Chapter 8: White Rock Fortress part 1

It's not yet dawn and the wind carries a chill that seeps through the bones.

Yuki, for the first time in a while, wakes up truly refreshed. Yesternight was a bit too tensed for the current her to handle. Thankfully, everything went well, and she fell asleep in Bryn's embrace.

With her brain finally catching up, Yuki turns on her bed to see that Bryn, having woken up earlier, is staring at her. Bryn's sapphire blue eyes are captivating at this close of a distance. Yuki loses herself there until she is called out of her trance by a chuckling Bryn.

" Finally up, you sleepyhead."

Scratching her right cheek shyly, Yuki responds. " Good morning, Bryn. I'm not sure what had taken over me last night. Thanks for keeping me accompanied."

" Fufu, it's my duty and my pleasure to help you. And you were very cute yesterday, it's not a bad thing for me."

" ...Cute?" Yuki turns red at that. While she always knows how to appreciate a woman's beauty, her romantic experience is a bit skewed. In short, she is the little spoon in a romantic relationship.

Unable to contain herself, Bryn starts patting Yuki's grey hair. In turn, Yuki squirms in comfort. It doesn't take much time till Yuki finds herself being hugged in Bryn's bosom, again. Not that she nor Bryn is complaining.

They stay in that position for a short while before Bryn decides it's enough.

" I have to go." Bryn, who leaves the bed, extracts a dissatisfied snort from Yuki. " Sorry, but I will return with coffee and breakfast. We can eat together later."

Yuki is just too cute in her eyes right now. She can't help but spoil her in places of her mothers'.

" ...Don't go for too long." Yuki relented. She is also a bit confused about why she acts so clingy these days. But hey, no harms done, right?

" Uhm, wait here for me, ok?" Yuki nods. Bryn heads outside, presumably to the cooking station.

Yuki also gets up and refreshes herself. After that, she sits in front of a small mirror as she tidies up her bed hairs. Holding flocks of her grey hair, she picks up the mirror to get a clearer view of her small stature, what reflected caused her to sigh. While she likes her current body, she wants it to be taller and fitter.

Her musing is cut short as the door is knocked twice. " Come in."

Bryn opens the door and carries inside a tray holding two cups of hot coffee, and two bowls of mutton soup with accompanying slices of bread. The smell is enticing, causing her body to warm up as the early morning is a bit chilly.

" Here's breakfast, I picked something that can chase away the cold." Bryn lays down the tray and set up utensils. " I see that you've been paying more attention to yourself."

Chuckling wryly, Yuki responds. " I have to do it otherwise you will be giving me an earful."

" True, a lady needs to pay attention to her image whenever possible. Come, let's eat." Bryn pulls out a chair for Yuki before they sit and enjoy the warm breakfast. They chat about also sorts of things from girls' stuff to the political climate.

Midway through their meal, Yuki has a few breadcrumbs on her cheeks, she doesn't seem to notice it as she is deep in thought about her campaign. Noticing that her mind is elsewhere, Bryn uses her finger to trace Yuki's cheek, startling her with her face turning a shade redder. Licking the crumbs on her finger, an action that makes Yuki blushes more deeply, to which she let out a chuckle, Bryn says.

" I know that there's a lot on your mind but there's a time and place for everything. Right now, the most important thing is to finish your food properly, so that you can have the physical and mental strength required for the task. Adding to that, it will be a discourtesy to the chefs if we don't enjoy their meal, no?"

" My bad. I just feel like I'm not doing enough." Yuki shakes her head to get rid of the distracting thoughts. " Anyway, you have a point, let's finish our breakfast."

Bryn seems like she wants to say something more, having heard Yuki's previous words, but refrains from further comments. She can only complain in her mind. ' You already performed exceptionally Yuki, what's driving you so much? You're only 15 years old...'

The meal resumes in a surprisingly pleasant atmosphere as Yuki truly focuses on enjoying the food Bryn brought. The mutton soup is a delicacy, incomparable to the bland ration she consumed in her past life.

