ARCHIVED: Burning Mountains

"Cease and desist, or everyone you love will die horribly. We've got chemical warheads on missiles ready to hit the major population centers."

Meanwhile, Nebulan aircraft on Shei Ren were scrambled, heading for Rhuvanland to complete the bombing mission.
 
The Jang Fleet struck down the Shei Ren aircraft as they passed over the Syrixian Strait. Downed aircraft tumbled as balls of fire rolling and falling into the sea. Back in Kannex, the nuclear missiles were readied for launch. The Kannexan Air Force was placed on Level Red alert. The Lohenstadt placed in the Eastern Ocean made preparations.
 
Ballistic missiles were launched at Rhuvanland from Nebula. The missiles were conventional or incendiary and the major cities, first to be targeted, began to burn.
 
Rhuvish missiles responded in kind. All the finest products of the Julius Corporation of Kannex. Intercontinental ballistic missiles cut into the upper atmosphere, motors igniting and the rockets separating. The re-entry vehicles, along with decoys and chaff, deployed and flung into Nebulan cities.
 
Syrixia condemns any nuclear activity by Rhuvanland, Kannex, and Nebula, and urges them to solve this crisis by way of negotiations, lest the world be destroyed.
 
Leah walked into the room of the Emperator, followed by governmental guards. "Emperator, just the person I wanted to see. Now, I know you have your own way about doing things, and usually that involves nuclear war. I don't want that, so I have a solution. Your people have a superior army, one of the best in the region. My people have fabulous diplomats that are extraordinary. Now, with Liesel gone, wouldn't it be a shame to have another hard-headed pacifist in the office of Chancellor? Wouldn't it be perfect to have a socialist Chancellor leading a communist army and a regime? Wouldn't it be perfect to witness a Nebulan-Guslant Union? I'd like to introduce you to Debra Leopard, one of my choices to ascend to the position. I'm not thinking just nationally, I'm thinking internationally. Guslant diplomats and Nebulan soldiers. A strong empire indeed," said Leah, looking to Leopard. "Yes. Let us define perfection," said Debra, smiling.
 
The Rhuvish Election Commission and Vice Chancellor Adolf Vennstein would like to inform that in an uncontested race for the Chancellorship, Heidi Rhein has been elected Chancellor of Rhuvanland.
 
The Aussenministerium of the Empire congratulates Ms. Heidi Rhein on her victory, and hopes for a lengthy and prosperous friendship between our two nations.
 
The Emperator leaned forward. He looked exhausted. The crisis had taken its toll on him. "The situation may be even worse, Ms. Charles. The conservative Rhein has been elected. She will take up a position of hostility against Nebula. We have agents underground in Rhuvanland, but I'm not sure how much use they can be."
 
"Today is the victory of the will of the people. Every time the people stand against the evils of overbearing government, of blatant disregard for personal freedoms and rights, of political repression, we see a rebirth of democracy. For democracy necessarily is a people's movement, for the people. It is the rule of the people -- the power of the citizenry to uphold their rights, namely -- the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.

"We here want a Rhuvanland under the rule of those rights. And we as a people have shown, time and time again, that when our rights are violated, we will do everything in our power to win them back. It does not matter whether the flags carried by our enemies are red or black. There is one thing clear:

"The enemy is the force that seeks to tear your children from you, so that they may obey the word of a faceless state bureaucracy rather than learn the time-old values you cherish under your roof.

"The enemy is the force that seeks to pry from you not only the property and wealth that you have rightfully earned for you and your family, but also the chance and opportunity for you and your children to earn, on basis of merit and the virtue of industry, those material rewards which are so necessary for life and prosperity.

"The enemy is the force that tries to silence you, to scatter you when you assemble peaceably, to pull the shutters on your television, on your radio, on your news. The enemy is the force that would assault your own status as a citizen, as a free man or woman. You, Rhuvish citizen, must fight that force wherever you are. For a nation is not truly independent until its citizens are independent in spirit.

