Elethar war

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by elijah
Its about half our entire navy!

OTOH, it's about the size of our entire navy.

Which makes me wonder how all these countries are getting such humongous naval forces.

[Archaic]

1) Massive Population
2) "Frightening" Economy

Alecrast has probably the 2nd largest GDP in Apolyton, behind Greater Chimera, as well as a population in excess of 700 million, so a military like this isn't that much of a problem for us. Of course, there *is* that unusual Alecrast command structure that makes everything so complicated here to consider....

[GeneralTacticus]

OOC: Actually, I think Capitalstan could make a fair claim to being one of Apolyton's largest economies; they were the fastest-growing economy in the region at last count, and they've consistently been in the top ten for every economic sector recently rated. /OOC

[GeneralTacticus]

Since our last update, events pertaining to the Elethar conflict have been as follows.

- The five Eletharian fleets to the northeast of elethar have been totally destroyed. Most of the ships have been sunk, and the few remaining have been boarded and captured by Centralis and Jackson marines. The two Centralis fleets responsible have now merged and are on their way back to Ferrozoica to restock their missile arsenals, while a alrge transport fleet, escorted by lighter ships which were not involved in the battle, is heading for Elethar itself to enter the ground war. An advance wave of 60 000 marines has already landed near the capital city of Unitaville.

- Opposition forces have continued to make large gains against a crumbling national army, seizing control of the central highlands with assistance from Centralis Raven Guard brigades who paradropped in a few hours ago.

- All indicatinos we have are that the Eletharian military and government apparatus are in the process of total implosion. Without contact with their commanders, many military units are effectively going rogue and abandoning the fighting, while all the government officials who can are getting out as fast possible, commandeering civilian airliners and flying to uninvolved nations, probably aided by LIB funds.

- A squadron of Centralis Q-119 bombers returned approximately ten minutes ago from a bombing run on a cave complex within the Eletharian jungles where the Grand Poobah was beleived to be hiding with many of his top advisors. Satellite footage confirms that the complex has been destroyed; we have no way of confirming whether or not the Poobhs was there. If he was, however, he is dead.

- Three of our fighters have successfully shot down a military transport plane flying out of Unitaville International Airport, escorted by some of Elethar's last remaining fighter aircraft; it crashed near the landing zone of our mrines, who examined it and found the wreckage to contain more than half of Elethar's estimated foreign currency reserves, which number in the tens of billions. We believe that the regime may be finding other ways to smuggle the rest out of the country, along with any remaining stocks they may have of diamonds and drugs.

- Representatives from a number of different guerilla groups within Elethar met today in Vannick, Ferrozoica, and approved the charter for a new political organization, the 'National Liberation Coalition of Elethar'. While not specifying any concrete policies regarding economics or specific social issues, it does call for a total end to the Eletharian apartheid system, an end to religious discrimination, the introduction of democracy (the precise format was not mentioned), and a more equitable distribution of wealth than currently prevails.

- The anticipated wave of terrorism has begun on cue. The opening attack was the detonation of a truck bomb in downturn Port Antioch, which destroyed an entire street, killing at least 400 people and injuring over 2000. Minutes alter a second blast was reported in one of the chief financial arcologies of Geelong, wrecking everything for over a hudnred metres horizontally and bringing down the floors above and below it, too. While the damage is relatively minor compared to the size of the building, it will have taken hundreds, if not thousands, of lives; perhaps the only blessing is that most of the people working in the area were on lunch break. A third atrocity was prevented only when four men and one woman were found to lack appriopriate identification when they went through a security checkpoint in a residential arcology; when they were searched, they were carrying enough C4 explosives to cause the building to collapse if it were detonated on the ground floor. We must, again, urge all countries involved to be on their guard.

[Whaleboy]

Marijuanian troops have landed on the secondary Island, supported by the navy and air force. Satellite footage and air recon shows that the military on that Island has been practically decimated, although we are not entirely certain of this.

The Navy has sighted three frigate-type ships escaping at high speed from Elethars East. The superbattleship MSS Hood, and heavy cruiser MSS Judas are giving chase. The ships will be destroyed if they do not surrender.

[Drogue]

Alecrast: You have no tax though. Paying for your army might be difficult.

The reason mine is so big, is because I have the 2nd largest per capita spending on military, and the biggest nation. Technically, it should be at least twice the size of everyone elses, except for The Hive (in terms of spending) since I have more spending per capita, and over twice as many people. So looking at others sizes, mines is well understated. However I feel it is realistic, being 6.5% of tax rate (which is a lot, but for 2nd in region, not that high) and ~1% of population (my forces being equipment and training heavy), not such a large standing force, but very highly trained and equipped.