Once they're done with their food, they clean up the table and put their bowls and utensils on a tray. Yuki's quarter has a water dispenser that's connected to a water bladder, they use it to rinse their mouth and wash their hands. After that, Bryn helps Yuki in changing her sleepwear to a grey officer uniform.

A few days ago, Yuki's General rank was formalized and Headquarter sent the equivalent documents and epaulet to their division. She's now the youngest General in history, Bryn feels like she will become more than just that.

With the final button in place, Bryn stands back to take a look at Yuki.

" Do I look good in this?" Yuki inspects her attire, this will be the first premiere of her new suit.

It's a light grey uniform with silver buttons and a black belt. The belt has a pistol holster and she can attach a documents holder bag to the belt. On her shoulders and collar are epaulets signifying her rank as a Major General. There are two pockets on the front, below the Ironblood insignia and medals. The Ironblood insignia, a sword with a crossguard, is above the right pocket, while medals and decorations are pinned above the left pocket. For now, Yuki only has an Iron Cross 2nd class pinned there. An award she received for having led her the 404th deep in Ustian territory, pushing the frontline further toward their capital.

" It's very fitting for you. The attire complements your aura well." Bryn honestly praises.

" That's great to hear." Yuki put on her cap. " Well, shall we?" She motioned to the door. It's high time they kickstart the day and another battle.

Bryn nods. " I will lead the way."

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After a short walk, they step into the brightly lit war room, tucked beneath layers of camouflage. The men and women inside stop what they're doing to salute. They stand straighter than ever, having seen the new uniform that Yuki wear, and feel a sense of pride in their heart. After all, they're the ones that support Yuki all this while, and having her efforts recognized is no different than an indirect award for them. Somehow, they feel like proud parents that are watching their daughter grow up into a fine lady.

" At ease, ladies and gentlemen." She turns to address her commanding officers. " It seems like I'm the last to arrive. My apology for dilly-dallying around, a girl also has some needs, you know." Yuki jested with the officers, and they responded with understanding laughter and winks from the ladies. The atmosphere is relaxed before the upcoming major battle.

Bryn takes her position to the right of Yuki, they soon dive into a harmonious rhythm as they discuss and clarify their final attack plan with the officers. The conversation doesn't last long as everything has been prepared and planned.

The assault on White Rock will aim for the now destroyed wall section of the star fortress. With information based on last night's raid and earlier aerial scouting, artillery will suppress enemy garrisons and holdouts first. After that armored units will spearhead the attack, follow by half-tracks and infantries. Behind them will be mechanized light artillery and anti-air for close support. This far in enemy territory, it's a given that Ustio will send out air support for the fortress. Air cover will mostly be handled by the Belkan Air Force, they also promised CAS attacks from Ju-87s whenever a request is received. This will only serve to increase the success of the mission.

With the conversation finalized, those that hold frontline duty excuse themselves, returning to their post while others stay back. Their presence is needed to command the battlefield.

Overlooking the holographic display that Yuki made, they stop their needless chatters and wait for the battle to commence.

Yuki, with her heart suddenly beating fast, knows that the time for war has come. " So it's begun."

Along with her mutters, muffled thumpings of artillery are heard in the war room.

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Dawn arrives, not with the first rays of sunlight, but with the explosions from the 105mm and 150mm artillery salvos. Startling the sleepless and battered Ustians awake, their positions and trenches are constantly bombarded. From the perspective of the Belkan flying scouts, they wonder how many will be left alive as explosions after explosions block their view.

" Incoming!"

" Arrrgg!!!"

" Mommy! Mommy!"

" Heads down! Keep your head down!"

" Franco! No!"

" Are you insane! Saints given you a brain, use it!"

It was pandemonium in the Ustian trenches. Many are shellshocked as they tuck themselves deeper beneath the ground.

After the barrage subsides, the assault is in full swing. Leaving no time for the Ustians to recover, Belkan tanks charge ahead, guns blazing. Their MGs pin down any sign of Ustian activities. The Panzer IIIs and mortar half-tracks discharge their smoke shells to cover the grenadiers.

