Due to the variety of the Celestina soldiers to engage aside from regular soldiers, the Gra Valkas Imperial Army soldiers on the left flank are forced to retreat. The tanks also make a hasty retreat, but Celestina began their pursuit to annihilate them.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
With the left-wing slowly losing the battle lines, the 81st and 102nd Special Combat Support Division began to push to the center. The 98th and 19th Panzer Division battle lines become disoriented following ambushes made by Lily and Lyla. The armored unit from the 51st Army is struggling to maintain its battle lines.
"Why are you guys retreating?! They're just kids!"
"Sir! They have magic users, and we can't even land a hit on them!"
"Useless bastard!"
Lieutenant General Heinsch, the Commanding Officer of the 51st Army, grits his teeth aboard King Tiger as he witnesses his men start to flee one after another.
"Consolidate our battle lines! We need to tighten our defenses!"
"General! Our retreat path has been cut off!"
"What?!"
"Unknown units reported surrounding us from two hundred kilometers south of our advance position!"
"How did they can get behind us?! What's our unit doing at the entrance of the forest!"
The Eclipse Empire's Schutzstaffel units are advancing from the south, cutting off any retreat path and forcing the Gra Valkas Imperial Army to tighten their battle lines.
"Shit! What're our other armies are doing!?"
"Sir, reports from 14th Army! They've got another Celestina unit attacking their position as well. We're practically surrounded from all sides."
"We need to break out from their encirclement, fast! How did they survive with these monsters around the forest?"
"T-that is something we haven't understood about them, sir!"
"We have to break out from the forest! Quickly!"
The Gra Valkas Empire, now suffering nearly twenty percent loss, decides to make a hasty retreat. Some personnel leaves their comrades behind, while some stay behind to find an opening to push forward.
"They weren't supposed to stay long inside that forest without a supply base or supplies!"
They wonder how Celestina can stay in the forest for days to weeks since getting supplies to the front line is difficult due to the presence of monsters. Making a supply base inside the forest is impossible due to constant threats from the monsters around the forest.
The Celestina Empire, Command Headquarters, Town of Ardennes
The commander of this operation, General of The Army Eleonora Lisha, looks at the updated battle net from the headquarters. The defenses were few as Antares Fighter, Luna Interceptor, Vega Bomber, and other aircraft did not see heavy resistance on Mu when scouting days before.
General Fedor aborted any bombing run towards the Town of Ardennes as the ground army was sufficient to capture the Town of Ardennes. Celestina conceals as many troops as they can inside the Ardennes Forest that was known as the density of the forest, which allows Celestina to hide most of their personnel. The only defender protecting the Town of Ardennes was the 3rd "Boudica Boys" Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Willem Blackburn.
Mu didn't send any personnel to the Town of Ardennes, believing the forest was safe from Gra Valkas' invasion. They came in a hurry to reinforce Ardennes, as the Battle Group Valkyrie provided their additional meal from Gourmet Dungeon a week before they embarked to the 1st Master Convoy Fleet.
In medieval and modern common sense, Celestina should face logistic issues. However, because Celestina possesses a magic bag featuring an item box, the logistic problem is not what they have thought. Logistics won't be a problem with each person who can store their supplies with an item box for up to a year. For establishing a base, Celestina uses Earth Mages to establish a base and fortify it with Earth Magic and magicians expert in buildings to establish the base of operations.
"If the resistance is strong, it could be up to a week."
"What should we do, Ma'am?"
"Continue to surround them and push forward. Capture and escort those who surrender to our camp around the forest."
"Yes, Ma'am."
An officer comes in, bringing a report about the situation in the town.
"Ma'am. The civilian requested an evacuation."
"Hm? They want to evacuate now?"
"Y-yes, Ma'am."
Eleonora sighed as she heard the report. It seems the sound of the guns and battle has reached their ears.
"How many are there?"
"At least twenty thousand of them."
"Good grief… After we've warned those townsfolk so many times that the Gra Valkas Empire can reach this town, now they want us to evacuate them?"
"I-it seems they can't rely on their own, let alone Mu soldiers as well."
"Sofya got her hands full at Kielseki. How long until the train gets here?"
"Approximately two hours."
"Rally them at the North East of the city as soon as possible. We will transform the districts in the North East as temporary refugees. We won't establish an extraction for them since we already guarantee their safety. Have Sofya dispatch a Division from Royal Guardsman to this town."
"Understood."
Eleonora feels a headache when things become complicated. The townsfolk were so cocky that even the nobles inside this town were threatening Celestina to issue an evict order should she order her personnel to make a talk again. Once Boudica Boys Regiments are opening the fight, the townsfolk become so scared that they want Celestina to evacuate them.
