VR WARS Volume II - Coalition Army

BROADCASTING RESENT

May 14th

UL campus grounds,

Strategy meeting for the upcoming battle,

At the command of Supreme Commander Pedro, every officer in the coalition was requested to attend the first major strategy meeting for the battle against the Iberian Federation. Inside the auditorium, which was emptied most of the time due to its use being reserved for the hosting of formal guests, its swelling was a sight to behold. Hundreds of students filled the empty seats attentively, hearing the plan on how to deal with the Iberians, being presented by Pedro with the help of his secretary Silvia. Their hardened expressions brimming with nothing but pure devotion to the cause meant that they would follow any command, even if that meant the sacrifice of themselves and their respective units. Or so he wanted to believe.

The battle scenario that unfolded two weeks prior was one of those that had been a turning point during World War Two: Operation Zitadelle.

Famously known as the Battle of Kursk, it was the last major German offensive throughout the war on the eastern front, which saw a gigantic German attack on the Russian 250km-long salient in Kursk. So colossal was the battle that it saw the involvement of more than two million men and originated the most massive tank battle of all times. Its failure exhausted the German forces to a point where they never fully recovered from it and were steadily pushed back, all the way to Berlin.

In other words, it would be a scenario of modern warfare at its finest. Something that Angelo wasn’t accustomed to. Unlike his colleagues, he hadn’t experienced combat at that level of detail, where shrapnel landing from twenty meters away could inflict deadly wounds, and bullets whistled all around like they were wearing his name. The only time Angelo witnessed modern warfare had been during a training simulation where he effectively put down the Prodigy rebellion led by Marco and Valadão, and even then, he merely attended the last moments. Due to his slow recovery sustained before the battle of Okinawa against the Poles, he lacked valuable experience. Worst of all, being the only time the UAT had lost, it was a cruel reminder to its members of how deadly and terrifying that scenario could be.

As the Portuguese coalition took a turn at assuming the role of attackers, they would be the ones to launch Zitadelle and ultimately take Kursk. However, contrasting with the original battle whose goals were to entrap the Russian forces in a double envelopment, the Bermuda System, taking into account the disparity of the forces present to reenact the battle, assigned one goal and one goal only.

“Neutralize the town hall that serves as the headquarters of the enemy to take control of Kursk, that is all,” Pedro raised his voice at the red circle on a large-scale map that defined the objective.

Everyone mumbled over how simplistic the engagement appeared to be; they were all experts on virtual warfare at this point, having been through three and some four battles in total. Thus, it could well be said that they were hardened veterans. But now, the scale had multiplied exponentially, with this upcoming confrontation involving nearly sixteen thousand students; nine thousand of those belonging to the Iberian Federation and six thousand to Portugal, incorporating the Azorean contingent’s seven hundred and twenty members.

A careful analysis of these numbers made the Bermuda System downsize the map to about 70km in length and 100km wide. Not too big that it would allow units to roam the countryside completely lost, and not too short that it wouldn't enable tank warfare to perform at its best. With the entirety of the Kursk region in 1943 dug with trenches and packed with fortification systems to stall the German advance, so too was the map the Portuguese and Iberians would have to fight on. Naturally, the advantage belonged to the defending side.

“Which is why I allocated the totality of the UL to artillery,” the Supreme Commander continued. “This will allow us to field more than a hundred 88mm and 105mm guns and even some sFH 18 heavy howitzers, all of which will be important in softening up enemy fortified positions, knocking out tanks, and supporting the advance into Kursk.”

Pedro’s line of thinking encompassed the doctrine of overwhelming superior firepower that would neutralize the enemy's defenses and pave the way for a rapid advance, a belief much appreciated by the American military forces. In these battles, the absence of an airforce resulted in tactics like Blitzkrieg, although not impossible, were a complicated task to accomplish, with only one man being able to pull them off so far – Schneider – and battles of attrition being more forthcoming and favored by the Bermuda System itself. For all intents and purposes, Pedro had chosen to focus on the doctrine that boosted the chances of his forces reaching the city with enough strength to fight and win, much to Angelo’s contempt, who favored fast-moving tactics when attacking.

“Deputy-Commander Angelo and the UAT will make a diversionary attack to the south and, if able, continue to penetrate at their own discretion, coming up from behind the city and hitting it from the rear. Acting independently from the rest of the UC, the elite Mirabilis Unit under captain Simão and the UL’s Terras Unit under captain José will attack from the north, take the village of Ponry and the highest ground on all the battlefield, Hill 253.5,” Pedro paused to regain his breath and wipe away the sweat accumulating under his chin, then resumed his almost memorized lines. “Since most of the terrain at Kursk is Eurasian steppe, having that high ground will allow us to track the enemy movement and direct our artillery fire into the city as we approach it from multiple angles.”

“Leave it to us, sir! We’ll get it done,” shouted the captain of the Terras Unit, a loud man with a shaved head in his early twenties; his conviction earned him an overall round of applause.