By the time the Ustians reorganize, the tanks already approached 500 meters away from their location. The heavy shelling destroyed most of their stationary emplacements, leaving only a few anti-tank bunkers and tanks as the only obstacles for the Belkans.

Still, the Belkans know better than to underestimate their enemy. Their Princess drilled them many times not to so they advance cautiously. The 75mm short barrels on the Panzer IIIs prove extremely useful in a situation like this. As they can launch smoke shells to cover the sight of bunkers and quickly reload to different shell types for combating different threats. The only downside is the current hull of the Panzer III F is lacking in protection, hence the more protected Panzer 38(t) Fs are in the front. At this range, their 50mm thick armor plate can shrug off Ustian anti-tank fire.

Feeling threatened, the Ustians try to stem the steel wave as much as they can while notifying their superiors of their need for support. The fortress General decides to send out their reserve armored vehicles while requesting air support from their HQ. While the request for air cover is accepted, it will take them a while to arrive.

The General can only hope their frontline can hold until then.

Casualties on the Belkan side were small at first but when the Ustian reserves reinforced the frontline, things turn more troublesome. Ustian AMD. 35s prove to be deadlier than actual tanks and static AT bunkers. Their speed and 25mm high-velocity cannons combined managed to knock out a few tanks and half-tracks already. Belkan tanks can not block that level of firepower, not yet. Fortunately, the thin-skin armored cars can barely take punishment from the 20mm autocannons of the Panzer IIs.

Still, the damage has been done. With the loss of some of the frontline tanks, the Belkan push is slowed down. They are still gaining ground but the closer they are to the trenches, the heavier the suppressive fire from the Ustians, and losses are mounting.

At the very front of the attack force, a familiar tank crew is in a pickle.

" Nozo! Get us the fuck outta here!" Lieutenant Strauss screams on the intercom. " 2 to 4, fan out and plug the gaps left behind by Third Platoon, cover our Grenadiers!"

Rubert, who is operating the hull-mounted MG, cuts in. " Pak! One o'clock!"

" Gunner, traverse right!" Using the periscope, Strauss tries to spot the enemy AT.

" On my tracers!" Rubert helped by suppressing the AT position with his MG. Strauss can see the green tracers bouncing off the armor plates of the cannon. He uses them to calculate the range.

" Zimmer, 400 meters!"

" HE loaded!" Hans reported.

" On the way!" With the proper range and shell loaded, Zimmer fired the cannon. The tank recoils as Strauss watches the shell flying through the air.

Suddenly, he also sees the enemy Pak retaliates, right before their HE shell lands. " Incoming!"

" Fu-!" Their words were cut short. The Pak 25mm AP shell slammed on the turret at an acute angle. It bounced to the side, hitting nothing of note. But the impact left a gash on the turret armor and the reverberation of sound in the hull stunned its crew. Even Zimmer, who is lower down in the hull, can't help but clutch his earpiece painfully and groan.

Strauss, with his ears ringing like a jackhammer running inside his head, tries to stabilize himself. With a bit of a struggle, he tries to confirm the death of the target.

" ...Target!" He screamed the confirmation that even he is having a hard time hearing it. It took another ten seconds for the crew to be back in action. A time which was given by the other tanks in the platoon as they covered up their commander with smoke shells.

" This is 1, reassuming command! 2 to 4, report!" Strauss ordered after regaining his bearings. He requests his crew to engage at will after the smoke screen fades.

" This is 2, all good here, Lieutenant."

" This is 3, our transmission was knocked out. We're trying to get it back up and running"

" 4 here, we are covering 3. My driver is hit pretty badly."

Not good is what Strauss thought of. The resistance from the enemy is stronger than expected and with two of theirs being stuck in place. They really cannot push any further without risking concentrated fire from the Ustians. While it's true that they are not the only armored element in this assault, the others are already stretched thin to support their sector.

So unless Command sends in the reserves, they are blocked here. Unwilling to give up, Strauss urges tanks 3 and 4 to double time while he calls out targets for Zimmer to engage. They managed to score three more vehicle kills before Rubert forwarded High Command's order. " Sir, Command orders us to halt our advance. Air support will cover us in two minutes, sir!"

