VR WARS Volume II - Coalition Army

DISTRESSING NEWS

However, the sense of confidence soon abated on the Iberian Federation’s side when distressing news arrived at the HQ.

“Sir, we’re getting reports of trouble at the front!” When the feeling of euphoria was reaching its peak, distressing news arrived that would shake the confidence of every officer of the Iberian Federation present at the HQ at that time. “Both the northern and southern sectors are being pressed; casualties are mounting!”

After a short race toward the communications office, Valentino and his staff were greeted with what they thought would be unlikely to happen due to the disparity in strength. On the holographic map displayed on one of the tables, red signals were colliding with blue dots that represented their forces at the front. A strategy that contradicted the general belief that their enemy would attempt a straight shot through a single sector with everything they had accomplished, a resounding surprise effect at a tactical level that left every IF officer speechless. Their disbelief was not merely undoubted in the choice of tactics used, but the speed at which the Portuguese had attacked and penetrated their lines; the blue dots on the holo map blinked when coming into contact with the red ones, some even disappeared entirely.

Everyone, lost in their worries, trying to counter the large-scale offensive on their hands and failing, fell into a slumber. They had misplaced their units and overstretched them along a 70km front, three thousand in all; not expecting such a ferocious attack to occur all over the lines, those same troops were now bearing the brunt of the attack and rapidly disintegrating. While most panicked, few attempted to solve the situation by keeping a cool head.

“Not to worry! It all falls within expectations…We knew they could go for an all-out assault across the front,” Valentino lied between his teeth, attempting to reassure his officers and get them back into the game. “Three thousand people entrenched is still a force to be reckoned so, while they keep the Portuguese occupied, we can plug in the gaps in the lines with our reserves.”

“The units at the front are requesting back-up!”

“Should we move back the lines and establish a new perimeter outside of town, Valentino?”

The faint distressed voices of his subordinates and second-in-command broke the ecstasy of glory flowing through his veins, much to his annoyance. He had instructed everyone on possible strategies beforehand, and everyone at the front had orders to hold out to the last possible moment before retreating. The fact that his officers couldn’t keep their cool in dealing with the enemy’s sudden thrust elevated his anger, making him reveal the side everyone dared not bring out in him: arrogance. “What do you think, you f*****g idiots?!”

“…”

Through a great tactician, Valentino was prone to lose his head at the most simple things, a behavior most commonly attributed to pampered children who were used to getting their way and had been sheltered all their lives. In the wake of one of his famous tantrums, the best thing everyone around him found best to do was nod and stay out of his way.

“Look at the f*****g map! We have three thousand people across the front; their job is to delay the enemy while dealing as much damage as possible. Only when they’ve lost half their strength are they allowed to retreat! We will engage in a battle of attrition; we have nine thousand, they have six!”

“Heavy shelling in the center! Lieutenant Lucienne is asking permission to fall back towards the second defensive line.”

“Who?!”

“Lucienne from the Mandracas Regiment occupying our center; she’s part of my University, Val,” informed Julian.

“Is she stupid? Give me that radio!”

“Oh, boy…”

Keeping to the script of staying out of his way, Julian and all the others stood back and focused their attention on whatever work they could find; having undergone Valentino’s rage mode multiple times, they understood that repercussions for intervening could lead to disaster.

“Lucienne?! You moron! If your Company pulls back, the rest of the Regiment is left with your hole to fill!” His vibrant shouting reached everyone inside the room.

A faint gobbled-up transmission soon came through along with the sounds of war; Lucienne’s voice could barely be heard amid the bombardment. “…T–…en–rre…regim..t…has…eady…pulled back!” The transmission then became cleared only to pick up her last words. “We’re isolated! What’s with that artil–”

Suddenly, the transmission was briefly cut off, with multiple voices in distress coming through the radio simultaneously, which intensified to agonizing screaming and small arms fire. Soon after, the distinct chanting from the enemy they had intercepted was picked up on their radio, “No quarter! No quarter!” The victorious mood from before had been replaced with nothing but confusion and doubt.

“s**t, did we just lose Lucienne’s unit?!”

“No way! There’s no way a hundred students would just die like that, right, Commander-in-chief Julian?”

“…”

As if responding to his subordinates' questioning, a blue dot in the center of the holo map whose localization symbolized that of captain Lucienne’s blinked twice, then vanished. An entire unit was wiped out in minutes.

“That b***h better have killed off half of the attackers; otherwise, I’ll strip her of her command and send her family to a work camp!”

“At the rate, those units are perishing, we need to send the reserves now before the fight’s over …Val, give the order,” his second in command, Julian, tried to calm Valentino down. Knowing full well that time was of the essence, Valentino finally left his tantric state and agreed with only two words. “Send them.”

Battleground: Left

Mirabilis & Terras Unit, sector of operations,

50km to Kursk

At the beat of the clock, the combined units belonging to the UC and UL began their assault along a twelve-kilometer front in a double-layered formation, with the tanks of the Terras Unit under José at the forefront. The absence of supporting artillery to destroy the enemy front and cut their communication lines would result in the IF’s defensive belt being completely unscathed and fully ready to receive them. Aware of this factor, both captains, Simão and José, agreed that their speed would be the deciding factor in sparing their students and equipment from unnecessary attrition.

With the help of shock and awe tactics, combined with their mechanized infantry's speed and maneuverability to bypass strong positions and attack them from the rear, both units penetrated the IF’s first and secondary lines with ease. The Mirabilis infantry, supported by half-tracks, even managed to encircle and destroy three enemy companies that had been cut off from the rest of their main force, a resounding victory at a tactical level. Nevertheless, the advance didn’t realize without the absence of casualties, barely seven kilometers in their penetration, Terras Unit that had been leading was already down five of its tanks. Fields riddled with mines and anti-tank guns opposed them at every corner, and when these didn’t do the trick, the sheer bravery of some IF students prevailed; some of these students went so far as to throw themselves packed with explosives onto the incoming tanks. But no matter how much they tried, the gap between the two forces was clear even to the viewers watching the broadcast in the real world. Coming to this realization in time to save them from annihilation, the captains in charge of the IF troops locked in bitter fighting ordered a strategic withdrawal towards their most vital defensive position and the Portuguese forces' primary objective on that entire flank.

“Sir, it’s coming into view,” one of the Mirabilis Unit officers alerted Simão. “Twelve kilometers out, to the left.”

After having defeated a considerable number of IF units in the vicinity and entrapping some others, half of the Terras Unit under José, which consisted of infantry, switched from the vanguard to the rear to help mop up any resistance that remained. A change that switched a large portion of the Mirabilis Unit to take their place, at the head of the column, acting as the vanguard. And it was there and then, after crossing several slopes of dry yellow grass that they spotted it.

“Hill 253.5…”

“Damn thing stands out like a sore thumb!”

“…Huh, I thought it would be higher.”

“Yeah, it doesn’t look like much.”

“You guys say that, but we’re still far from it….”

Supreme Commander Pedro had decided that the combined Mirabilis and Terras Units would have to take the only high ground in that sector of operations before continuing their journey to Kursk. The other part of his plan was to relocate his artillery units closer to the newer defensive IF perimeters being established and shell the city. The task seemed easy on paper, and the hill didn’t seem to be all that high in the first place. Working together with the tanks of the Terras Unit, like they had done for weeks in preparation for attacking the hill, seemed like an easy job. And with their morale at an all-time high after defeating so many IF troops with few casualties on their end, many actually couldn’t wait to get things started. The senior staff naturally knew better than that.

A fierce fight was waiting for them.