[Whaleboy]

"Alecrast: You have no tax though. Paying for your army might be difficult"

If I may speak for Archaic, I believe he now no INCOME tax, says nothing about other forms

ooc: Will I think we got different threads for that kinda stuff, the military ones....

[Archaic]

Drogue, I already addressed that issue in the other thread.

No income tax. We do have other taxation (A Goods and Services tax, or as you might know it, a Value Added Tax or VAT), though that's pretty much besides the point here except where the Foreign Legion is concerned, it being the only Alecraft force of any size to get the majority of its funding from the government. The Alecrast armed forces, including its navies and air force, are really somewhat "private armies" raised by the regional Dukes and Duchesses, various business concerns such as Nukes4U, and several of the labour unions (Such as the Union of Bikers and Truckers, which effectivly "owns" the MadBoyz Batallion. It's President, it should be noted, currently sits on the Council as Minister for Transport and Regional Services), as well as the Monarch, out of their own pockets through the incomes they make with their business concerns, which work together out of interests of national cohesion and security. All the men, including those in the reserves, get paid quite handsomely for their services. And so they're not "dead weight", the Alecrast armed forces are frequently "loaned out" to other liberal and/or capitalistic nations (As a rule not to Dictators unless their citizens have both full civil and economic rights, such as with Bulbagarden) for defence, which has both given the forces field training that money simply cannot buy, and gives them a steady income that gets reinvested straight back into them.

[GeneralTacticus]

Further events in the Elethar conflict and related matters:

- Government control over the secondary island has been completely eliminated, as MArijuanian forces have occupied it entirely.

- The first Centralis marines to land have been massively reinforced, with another quarter of a million troops being poured in, including the elite Centralis 'Ironsides' and 'Salamanders' units.

- At least half of the surviving eletharian army is beleived to have either deserted or gone rogue, leaving a total force of approximately 300 000, largely position along the norhtern coast and around the capital.

- The NCLE stated that it was preparing, upon international approval, to declare a provisional revolutionary government. With over half the country now in the hands of forces controlled by members, NCLE leader Thabo Santos said that it only made sense for the NCLE to be considered the de facto government of Elethar.

- Centralis paratroopers have landed near the site of the cave comlex destoryed yesterday, but have yet to find anything to confirm or deny that the Grand Poobah was there when it was hit. The search continues.

- There have been no reports of further terrorist acts today, thankfully, but the Ministry for State Security has stated that a number of people have been arrested for planning or attempting to commit terrorist actions, largely concentrated in central Geelong, which has now become virtually a garrison state, with checkpoints every few hundred metres inside the arcologies and counter-terrorist forces patrolling the corridors.

[Giovanni Wine]

The Wine Prime Minister as well as King Giovanni are now back into their offices, after a long visit to the "Free Land of Peaceloving People" where they were discussing with President Pietro a possible increase of the Wine Naval Presence around the peaceful island in order to better protect them in this turbolent times, as under the Dolcetto Treaty (for those who don't know it, the Dolcetto Treaty is a defense treaty between my 3 nations: Wine, Savoia and Peaceloving People).

When they got back they founded their desk covered with papers and a huge "to do" pile.

It seems as the coalition is now getting the upperhand over the forces of Elethar, we might be able to provide some backing and dispatch a few Air Wings upon request by any of the power involved (except for Elethar of course), currently Wine is not involved in the conflict, but after reading the many dispatchs sent to us by Centralis, Marijuania and others that Wine was indeed a target of the terrorists, the least we can do is provide some help to the fighting forces.

(OOC: I had a lot to do in school, so I missed all the action... darn)

Saluti

[Whaleboy]

Marijuanian forces have secured the secondary island of Elethar, and are preparing two naval bases, one to the south, mainly for supplies, and one to the East, facing the primary island, where our navy will be based to reinforce the Centralis campaign. It is also a base of operations to launch patrols around the entire Elethan primary island.

Meantime, the escaping frigates have been joined by two additional destroyers that escaped from a small Elethan port this morning, overwhelming the Marijuanian gunboat that engaged them. That boat was lost with all hands.

The MSS Hood and MSS Judas are chasing these five ships. The Hood has temporarily pulled back with minor engine trouble, and the Judas has accelerated to engage the five vessels from behind.