"We won't take any offense to their base once we finish this job. We will only push to where we can set up defense perimeter at the entrance of the Ardennes Forest on the south."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Celestina began pushing the battle lines, and the Gra Valkas Imperial Army slowly tightened their battle lines. With the current pace, Eleonora can expect Battle Group Valkyrie can subjugate the Gra Valkas Invasion Army for up to a week, but if the Gra Valkas has set up some solid defenses, it will take more than a week.
In today's attack, Celestina gains over a hundred kilometers in length, capturing thirty thousand personnel and reducing the Gra Valkas battle lines to forty miles wide.
Day 9, Ardennes Forest
The situation becomes a nightmare for the Gra Valkas Empire Imperial Army. They've already lost 400 miles of advance and 30 miles wide, shrinking their battle lines to two hundred miles long and twenty miles wide. The soldiers have a heavy time breathing; some are even wheezing because of the lack of air intake.
Any supply truck, armored vehicle, and tanks that were either out of fuel or unable to escape in time were either captured or destroyed. The 19th Army assigned to spearhead the assault to the Town of Ardennes was no longer combat effective. The 14th Army only had four active divisions left, while the 51st Army was almost combat ineffective due to Celestina's relentless pursuit and attack.
They were retreating from the Ardennes Forest in haste. As for the current situation, only five thousand personnel and at least fifty vehicles and tanks escaped from the forest. The Eclipse Empire slowly closes the gap, intending to trap the Gra Valkas further under Celestina order.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
"Get moving, bastard!"
Lieutenant General Osakyo Kato ceased the radio, as the rest of the 19th Army believed he was dead on day 3 of encirclement. Celestina killed him when his King Tiger was destroyed through a Meteor Kick from Sasha Sylwinder, the Commanding Officer of the 15th White Knights Regiment. The kick is so powerful that the King Tiger's top is bending to the ground and crushing any crew inside the tank. Osakyo Kato was thrown from the Commander's seat to the tree, where some of the personnel saw the impact crushed his head.
The view was so grotesque that makes some of the Gra Valkas Infantry decided to surrender once they saw the power of the Celestina Empire. The intelligence about their strength, agility, and endurance is according to what Naguano has described.
The Gra Valkas Imperial Army has set up some foxholes and trenches around the forest. They made it in haste when Celestina was trapping them from three sides. However, the foxhole and trenches are futile since the density of the forest, and the height of the trees allow the Battle Group Valkyrie to get a clear shot on every personnel that takes cover inside.
Celestina avoids moving their troops from the ground since using mortar inside the forest is a nightmare, even though they were equipped with energy shielding to protect themselves from shrapnel damage. They will keep their distances from the maximum mortar range, while those proficient in jungle warfare will leap from one tree to another to kill every mortar operator. Celestina will seize the mortar weaponry, and they will perform some maintenances for Mu to put it to use.
The Celestina Empire, Town of Ardennes, Day 12 of the Battle of Ardennes Pocket
"We've received a report that we've successfully defended the Town of Kielseki."
"Excellent. We will retreat as planned since we've got the news from our Zealots that the Kavalier will be here in a week. Finish this mission and set up a perimeter at the forest entrance. We do not need to attack the base near South Ardennes."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Celestina intends to lure Gra Cabal, the Crown Prince of the Gra Valkas Empire, into Celestina's trap. Under the Operation: Rozen Kavalier, Celestina redeploys Okaminokage 1st Battalion from 15th White Knights Regiment to commence an orbital drop from Drop-class Carrier, the Meteor Jumper.
Ardennes Forest, Exit of the Entrance
"Run! Run!"
"We will cover you!"
The Gra Valkas Empire launch the artillery bombardment at the entrance of the forest, providing cover for the allies retreating from the front line. Lieutenant General Heinsch has already escaped from the encirclement, but he can see his men's hope getting dimmer seconds by seconds as the Celestina Empire slowly closes the gap.
"Hurry up!"
The Artillery bombardment did not give the Gra Valkas Empire advantage, as the Celestina Empire and the Eclipse Empire continued to close the gap outside artillery range.
The Gra Valkas Empire, Ardennes Base
"Cover our men! We must give them a chance to escape!"
"Fire!"
The Gra Valkas Imperial Army, elements of the 14th, 51st, and 19th Army that were put into the Second Group, and 25th Reserve Army are covering the escape of the First Assault Group.
"We can't let them trap our men inside!"
"Fire! Fire!"
The base was 20km away from the entrance of the Ardennes Forest, and more soldiers from the forest continued to run towards the base. They hitch a ride on any vehicle they can find as the First Assault Group soldiers are desperately making their escape from the Ardennes Forest.
"Help! Help!"
Antares Fighter and Vega Bomber commence their bombing run on the surrounding of the Gra Valkas Imperial Army around the entrance of the forest.
"Argh!"
"Man down! Man down!"
"Don't help him! Save yourself!"
Fifty minutes after the artillery began their bombardment, there were explosions around the base housing Artillery.