" What? Air support...? Wait, this is brilliant!" With his mind in overdrive, Strauss has an idea as to what's about to happen. " Confirm with High Command, will we resume our attack after the bombs have done dropping?"

Rubert nods and forwards his question, after a bit, he responds. " We have the order to charge the enemy and secure a breach point for the reserve force! Sir, we now have a direct line with our air cover, you just need to give them a word."

Strauss can't help but slap his knee in glee. " Marvelous!"

" You heard that right, Nozo?" Strauss questioned his driver.

" Aye, Chief. Once things go boom I will drive us closer so you can hit them with your sword!" While Nozo meant that as a jest, he knows fully well that Lieutenant Strauss does have a saber, tucked beneath his seat.

" Good to hear! Rubert, forward the new development to our platoon and the Grenadiers. The rest of you, eyes peeled for any more surprise!" The last thing they need is the Ustians bringing out another cannon and giving their ears a good cleaning.

With the information quickly disseminated throughout the ranks, Tank 3 radio in to report. " Our driver is confident he can bring the tank up and running by the time air support arrives. However, we may not be able to go anywhere fast."

Strauss nods and replies. " That's already good enough, we don't need to go too far and fast. Once we're cleared to proceed, you will be guarding our backside, copy?"

" Copy that, will do, over."

The battlefield goes into a strange stalemate when the Belkans suddenly cease their advance. Both sides only exchange sporadic fires with the Belkans quickly reinforcing the frontline, waiting for the chance to charge. During this time, White Rock sent out more of its reserve armored units. Strauss scored three more tank kills thanks to Zimmer while his platoon also scored three. Surprisingly, two of them fell under the belt of Tank 3, the injured tank.

When the time has come, the sounds of aircraft engines drown out the gunshots on the battlefield. At first, the Ustians cheer when they see a blue-colored aircraft diving, presumably for a strafing run. Until it got shot by another aircraft, exploding midair with the carcass crashing on the fortress wall shortly after. Stunned, the Ustian soldiers forgot to shoot their guns for a moment. They wake up from their stupor when a very familiar siren is heard, everywhere.

" STUKAS!!!" The firsts to react are the officers as they dive for the nearest solid cover, leaving their troops to attract the bombers while saving their skins.

" Fuck it, just run!" Scared witless, many Ustian infantries runoff from the walls and dash for the bunkers and trenches. This leads to a severe reduction in their defensive power but who cares?

Seconds later, the first Ju-87 discards its three 500kg bombs on a dive. Using its superb vertical maneuverability, it pulls up to gaze down at the destruction it brought and witness more of its comrades doing the same. The 500kg bombs they drop prove too effective, so much so that even the trench system is obliterated. Those that are lucky to survive are either shellshocked or unconscious amidst the chaos.

If the fortress before was battered and bruised, they can now describe it as shot and bombed into swiss cheese. The destruction White Rock received only serve to boost the morale of the Belkans like a drug, and like a pack of wolves unleashed on its prey. They feast on their struggling prey.

Strauss, overlooking the sky battle above the fortress, whistle as he admits he is very thankful for their air support. He orders his platoon to lead the charge and so do the other tank commanders. This God-given chance is too hard to miss. With a swiftly reorganized and reinforced formation, the assault force storms the fortress.

Finally, after almost an hour of fighting, the wall is breached and the first to breakthrough is a Panzer III, Tank number 2, serving in the 27th Armored Platoon under the command of Lieutenant Strauss Henriken. He, and more notably his platoon, finally earn their 25th Panzer Badges. This marks the first platoon in Belkan armored force history to have all of its original crews receive Badges. A notion that will catch the eye of Princess Yukia later on.

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The half-track grinds to a halt as its machine gun shoots at the window of a barrack. Allowing its occupants to kick its rear door open and dismount, they too suppress the hostile garrison.