"And in the time being I can say we have fought and have won a decisive victory. Today I stand before you, at the head of a new government. I am ready to serve Rhuvanland, but I ask you: are you ready? Are you ready to serve Rhuvanland, to serve the inalienable freedoms and love of liberty which bind us together?" (Crowd shouts 'Yes!') "To protect the right to life, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness?" (Crowd shouts 'Yes!') "Then, we are truly a free nation. God bless Rhuvanland."
 
With the Federal Republic of Rhuvanland now restored, Syrixian interest turned to North Cronaal. The Coordinated Intelligence Taskforce, Syrixia's intelligence agency and a department of the Ministry of Defense, deployed in Rhuvanland to help Kannex mop things up in order to focus on North Cronaal. CIT agents found out the names and locations of multiple AFI agents and systematically disposed of them, apprehending most of them and taking out a small portion; a portion whose agents had already inflicted harm on the Rhuvish population. Additional units of peacekeepers as well as construction workers and engineers arrived in Oakshire and made their way to Karandin. Syrixian Helmebaine representatives were about to petition the Alliance on whether military force was needed on the North Side to assist the rebels and overthrow the communist government.
 
The Seblandian peacekeepers arrived in Cronaal. They were unpleantly surprised how the situation looked in Karadin. Half of the troops started making camps for the people of South Cronaal and the other half took to the streets of Karadin trying to make an end to violence in the city.
 
North Cronaali tanks rolled through the streets. Snipers prowled the rooftops. Gunfights were everywhere.
The North Cronaal government has forbidden peacekeepers to cross the border into the North. Anyone who does so will be considered an invading soldier and will be shot on sight.
 
The peacekeepers finished making the camps and started to evacuate the citizens. The citizens only took their most important things and head to the camps escorted by peacekeepers.

Peacekeeper: "Sir, we have to evacuate this area! Gather your most important belongings and meet us in Smithworks street. There you will get into one of are jeeps and taken to safety!"

Citizen: "Ok sir, I will be there as soon as possible!"

As the Cronaaler shut the door, the peacekeeper spotted a tank coming towards him. He stopped the tank.

peacekeeper: "May I ask what are you doing in South Cronaal?"
 
The top hatch opened and a North Cronaali soldier stuck his head out. "We intend to restore order to the streets of Karandin."
 
A Syrixian peacekeeper who was with the Seblandish one interjected, "You intend to restore order to Karandin by using the collapse of Karandin as a scapegoat to invade South Cronaal?"
 
"Then you and the army you work for is a threat to peace in all Cronaal. I'm afraid I'll have to arrest you."
 
The soldier laughed so hard he fell back into the tank. The turret rotated to face the peacekeepers and the soldier reappeared. "Sorry? You are going to arrest me? Good luck with that."
 
"I warn you, if you shoot us, that counts as a valid casus belli. We are peacekeepers who seek to restore order in a flaming city, not soldiers."
 
"No. This is fishy. I don't trust him. North Cronaal forces claim to be INVADING the South to 'restore order' but it's a lie. Why would you trust them if they went on the South's side of Karandin and brought heavy artillery?!"
 
The turret rotated backward to face the peacekeepers. There was a flash and a bang as the smoke bomb went off.
 
A Syrixian peacekeeper nearby who saw the incident between the North Cronaals and the peacekeepers happen dashed towards garrison command. He had taken pictures and videos of the entire event. The following chain reaction, based upon the grounds that North Cronaal had harmed and killed Syrixian peacekeepers, caused Syrixia and her Parliament to declare war on the People's Democratic Republic of North Cronaal.

Following this, Syrixia began to mobilize.
 
"General, Syrixia has declared war on us."
"So that's what they're playing at. Send tanks into the south of Karandin, on the lower levels. Have them destroy the lower structures and bring down that half of the city."
"Will they be able to get out, sir?"
"As long as they don't go too far in."
"What of the other rebellions?"
"The remainder of the army is engaging them now, I'm told."
"Won't Syrixia be able to get reinforcements in?"
"The Emperator assures me that his blockade will stand its ground."