"W-where's that come from!?"
General Fedor looks at the burning artillery base as the explosions happen one after another. The lookout looks up at the sky, searching for the perpetrator. They did not expect their defenses will be breached with the Gra Valkas Air Force flying around the base. One Officer rushes to deliver an urgent report.
"Sir! We have Celestina Aircraft attacking our base! Our Luna Interceptor cannot reach its altitude nor its firing range! It's beyond our maximum altitude!"
"How many of them?!"
"Six small aircrafts and four large aircrafts, sir. They're bombarding our base."
"D-damn it!"
Above the sky, Four Harbinger Gunships escorted by six fighters, consisting of five LSF-3 and one ISF-8, were bombarding the Gra Valkas Imperial Ardennes Base from twenty thousand meters in the sky. Ludmila Obertas leads the assault on the Gra Valkas Empire when Eleonora gives the authorization to commence a bombardment to provide cover for the Eclipse Empire's unit and Celestina's infantry to close the Ardennes Pocket.
"Ma'am. Should we engage the enemy fighters? They may want to catch us."
"Leave them. Those aircraft can't catch us since their service ceiling won't reach us. Guns will not affect our operation much since gravity handles everything from here."
The Harbinger Gunship fires the 50mm Bofors and Mini-MAC 105mm Ballista to smash the Gra Valkas Artillery. The barrages are so dense that pieces of human bodies are thrown around when the Bofors and Mini-MAC Ballista hit the emplacements. The firing brought down at least five Antares and two Luna Interceptors that were flying right into the crossfire of the Harbinger Gunship.
An Equinox-class Prowler, Equinox, radioed the Flight group. "Ice Maiden. Radio interception. They want to burn the forest to prevent us from trapping the First Assault Group."
"Did they want to forsake their allies as well? We can't let that happen. Let's take it out. Three of you, come with me. The rest of you, keep escorting the Harbinger. Let's destroy those bombers and AA guns."
"Yes, Ma'am."
One ISF-8 and three LSF-3 breaks formation, flying outside the Harbinger trajectory range and began to descend into the Gra Valkas Ardennes Base.
"Ice Submunition Missile."
Augmenting the missile with an ice element, Ludmila fired the missile to the anti-air network. As soon as the missile launched, intense anti-air barrages aimed to shoot down Ludmila's ISF-8 and her escorts. Ludmila and other pilots are dispersing while the missile heads straight down to the base.
"Shoot it! Shoot down that missile!"
They were too late as the missile began to disperse once it reached five thousand meters and to add their nightmare, it dispersed again at two thousand five hundred meters. The missile accelerated to the point where the impact made the entire anti-air battery be covered in ice. It froze every personnel inside the anti-air battery and those surrounding it within a hundred meters radius.
"Shatter."
Snapping her finger as she looks at the ice, it shatters, killing every frozen personnel and destroying the entire anti-air network.
"How're the bombers?"
"Already been taken care of, Ma'am."
"Alright. Let's get out from here."
The Antares and Luna Interceptors are pursuing them. With a brief skirmish in a dogfight, the Gra Valkas Empire lost the entire ten Antares Fighter and fifteen Luna Interceptors that went airborne as they tried to intercept the Harbinger Gunship earlier.
"This is impossible…"
General Fedor can only watch in terror as the artillery base and airfield are burning from the attack. The surviving personnel inside the base are clearing up the ice shards to evacuate the dead bodies.
"We've got bad news, sir. No more of our troops made it out from the forest. Elements of the 8th Mountain Commandos Division is the last group to make it out from the forest."
"Tell the Subjugation Army to turn back if they haven't set out from Ragna. We will also withdraw seven hundred thousand personnel to the homeland at once."
"Sir?"
"I'm afraid we're fighting a country that was beyond our scope. If the intelligence from Naguano is accurate, then our homeland is already compromised from the beginning."
"Y-yes, sir."
With the Battle of the Ardennes Forest ends, the Gra Valkas Empire lost at least a hundred thousand men, up to four hundred thousand men were taken as prisoners of war, and only fifty thousand personnel escaped from the forest. The missing military personnel was presumed dead by the monsters inside the forest, or they were either hunted down or captured by the Celestina Empire's personnel. The Gra Valkas Ardennes Base lost no more than eighty thousand personnel, with at least twenty thousand personnel being shattered and sixty thousand being killed. Fifty Vega-Twin Bombers are reported destroyed along with Thirty Antares Fighter and Forty Luna Interceptors.
Celestina lost no more than five hundred personnel as the biggest casualties came from the 5th Shock Trooper Division, with a hundred and sixty personnel are killed in action.
Under Eleonora's instruction, the Celestina Empire now has set up a defense line at the entrance of the Ardennes Forest on the south. They will not conduct any offensive or attack as they were luring the Crown Prince into the battlefield.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay, burnout in several weeks, and new jobs.