“I like your enthusiasm, José,” the Supreme Commander smiled at his subordinate and, at the same time, urged for silence to return to the room; the plan was still in its early stages. “Standing back in the rear as a reserve will be the UL’s very own Elite Olisi Unit, be advised that they will only be used for reinforcing critical sectors or exploiting a significant breakthrough in the enemy's line. I’ll leave the rest of the details to Commander-in-chief Rui.”

Acting on cue, Rui left his place at the edge of the main table in the center of the auditorium to address the crowd. “The UC has been given the honor of leading the attack! Our job will be to punch a hole right through the middle of the salient and take the city. The Iberians will be expecting us to follow the same tactics the Germans did back in the day. And these attacks on their flanks by the UAT and combined Mirabilis and Terras Units will assure them that they are right and that our intentions will be a double envelopment. No doubt, they will reinforce the northern and southern lines, leaving their formations in the center understrength. Nevertheless, an entrenched enemy is hard to overcome, so strike hard and strike fast! We need to clear these defensive lines before they know what hit them!”

While the superior firepower doctrine, in the form of the UL’s hundred gun battery, worked its magic in softening up the main lines of resistance in the center, the bulk of the UC needed to clear these obstacles as soon as possible. So their formations comprised mostly of tanks and mechanized infantry. To ensure a breakthrough would be conceivable, the entire coalition would coordinate its attacks, north, center, and south, striking precisely at the same time. Pedro was betting that faced with different attacks on multiple fronts varying on different scales, the Iberian Federation's central command would become paralyzed, trying to figure out which of these attacks was the real one. While also attempting to contain all three, inadvertently pouring resources in the wrong direction. Depending on the level of resistance encountered along the way, Pedro issued directives to all units that, if an opportunity presented itself, they were to act at their own discretion, having learned that from all the mock battles against Angelo, he knew a level of flexibility was essential to prevailing on the battlefield.

Another ace in the Portuguese sleeves was the difference in equipment. Although much like the Germans in the actual battle, they were severely outnumbered, yet the tanks they would use were far superior to their counterparts. The Panther and Tiger tanks especially were fearsome adversaries and unbeatable at the time by any soviet machine in the terrain; except for aircraft and artillery, nothing could penetrate their armor at a distance. The Russian workhorse tank, at the time, had to undertake near-suicide runs to close in on the Tigers so that they could penetrate their armor at close range. Despite its lack of punch in 1943, the versatile and easy-to-produce soviet T-34 enjoyed the title of the ‘best tank,’ hailed even by several German Field Marshals. Its increasing easy production meant that for every tank the Tigers knocked out of the battlefield, twenty more would come out of the factories. The same couldn’t be said for the German heavy tanks; every Tiger lost brought Germany one step close to defeat, yet its impact on the field was a tale of legends. When asked by veterans of those days, the answer always remained the same, while the T-34 was the ‘best tank,’ the Tiger was the ‘most feared.’

“We will be fielding forty Tiger tanks and eighty Panthers; these will give us the edge we desperately need to fight off the Iberians who will undoubtedly send wave after wave of T-34s to dislodge us of our gains, so we—”

“Oi! The IF is emitting a statement! They’re talking about us!” A random student busted inside the secret meeting, reserved for officers only, accidentally interrupting Rui. The latter ended up turning a blind eye to that fact as he anxiously searched for the remote to the large TV nailed to the wall. Everyone else who had a phone or any other device on them simply turned them on with a swipe of a finger to watch the broadcast.

“Where’s the f*****g remote?!”

“Here,” Pedro opened one of the drawers on the table and threw the remote control for the TV to his colleague. “Anybody knows which channel?” To which someone responded, “Forth!”

With a push of a button, the pitch-black TV awakened to a bright light centered around a lone figure giving a speech on a podium covered with the Iberian Federation’s symbol and colors. Unlike Vlad's, the unknown speaker had a distinct glow that had nothing to do with emptiness; a strong feeling of righteousness surrounded this man’s aura. The rarity of his long and straight white hair, whose bangs nearly blinded his eyesight, served only to uphold the purity of his image, almost enacting a general sense of jealousy among the men and women watching the live broadcast. But while gloriously representing his nation, his mocking attitude and a grim smile were preludes to the devastating blow he was about to deliver.

“…I am Valentino, the Supreme Commander of the Iberian Federation’s coalition, and unlike my peers, I am the man destined to stand triumphantly above anyone else in this competition,” his words were spoken without a hint of hesitation that only went to show the strength of his beliefs. “I have full confidence in our student’s abilities and know with absolute certainty that we will defeat our neighboring “friends.” Why? Because I’ve seen their commanders, I’ve seen how they act. Reckless is all they are, so I know that, like our fathers before us, during the War of Rights, we too will prevail over them.”

“Screw you, son of a b***h!” “You assholes drew first blood!” “Invading scum!” Outcries lit up through the entire campus, yet Valentino was not done.

“That weak and treacherous nation that, if not for outside help and god’s mercy, would’ve surely fallen to our brave army ten years ago will without question be sunk into the depths of the earth by the next generation—we! I swear to all of you, victory is assured, and unification is near! Long live the Iberian Federation!”