This should be an easy engagement, the Judas is very well armed and powered, and the superbattleship Hood is the daddy!

Security in the Marijuanian mainland remains high, as it does in Stanleystan. A force of bombers, fighter escorts, and Hastings-class interceptors has been deployed in the secondary Island of Elethar.

We ask that after the war, Centralis takes command of Elethar as a protectorate or something (OOC: Makes sense, it is your nation ).

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by elijah
Meantime, the escaping frigates have been joined by two additional destroyers that escaped from a small Elethan port this morning, overwhelming the Marijuanian gunboat that engaged them. That boat was lost with all hands.

Under the order of Vice-Admiral Pak, battlegroup Clayton intercepted the fleeing Eletharan vessels. Three were sunk in a brief engagement, and the other two surrendered.

[Jack_www]

Jackson Marines, Paratroopers and Armor divisions with attack helicopters have landed on Elethar to restored order to the nation and crush what ever forces are left behind from the recent attacks. Currently we have encounter only smal pockets of resistance as the command and control of their army is completly gone.
Also we have UAVs scouting ahead of our main forces along with recon brigades. Thus will be able to pin point all hostile troop locations and wipe them out before they know we are there.

[GeneralTacticus]

It would appear that this conflict has effectively ended as a 'war', and will henceforth be a mere counter-insurgency campaign. The corpse of the Grand Poobah has been located in the bombed-out cave complex, and the capital has fallen with minimal losses. The NCLE has now proclaimed the establishment of the Provisional Revolutionary Government, headed by representatives from all the major oppositino groups, and has requested international recognition and assistance in hunting down the remaining apartheid troops, which are still beleived to number at least 400 000, counting those units that have deserted but are still fighting together.

[Mr. President]

Several TV stations in nearby Dakmoristan received e-mails threatening attacks against that nation as reprisals for its close relationship with Centralis. They also warned that other allies of the belligerents would face terrorist attacks, specifically naming Karakas, Wine, and Capitalstan as targets of their anger.

The Department of Internal Security is attempting to trace the origin of the messages.

[Mr. President]

In the wake of Dakmoristan's announcement, the government of Karakas announced it had foiled what appeared to be a serious terrorist plot.

Security guards at the Argoth arcology compound outside Ithaca in southern Karakas observed two suspicious individuals approaching the compound's water treatment section. When challenged by the guards, they produced weapons and opened fire. The guards responded in kind, killing one intruder and critically wounding the other.

Each of the men was carrying several shaving cream cans that had been modified to hold hazardous chemicals. The cans were full of the poison ricin. If not for the quick actions of the guards, hundreds could have died.

Argoth's head of security praised his men for their decisive action, and said that they would receive recognition. The incident has triggered a massive security crackdown in Karakas, with hundreds reportedly detained or deported. Several men were arrested by the Militia in Pendelhaven and are being held incommunicado.

No group has claimed responsibility for the foiled attack, although government sources said that elements allied with Elethar are suspected.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
Under the order of Vice-Admiral Pak, battlegroup Clayton intercepted the fleeing Eletharan vessels. Three were sunk in a brief engagement, and the other two surrendered.

On the surviving destroyer Nooslandian marines discovered a treasure trove consisting of golden bricks, golden and silver coins, and precious stones such as emeralds and diamonds. These ships will be searched further when they return to one of the Nooslandian naval bases.

Salvage missions are being planned to search and/or raise the sunken vessels for valuable items.

These will be returned to the new legitimate government of Elethar.

[Urban Ranger]

Nooslandian Intelligence - Signal Intelligence Unit, with the help of Nooslandian Institute of Computing and Cybernetics Research, broke an encrypted transmission that was intercepted two weeks ago.

Initial analysis shows that the document describes a new terrorist weapon being researched by Elethar, and it is based on the principle of resonance.

[Whaleboy]

Following the destruction of the escaping elethan fleet by Noosland, the appropriately named MSS Judas has sent a disturbing transmission.

It states that the captain and a few bridge crew were trapped in the command centre of their vessel, as Elethan agents, no doubt incensed by the news of their nations defeat, slaughtered the Marijuanian crew, and seized control of the vessel. The final words stated that they were cutting through the bulkheads, and that they didnt have time to destroy the main computer and the transponder codes. That is particularly disturbing, as the computer and transponder database contains full information on all military craft, including subs, ships and especially aircraft, that Marijuania is aware of. It means that this heavy cruiser is very strong against possible air attacks, and sea attacks.

