Foothold

[Dysanii]

Corporal Anderson wiped his tired eyes. He checked his cheap digital watch and was met with the glaring pale green numbers. 02:45. It was pitch black and he was hugging the railing on the deck of the Owney, a requisitioned P&O ferry that had been pushed into temporary military service. There were more men close around him, the chill wind forcing them to huddle together. No two men had the same combat gear, the only consistent thing amongst them their camouflaged field jackets and trousers. He gripped his own assault rifle tightly, the icy metallic cold painful to his raw fingers.

They were headed for Kilnamanagh, a large coastal town on the mainland. Whilst chosen primarily because it had little to no DYSFOR presence, a bonus was the necessary dock facilities it maintained. Anderson’s company, along with the rest of 9th battalion, were the first National Army unit from Aemilius to touch base with the mainland. The objectives, from what he understood, were to firstly assist the National Militia operational within the area in invading the town, and secondly to then recruit the numerous inactive registered members of the National Militia in the county. It was expected that the Kilnamanagh Police Constabulary would ally with the National Army and control of the town would be taken without trouble.

Hearing the shuffle of dozens of boots and the gruff shouts of Sergeant Burke, Anderson fell in with B Company, catching one last glance at the dazzling lights of Kilnamanagh before moving below decks, soon to disembark.

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The 9th Infantry Battalion of the Aemilian Army consists five Companies numbering 675 personnel. They are traveling with four Mowag Piranha IIIH 8 x 8 APCs.

The Waterford County Militia is operating with 1,200 active men. However only 400 of these (Kilnamanagh locals) will be involved.

[Dysanii]

A light rain began to fall as Alex Newman waited impatiently. Behind him were a group of eight men, and together they comprised the 'welcome party' on behalf of the Waterford County Militia. Standing in the drizzle in their woolly hats and grey coats they did not appear to be the best of soldiers; however the key lay in organization and planning, at least until the supplies came from Aemilius. They did not have uniforms or military grade weapons, instead Alex himself held a shotgun, whilst the rest had an assortment of pistols, shotguns and rifles, one man even wielding an AK-47.

However tonight was the date of the arrival of the much needed materials and trained soldiers, which together would begin turning them from a rag-tag group of civilians into a professional home guard. Finally The Fourth War of Unification was soon to commence, and under the rule of Prime Minister Murphy Dysanii would once again become a strong contender on the continent. Alex was pulled away from his thoughts as one of his men yelled and pointed ahead. In the distance, through the rain, one could just make out large bright lights cutting through the night. Sergeant Newman excitedly gave orders to the others to man the radios and prepare docking procedures for the incoming ferry.

[Dysanii]

The docks of Kilnamanagh were bustling with life as Aemilian soldiers marched about and vehicles and supplies were directed into the town itself. Crates of military supplies, including uniforms, weapons and ammunition were sitting idly in the warehouses as they were distributed throughout the county to militia units. After several days Kilnamanagh had become a hive of activity as the Aemilian Army organized itself in its new foothold on the mainland. Offices were requisitioned for administrative duties and several camps sprung up in the surrounding area.

In the following few days since the 9th Battalion landed and assumed official control of the town with elements of the Waterford County Militia - with no opposition from the local police force - the rest of the brigade had been quickly dispatched by the Provisional Government. It was now up to 4 Brigade to advance on the city of Waterford and wrestle it from DYSFOR control. The commanders of the Aemilian forces were hoping the neutral DYSFOR forces stationed there would be evacuated to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.

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The 4 Brigade of the Aemilian Army includes five battalions/regiments with a strength of 4,000 personnel. X1 infantry battalion, X2 motorized infantry battalion, X1 armored regiment and X1 mechanized artillery regiment. All the vehicles are ex-Federal Army.

OOC: I need someone who contributed troops to DYSFOR to role play their forces at Waterford. If not I'll assume they were evacuated. If at all possible I want to avoid hostilities with DYSFOR.

[Validus]

OOC: I'll Do it.

Warrant Officer Gibbonhuck walked into the regional HQ. "Sir, all unnecessary forces have been removed from the city. Two companies of the 23rd Mechanized Infantry Battalion are station around DYSFOR control buildings and have been given the strict order not to engage unless fired upon."

Captain Clark was looking over a map of the sector, "Ok, are the Evac routes clear?"

"Yes sir, if we have to get out of here in a hury we have two choppers for the HQ outside this building, and we have three ground routes."

"Ok, well lets see whats going to happen in the coming days."

"Yes sir," with that the warrant turned around and headed back out.