“—”

For a while, well, after the broadcast had ended, no one moved or made a sound. The shock of what looked to be a public humiliation of an entire country, its people, and the students representing them had left internal wounds so deep it made it hard to believe that anything had happened at all. Yet…

Smaaash! The sound of a chair being bashed into the cement floor with extreme force, breaking into multiple parts, alerted everyone in the meeting room to his presence. “Aaaahhhhhh!” A single cry from one of the students who some knew had lost his brother during the war carried enough explosive energy behind it to start a chain reaction that spread like a virus.

Moving past the angered and tear-jerking crowd that blocked every corner of every corner, Vera searched for Angelo. Her senses warned her that he would do something drastic, something reckless, something to earn him even more spite from Pedro and Rui. She knew he wasn’t good at keeping his emotions in check, so she wanted to be close to him when whatever happened, she would be there to minimize the damage and support him as best she could. However, all her presumptions were soon turned to smoke when she found her Commander quietly leaning in front of a window, not causing the mayhem she dreadfully imagined. “Angelo? Are…Are you okay?”

“…”

The man she came to admire said nothing, but it did not appear to her that he had dismissed her presence. The ‘Angel of Death’ wasn’t one to fall for surprises. Vera was sure he had heard her even amidst the ensuring chaotic frenzy, but whether or not he wanted to communicate with her was a whole other matter. Still, unable to withstand the feeling that Angelo seemed out of reach, she gambled on the momentum their relationship had gained during and after the ballroom and pushed him for an answer. “You know you can talk to—”

It was then that she saw it.

Just as Vera approached the window to reach out to her leader, it was when his reflection in the window’s mirror unveiled the one thing Angelo had always been careful to hide, his true expression.

The monster he so desperately tried to hide behind the mask of his cheerful self had been uncovered. And it terrorized her.

He was hollow; the brimming color of his eyes had darkened so much they vanished entirely, leaving behind the frame of an empty husk void of all happiness. His elegant nose, too, was gone; a bottomless hole, now, took its place. A change in him like that at this hour could spell disaster for the UAT and potentially the entire coalition, yet Vera could only stand there paralyzed by fear, fear of what that creature was capable of doing. Then, as if saved by the encroaching gloom of twilight, the beast disappeared like a shadow, returning Angelo’s face to its normality.

United by a common feeling, many shed tears for their lost relatives, and when these dried up, the only thing left was an unquenching urge for vengeance.

“Oi leader,” he petulantly said, still facing the window with a rough voice so irregular in him it looked like he had gained a new one. Pedro and Rui, always quick on the draw, realized something was seriously wrong the moment Angelo had acknowledged Pedro's title. “ …The thrust in the center…the UAT will handle it.”

“!”

The request brought back the silence that had been forfeit, with everyone looking at their high command for answers to this sudden request that made no sense.

“What are you talking about?!” Rui could only protest at Angelo’s impertinence. “That position belongs to the UC, you’ve–”

“I wasn’t talking to you! Settle down, asshole!” The UAT Commander intervened before any more could be said, finally leaving his still position at the window.

“…Very well.”

Reluctantly at the unexpected request and desire for it, Pedro agreed to the change, rearranging the disposition of his forces on the map by placing the UC on his right flank and the UAT at the head of his formation, whose goal was to take the lead and advance through the center. Numerous doubts emerged from this, with students from both sides, including the UAT, pondering over this newly added responsibility placed on them. Mixed with the questions were numerous complaints thrown at Angelo and Pedro, mainly from Coimbra members and from Rui, who openly criticized the strength of the UAT in taking such an active role in the battle. All of which was to no avail; the decision was final.

That same day, merely a few hours after Valentino’s press conference, both nations were on the brink of war with the UN once more having to intervene and ensure that peace on the Iberian Peninsula lasted. Again, a hard bargain to accomplish, as the enraged Portuguese population pushed their government for compensation in the form of blood. Not since the Reconquista period had the country been so united to start a conflict with a foreign nation; that was how intense the feud between these two peoples was. It even led to the blunt saying from an outraged citizen, ‘The only good Iberian is a dead one!’ that was soon exalted and widely used without regard for the consequences—worsening the overall situation as bad blood poured continuously from the veins of both sides, spelling disaster on the horizon.

The public’s outrage beckoned for actual war.

Withholding publicly apologizing, the Iberian Federation denied having anything to do with the broadcast, stating that the freedom of speech of its individuals was a collective right, one they had fought hard to protect. Viewing this as a poor excuse, considering the state of rule in the IF, the millions of Portuguese living domestically and abroad set the media on fire with hateful comments that advocated for extreme measures, the closing of borders between Portugal and the IF, and repatriation of its citizens living within the country being one of them. Hard-pressed to contain the fallout, both governments and the UN delegates argued for matters to be settled with the impending battle.

It was from Valentino’s incitement that the idea of conflict potentially being solved using Virtual Reality was born. And its ideals for safeguarding human lives, resources, and the world itself from another catastrophic war, were ingenuously established.

The battle was on.