A battalion of tanks began to advance through the breached wall into southern Karandin, firing all the way. Aircraft above ground dropped bombs on the upper levels. Soldiers breached the wall in several other places, attacking through the gaps. Artillery was hauled into the tunnels to fire through the breaches and destroy the infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Nebulan troops began advancing into rural areas, putting down the rebellions that had begun to spring up there.
 
When the Seblandians found out about the attack, they sent a jeep to pick the body up. When they got there they couldn't find the body, so they searched the ruins. They still couldn't find it. Suddenly they heard a voice calling for help: "Help, I'm here, help, in the house! Please help me!" They rushed to get him. It took about five minutes before they found him. Finally they got to to the man. It was a Croonaler and next to him lied a peacekeeper with third-degree burns. They looked at his dogtag. It said "Martin Collion A+ True Sebland" They checked his pulse to see if he was alive. He was, but unconscious. They asked where the other peacekeeper was and the Cronaaler replied "I don't know! I heard a voice from underneath those ruins outside, but I was too scared to go outside!" They put the Seblandian peacekeeper into the jeep and helped the Cronaaler get in as well. Two rescuers stayed and tried to find the body of the other peacekeeper and the rest took the unconscious peacekeeper to a hospital in the camp. The two rescuers didn't stop looking. They scoured every corner, but couldn't find the man. But then they lifted up a small, but very heavy concrete wall and found the body of the lost peacekeeper covered with blood. One of the rescuers picked up his dogtag. It was the Syrixian.
 
The military had called for several seismologists and engineers. They arrived on the scene, monitoring the explosions and trying to estimate when the first major collapse would take place. The advance had stopped, but the tanks kept firing into the distance, while soldiers drove out any remaining enemies in the area and set explosive charges on support columns. The bombings had stopped.
"Sir, charges are set."
"All forces to begin withdrawal."
It took almost an hour to bring all of the North Cronaali troops and tanks back into the safety of the North. Just to be safe, iron supports had been added to the concrete pylons holding the city together. The engineers were talking quietly, discussing the extent of the damage and estimating the amount of destruction that would result from the explosives being detonated.
Finally, it was time. The general in command of the operation had the honor of activating the detonator. A loudspeaker system was activated:
"Five minutes to detonation."
 
SAFF soldiers made their way to South Cronaal. They launched simultaneous attacks against the North in Karandin and the coast near Rodon. Their goal was to capture Rodon, and destroy North Cronaal utterly.
 
"5...4...3...2...1..."
The explosives, placed on several main support columns, went off. The columns crumbled. The aircraft began bombing again, and the city began to tremble...
 
"Bombs away!" Large metallic tubes dropped free in the air from the Kannexan Luftwaffe bombers. They fell slowly over North Karandin, letting gravity do the work. But suddenly, the computers within each and every bomb awoke. Using rockets the bombs guided themselves over weak points in the North Karandin upper level. The bombs fell closer and closer to the Karandin roof. And then, the bombs pierced through the top like a paper knife through the top of a gift box. Down the bombs went, crashing and tumbling and rocketing down as far deep as they could. Communist troops found themselves surprised; some were crushed by the falling debris.

Then the thermobaric bombs exploded. The oxygen around them gave them strength. Fire spread through the levels of North Karandin, aided by the confined environment. The sustained blast waves rocked the very foundations of North Karandin and ate up the oxygen in the levels. Smoke and fire consumed the levels where the North Cronaali troops were stationed.

The Kannexan bombers returned for a second wave. Above, Raptors -- Kannexan fighter jets -- patrolled the skies, battling any North Cronaali or communist resistance in the air. The Kannexans held bases in South Cronaal precisely for moments like these.