The very first to jump down of the half-track is a very familiar Oni, with his magic shield and trusty MG-34, he stalwartly blocks the return fire from the Ustians. Behind him, Major Aleph signals for a pair of soldiers to quickly deploy their Panzer Buster. Instead of firing the more expensive HEAT shell, they opt for a standard high-explosive grenade this time.

The process of setting up the bipod and loading took barely a few seconds for the cracked team. Once ready and tucked behind a heavy cover, the Buster launches its grenade through the window of the garrison, exploding into deadly fragments that promise death to its occupants.

Aleph slaps the side of the half-track. " Driver, push slowly to that building. The rest of you, fan out but stick near to the half-tracks and panzers. Always maintain a line of sight with them so you can support each other. Clear all the corners and secure our entry point. Now start moving people!"

Per his order, the Grenadiers from the 7th Mechanized Infantry Company spreads out to perform their task. While they managed to get inside the fortress, things aren't over yet as they still have to clear the internals. Fire support is available but limited in a CQC engagement like this one.

Like a well-oiled machine, the Grenadiers start kicking down doors and clearing each and every single building. They unhesitantly gun down any soldier that is still resisting while securing those that lay down their arms, civilians included. And yes, there exists a small population of non-combatants inside White Rock, Yuki gave the order to limit the number of civilian casualties if possible. However, if the Grenadiers need to clear a fortified location with civilians inside, Yuki cleared them to use grenades if they refuse to surrender. To her, the lives of soldiers under her leadership are much more important than a few stubborn Ustians. She refuses to have another Afghanistan at hand.

Her order, while cruel and possibly a blatant violation of the Geneva Convention will prevent unnecessary loss of life for her division. Besides, they're the ones at fault for occupying a place with civilian presences, right?

Anyway, it takes them almost no time at all to clear the periphery, progress only comes to a halt once they head deeper inside. The enemy General successfully reorganized his troops and they formed a defensive line, effectively dividing the fortress in half. This forces the Grenadiers to fight building to building, cover to cover. The battlefield turns into a slough as the Ustians have the defender's advantage.

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" Ma'am, field reports just come in." An officer relayed the ongoing battlefield situation to Yuki, Bryn, and the high-ranking officers at the holotable. Yuki changes the holographic display to better suit the report.

" I see, return to your post." Yuki nods as she and the rest are done gleaming on the report. The officer performs a quick salute and retires.

" It seems the Ustians still have some bites left in them." Brigadier General Alexa Lilianna commented.

" A cornered rat, when desperate, will retaliate. The situation right now is no different as they should have realized we've already flanked and surrounded the fortress. The issue now is to subjugate the remaining enemies with the least casualties to ourselves." Yuki, fully focusing on the holotable, says. " They also cannot hold on for too long with their limited supplies, yet we also cannot be bogged down here. Attrition is not what we're after so we need a breakthrough."

Overlooking the holotable, an officer notices that the frontline has unknowingly divided half the fortress. With the stubborn Ustians securing one half while the Division Grenadiers used the other as a staging point for further attacks. " We can stabilize our gains inside the fortress first, have the Grenadiers hold their attack while allowing our artillery to bombard the Ustian side to submission. This will prevent unnecessary losses while having our front liners recuperate."

" If we're not pressed for time then yes, we can do that. However, the Ustian positions are well-fortified, it will take days to bombard them, days that we don't have." A female officer rebutted, she then add." Not to mention the fortress itself has a tunnel network, while we managed to destroy the tunnels leading outside, the ones inside the fortress are still pretty much intact. Surface bombardment can only do so much against such a deep tunnel system, they only need to keep their heads low so that we waste time and munitions for nothing."

" What do you suggest?" Having heard the analysis, the male officer concurs with the assessment and poses the question.

" In my opinion, we can use the tunnel system against them. Send in a few well-trained squads, equipped for CQC, in the tunnel entrances we managed to secure. Have them cause chaos behind the enemy line, once the enemy is thrown into disarray, our force will press the assault."

" A plausible plan but the ones to perform the task are basically offered a death sentence, do you know that?" Another female officer interjected.