~Thanato

[Dysanii]

The sun was just setting and casting an orange glow over the blue sky as the convoy of trucks and jeeps that encompassed the 12th Motorized Infantry Battalion approached Waterford. As his truck entered the city, Corporal Anderson glanced out onto the roads as he passed them. Apart from a few hurried motorists and running civilians everything was quiet and still besides the roaring of his own vehicles engine.

His nerves were very much on end. It had all started yesterday, when he had been transferred from the 9th to the 12th. He had had his suspicions then that he would be amongst the first to enter the city, being placed in a large motorized force. And now today he found himself within the city without so much as a shot being fired. On edge didn't really cut it. Waiting for the chaos to ensue was worse than being in it.

The truck stopped abruptly. This was it, he thought - although he had heard nothing particularly destructive yet. Clenching his assault rifle close he threw himself out of his seat and onto the road, before walking tensely around the side of the vehicle and seeing a small group of foreign soldiers speaking with the Lieutenant Colonel. They then stopped and the Colonel got back into his jeep. Anderson was half dragged back into his truck as the convoy continued into the city, passing by the DYSFOR soldiers.

[Dysanii]

With the withdrawal of the DYSFOR presence in Waterford and their continued neutrality, the small county was now effectively in the hands of the Aemilian Army despite a handful of DYSFOR troops in Waterford.

Operations would soon commence as soon as the outlying towns and villages were secured. During this brief respite before any fighting began, it was decided that the National Militia merge with the Aemilian Army to push up numbers and simplify organisation. This also meant that a compulsory three week training scheme was introduced on all recruited men and existing National Militia, leaving the Aemilian Army short on man power for the next several weeks before it could be supplemented by fresh trained recruits. They would have to put their faith in the Moacian Brigades to reinforce them during the weeks ahead.

[Delfos]

5 trucks wearing the old dysaniian army insignia appeared in the road to Waterford. Some Aemilian soldiers were in the road watching the trucks arriving. This could be a trap, the officer present picked up a megaphone and shouted to the trucks "STOP! IDENTIFY YOURSELVES!"
On the side of the front truck, a soldier extended her arm to the skies revealing a white flag with 4 black squares and some characters underneath. It was the insignia of DYSFOR.
The Aemilian soldiers let the trucks approach. A Delfian female officer jumped out of the truck greeting the Aemilian officer.
"This is a gift. This are thousands of automatic rifles, ammunition, Enix AT bazookas, portable stingers, and what else. All of it apprehended from Valhenian forces during the first weeks. This was guarded in warehouses some kilometers east of here, I guess we can put those guards on rest by now. More to come, please sign here on the bottom, and on the next page...right, we're done."

[Xyrael]

Beyond the clouds above, decreasing in altitude yet still quite high passenger planes made their way towards the Aemillian Free State, having flown over AC borders to reach their destination. If any fighters had been flying alongside these they would have seen the logo MK. The first brigade of soldiers was soon to land in southern Dysanii. Behind them, a military transport plane held in its hold unknown supplies which surely would go unquestioned at customs.

As the men disembarked their transports, Dysanii citizens turned their heads and pointed their fingers as men dressed in winter bdu's departed and moved with purpose to baggage. It wouldn't be long before a temporary base was established for the brigade prior to their departure for the mainland.

[Dysanii]

During the weeks since the city of Waterford was effectively 'controlled' with the introduction of neutrality with DYSFOR, the rest of the county was peacefully incorporated into Aemilius. Soon military supplies became more frequent and the recruitment drive began in an attempt to subsidize the existing Aemilian Army.

Enrollment was voluntary, with temporary recruitment posts established in most towns, cities and villages. The drive was characterized with slogans of 'Unite!' and 'Dysanii for Dysanii!'. Within this short period an eager collection of 21,000 Waterford residents registered and although the training and equipping of these civilians was quickly established it would still be while until they were battle ready.

A stream of Aemilian soldiers and Moacian mercenaries was continuing, although the Kilnamanagh docks could only handle a small constant intake. Even so, county Waterford was becoming more and more busy by the day, and a military council was set up to work in conjunction with the Waterford County Council in the running of the area. A total of four Aemilian brigades, one Aemilian Free Brigade (the incorporated national militia) and two Moacian brigades were supported in various parts of Waterford, bringing the total man power including the Waterford recruits to 48,400 personnel. A portion of these forces would now continue into the adjoining county, from where some citizens already trickled from to join their Waterford cousins, to assume occupation and begin fresh recruitment campaigns. With any luck, and the influx of Moacian Brigades and the remaining Aemilian troops, an impressive 100,000 personnel would be operational in two counties on the mainland within the next two months.