We insist that no-one engage the Judas, with this information at their disposal, the advanced weaponry systems and the targetting controls, any air strike would suffer heavy losses and sea attacks are useless, as the ship is out of range of all but the MSS Hood, whose engines are being frantically repaired. This is the only class of ship currently capable of downing the Judas. That vessel is currently steaming towards the Hood, where is will be attacked by the superior artillery as soon as it enters range. The Hood crew are attempting to modify the transponder signiture of its attached fighters, so as to order an air attack. The Hoods sister ship, the MSS Liberty is steaming towards this position. We cannot allow any enemy to gain and retain control over one of our most effective warships.

The Marley shuttle in orbit has photographed action on the aft-deck of the Judas. We request information from Noosland about the resonance weapon, it is possible that they are contructing it on the Judas, as a naval delivery platform, in addition to the existing weapons.

[GeneralTacticus]

Oh, great... just what we needed. How long-ranged are the Judas' AA Missiles? Would it be possible to send airstrikes overheard too high up to be targetted, alternatively, could we try to jam their radars and make their targetting systems useless?

[Jack_www]

We have several attack subs in the area that are super queit and possible can sneak up on the Judas. The only way they could dectect the subs is if they go to active sonar. Lets hope the agents on board are too stupid to use it.

[Urban Ranger]

Noosland suggests a raid to be conducted by the Wave Raiders, Special Forces specialised in conducting operations on the high seas.

A number of our attack subs began to converge on the position of MSS Judas, while our satellites has a constant fix of it.

Battlegroup Clayton can easily destroy the cruiser with concentrated missile and gun attack, but the question is whether this is desirable.

[Whaleboy]

"Would it be possible to send airstrikes overheard too high up to be targetted"

Unlikely, after such a high altitude, you are still at risk from the larger guided rockets, although the Judas only carries 6, they can fragment. Also at that high altitude, the ships ECM will make targetting, especially for guided bombs a tricky business.

Having said that, missile satellite attacks and possibly very high altitude fighters might be effective, thinking more of the Hastings class, but the transponder codes in the latter case are vulnerable, and the ECM would cause the same problem for satellites as high-altitude aircraft.

"could we try to jam their radars and make their targetting systems useless?"

All large Marijuanian ships are equipped with a powerful radar, the only thing powerful enough to jam it would be another ship, pretty close in, which is not really a tactical option. Also the vessel does not solely rely on radar, it has scanners for many parts of the EM band. The only vessel capable of effectively defeating it with pure power and the correct frequencies are larger Marijuanian ships. Fortunately, the Hood is preparing to engage.

"We have several attack subs in the area that are super queit and possible can sneak up on the Judas"

That could work, but only if they torpedoes are also quiet so as to prevent the Judas knowing where to fire into the water. The subs would be another risky endeavor, the ship uses active sonar by default, such a big ship is a hard target to miss, so whats the point of trying to be stealthy normally? The ship was not configured for stealth at the time of capture, so they would not change it even if they knew how.

"A number of our attack subs began to converge on the position of MSS Judas"

We suggest they fall back to the protection of the Marijuanian task force heading their way (comprising the MSS Liberty, a smaller battleship and two heavy cruisers). Marijuanias recent incidents with gunboats forced us to install numerous short-range systems. Also the vessels will be vulnerable to rockets and of course 14 and 8 inch shells from the Judas.

While we cannot guarantee the failure of these missions, these are all attacks that large Marijuanian vessels are designed to repel, and the combination of good sensors, computers and strong weapons works very well in testing, our navy was set up with the aim of countering the threats of air and undersea, which had otherwise killed off the heavy warship.

"Battlegroup Clayton can easily destroy the cruiser with concentrated missile and gun attack, but the question is whether this is desirable"

We like to think that Marijuanian design is a little stronger than that but of course you are correct. We would like to retain the ship first, and put the terrorists up for trial, and rescue any hostages they have.

As such, the Hood's shells have been loaded with an opiate-based tranquiliser, the Judas was not carrying chemical/biological suits at the time so the Elethans are vulnerable.

The Judas and its sister ships are expensive heavy cruisers that carry some of our most advanced tech, we would prefer to retain them if we can, while our armed forces are not as large as we would like. If the Hood's attempts fail, then we will permit other nations and our own to destroy the Judas.

The Hood remains the nearest ship, the engines have been partially repaired, it can maneovre for combat. It is also the heaviest armed ship in the vicinity, it will enter weapons range within 7 hours.