Under the vast powers given to the Imperial Government, Chancellor Jörg Henneburg used the authority to deploy military forces in South Cronaal against communist hostiles. Technically the power to wage war was the Kaiser's (delegated to the Kaiser's Chancellor), subject to the approval of Congress. But 20th century legislation gave the Chancellor a full sixty days before he was required by law to ask for Congressional approval. The Kannexan intervention in Rhuvanland fell just short of that temporal limit. Now, Chancellor Henneburg -- a Democrat -- was using his powers to the aim which many of his conservative opponents coincidentally supported: fighting communism.

Tanks, tank hunters, and infantry vehicles of the 4th Pelhaforan now raced along the asphalt-paved highways of South Cronaal, cutting across the Ganjar Corridor. The Ganjar Corridor was a strategic area located between the Hontawei and the Ganjarius mountainous areas; the Corridor would be crucial to any successful invasion of the North Cronaal interior. The 4th left a portion of its forces securing the region. As of now, however, the 4th's focus lay in Karandin.

The 4th Division of the Pelhaforan Territorial Army had been stationed in Yamaha Province. It consisted entirely of Pelhaforan recruits. Pelha nationalists back home raged against this fact. That Pelhaforan forces meant to protect Pelhaforan territory had been sent abroad, no less at the Empire's bidding, added fuel to their flame. But Kannex needed troops to guard its fledgling imperial ambitions, and regarded Pelhafor as a good source thereof.

The Pelha 4th struck Karandin North Cronaali forces from the north and the east. In the east, the main thrust consisted of heavily armored forces that bombarded communist positions. Tanks made their way through suburban neighborhoods in street battles. Olive-skinned Pelhaforan troops hustled alongside their armor backups, carrying rifles and bazookas parts. The northern formation, meanwhile, cut North Karandin's arteries. The Pelhaforans occupied the highway toll booths with a brief firefight. Now the 4th bombarded North Karandin itself, its crazy "stacked streets" structure. They had received intelligence that the North Cronaalis were planning to demolish the south side. Now the Pelhaforans were here to ensure that the entire city would go down if the North Cronaalis continued.
 
Meanwhile, SAFF forces continued to push towards Rodon. Even though it was the capital of North Cronaal, Rodon was both close to South Cronaal and the ocean. This would make its conquest easier, though rebellions across the North were being suppressed. However, the North was not as easy a terrain as the South, and the journey was not easy but it was not hard either; especially for the State Assault Federal Forces. The forces at Karandin, meanwhile, got the peacekeepers out of the city safely. Using anything they could find as a snipers' nest, SAFF troops plowed through Northern forces, disabled bombs all over the South, and moved north to the chaotic, ruined North side.
 
Nebulan bombers began carpet-bombing attacks on Syrixian forces. The survivors fled Karandin. Footage was taken that made the Kannexans look responsible for its destruction, then posted online and given hype in the news.
 
Footage showing that Karandin had begun trembling before the Pelhaforans came close to the city was released in return. The Pelhaforan 4th Division swept up the area around North Karandin, taking North Cronaalis prisoner. Through confessions it was blatant what happened.

Pelhaforan troops were not as disciplined as their Kannexan counterparts. With rifle butts, Pelhaforan troops smashed them into the faces of captured communist troops. The soldiers beat them into submission, some of them nearly to the point of death.

Carpet bombing was not an effective way to attack military units. The Nebulans wasted valuable time and energy and found themselves under attack by swift Kannexan Raptors. Soaring from the south, fighters smote the vulnerable Nebulan bombers. Meanwhile, Kannexan bombers laid waste to communist defenses around Rodon. The whole night sky rocked with bursts of light like fireworks. Kannexan bombers struck Rodon radar, anti-air defenses, barracks, and railways.

The Kannexan 2nd Panzer Division rolled through the Ganjar Corridor into North Cronaal. The commander, a squat mustached man with black hair, laughed as the 2nd Panzer smashed through communist defenses and left burning wrecks of vehicles and communist bodies in their wake.
 
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