" Yes, but this is much better than the swamp we're in right now."

The table soon falls into a bout of serious discussion, each of the officers has their own plans of action, and all of them are politely discussed and presented before Yuki. Musing over the matter at hand, Yuki turns to Bryn.

" The Witches are overseeing the sky right now, right?"

Bryn acknowledges. " Yes, they are providing spotting and covering fire for the main forces."

" Good, inform them to scan the enemy for anti-air positions, have them mark their locations, and send it to me."

" Yes, Princess." Bryn retreats to inform her Night Witches.

During the first part of the engagement, the Air Force caught the enemy with their pants down so they provided little to no threat to the Stukas. Now, they've wisened up and are keeping a close eye on the sky. Hence, Yuki has been holding back the Air Force for air superiority duty instead of CAS. If she wants more support from them, she will need to dismantle those AA positions.

" I've made up my mind." Her words caught the attention of everyone, including Bryn who just returned and updated Yuki on the AA positions. " Thank you, Bryn. Anyway, the tunnel plan is a good one, we will go with that. Although we will give the infiltration squads are set of clear targets this time, the Anti-air positions. With the sites destroy, the Night Witches can meditate between the Air Force and ground force to coordinate precision air attacks on the enemy. By doing this, we can push the front further and end this battle by nightfall instead of dragging it longer than it should. Casualties will also be kept at a minimum when our enemy is bombed to oblivion. Any objection?"

It is Brigadier General Alexa that raises her hand. " By doing this, civilian casualties will unavoidable. I suggest you send me out to give the enemy an ultimatum, if they refuse to surrender or let the non-combatant go we can proceed with using lethal force."

" Granted, you have an hour to convince the enemy General. Should he accepts surrendering, all is good but if he only sends out non-combatants, you have another hour to secure them. After that, the rest will be treated as hostiles. You will personally lead the main force to ensure all the enemies are subjugated."

" Yes, Princess." Brigadier Alexa saluted before excusing herself to perform her duty. She needs to quickly think up a script that lessens the amount of bloodshed that's about to come.

After that, Yuki delegates some more tasks to her underlings. The more important tasks saw the officers heading out personally, while the rest stayed behind to be brief on the upcoming plan after they take White Rock.

" Those that are not of the rank Captain above, please vacate the War Room." While abrupt, this is not the first time Yuki holds a closed briefing like this so the lower ranking staff files out of the room.

" As before, this is best not distributed widely." Yuki reminds those that are still in the room while Bryn keeps a watchful gaze on all of them. " Alright then, let us proceed."

Yuki then hands out folders for the officers, explaining. " This here is a list of captured Ustian equipment that is still usable, enough for two battalions. I want you to discuss and pick enough men that are both trustworthy, knowledgeable in French, and battle-hardened to form two battalions using the gears we captured. Outfit them properly to make them look like retreating Ustian battalions, battered and all that as I want untrained eyes to miss that they're undercovered. "

Bryn, having heard of the plan for the first time, asks. " While it's not that hard to fulfill the requirement and I have an inkling of what you're about to say. Can you clarify more on the plan, Princess?"

" It's simple, I want to plant two battalions inside Arash to aid us when we begin our assault on the city."

Raising an eyebrow at the statement, Bryn questions. " You want to initiate a false flag? If this goes awry, it will cause us a lot of trouble."

" Noted, but my decision is final. We need our people inside to coordinate with us when we attack. As long as they discard their uniforms before they strike, we will be fine."

" This is bending the laws of war but I doubt this will be the last... Ok then, if you're all alright with this, I think we can proceed to discuss this further." Bryn sighs and relents. She takes note of anyone that may oppose this plan but fortunately, they all seem to agree.

They then add more details to the plan of action, which target to take out first and where shall they proceed from then. By the time they are done with the more clandestine discussion, news arrives saying that the enemy General refuses to accept the terms. The fighting will go on with only those incapable of wielding weapons will surrender to the Belkan side.

Yuki quirks an eyebrow at that. At least, not everyone has to die.