More news will develop as we get it.

In other news, the administration of the secondary island of Elethar has been linked to the provisional government on the primary island, while Marijuanian troops are assisting in the rebuilding of areas that need it. We are flooding in all the troops we can afford to maintain law and order, and to serve the functions of the government until that is fully enabled. We report education, policing, healthcare and transportation to be operating reasonably well in these areas.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by elijah
That could work, but only if they torpedoes are also quiet so as to prevent the Judas knowing where to fire into the water. The subs would be another risky endeavor, the ship uses active sonar by default, such a big ship is a hard target to miss, so whats the point of trying to be stealthy normally? The ship was not configured for stealth at the time of capture, so they would not change it even if they knew how.

[OCC]
Cruisers are generally not designed for ASW, so they don't have any sonars to speak of. However, your deisgn might be different.
[/OCC]

[Urban Ranger]

My question is, do the Elethan agents know how to operate the ship? So far, it has remained in position.

[Sheep]

With the involvement of long time rival Alecrast, all nations of the Treaty of Mt.Gravatt have pl;aced their strategic forces in the region on high alert, and the cobined navies of the Treaty have started manouvers in case the king of Alecrast entertains any ideas of landing once more in Sheepsta.

[Urban Ranger]

At 04:57 local time, a Wave Riders group boarded the hijacked cruiser MSS Judas under the cover of a light fog. Coordinated with an Alpha Dagger Team that had been inserted previously to rescue the bridge crew, the Special Forces members took the Elethan agents by surprise. The opposition was quickly overwhelmed in under 30 minutes, with a few trying to get away in small crafts.

As of this moment the MSS Judas is secured by Nooslandian marines, ready to be handed over to the proper authorities. We are also searching for the light crafts with ASW fixed wing planes and helicopters.

[Whaleboy]

The Marijuanian government did not give its permission, nor was it sought, for this action. While we do not want to make an issue out of it, and are glad for the relatively peaceful conclusion, the ship was Marijuanian, had not as yet attacked anyone else, and under the protection of the Marijuanian navy. The best tactical option at the time was the MSS Hood. We specified that we would only give permission for any other action if the MSS Hood failed. It did not have a chance to to engage, and was most likely to succeed, given the higher risk of the other options.

The Noosland action was performed without the help of Marijuanian navy or intelligence, who know more about this vessel, nor with the conjunction of the Marijuanian navy, who have naval superiority in the area.

This high-risk, cavalier exercise could easily have backfired, and as such, we will not condone it. However, it did bring the issue to a conclusion, with the safe return of the surviving crew. Therefore, we will not condemn Nooslands actions either. The ship itself is currently being crewed by men from the MSS Hood, following the release of the vessel to Marijuania.

[Urban Ranger]

Legally, that was an anti-piracy operation which requires no authorization given that the MSS Judas was in international waters. We deferred to the Marijuanian government in a gesture of goodwill, however, such a powerful vessel could cause a lot of damage before it is finally taken out. As such, swift and decisive action is required to see to it that will not happen.

It is indeed fortunate that the MSS Judas did not attempt to attack or engage Battlegroup Clayton, for Central Command authorised the use of all necessary force for self-protection.

[Whaleboy]

Self protection was justified, however not called for as the ship was not attacking anyone else. The Elethan agents on board were disguised as crew, thus registered as crew under intenational law, so the incident was nothing but a mutiny or insurrection, not piracy, as the ship had broken no law on the high seas.

Also, our satellite records show that the vessel was 2km within Stanleystan (Marijuanian) waters.

Such a powerful vessel can cause damage anyway, no matter which crew. Does one take out a vessel simply because it is powerful? In which case, one would take out our entire navy.

The vessel was in our waters, was Marijuanian registry, was a Marijuanian naval registry, was under the influence of local Marijuanian naval superiority, had not attacked anyone else, and the best tactical option at the time lay with the MSS Hood. Legally, it was not a piracy operation, and next time, we would like permission to be sought and obtained before such an incident happens again, particularly since we require all vessels, military or not, to ask permission before entering Marijuanian waters.

Our satellite images shows that the vessel was in fact heading away from Battlegroup Clayton, towards the MSS Hood and the MSS Liberty, futher in Marijuanian waters, probably to surrender as it must have known it was tactically ourmatched. This makes the Noosland actions less justifiable. However, we shall let it pass, seeing as how no harm was actually done. We must insist that such an endeavor is not undertaken again, without the express permission of that government involved.