Eternal Reich

The Strength Of Ironblood & Revelations To Reno

The Congo Colonial Possession by Ironblood was fraught with instability from the moment it was established. The region, already devastated by the Siren occupation, was left in ruins, and its population, numbering only 4 million, was scattered across various poorly constructed cities and villages. These settlements, rife with disease and famine, struggled to survive due to the severe lack of funding from Ironblood. The situation was exacerbated by the civil war raging within Ironblood itself, which diverted crucial resources away from the colony.

In the Congo, the fragile state of affairs gave rise to widespread discontent among the local population. Uprisings began to break out in key cities such as Kinshasa, Brazzaville, Kisangani, and Bangui. The rebels, numbering nearly 900,000, were composed primarily of poorly armed militia and levies, yet their sheer numbers and determination posed a significant threat. They were pitted against the Ironblood garrison, a force of 125,000 troops equipped with outdated bolt-action rifles and machine guns. Though the garrison had the upper hand in terms of firepower and training, the rebels' guerrilla tactics and intimate knowledge of the terrain allowed them to continue their resistance.

Numerous skirmishes were fought across the Congo, with many resulting in tactical victories for the Ironblood garrison. However, these victories were often short. lived, as the rebels would retreat, regroup, and launch new attacks elsewhere. The garrison, spread thin across the vast and hostile territory, was forced to construct small forts to secure their lines of communication and prevent further rebel advances. Despite these efforts, the situation remained a stalemate, with neither side able to deliver a decisive blow.

In response to the current situation, Casia, planned a swift and decisive intervention. Recognizing the growing threat posed by the rebels and the potential for Parliamentary forces in Africa to exploit the chaos, she decided to deploy the Ironblood Space Fleet to crush the rebellion. The plan involved a series of rapid drops on key rebel-held cities, with the goal of overwhelming the insurgents before they could mount an effective defense. Once the rebels were neutralized, troops and support personnel would be deployed to address the rampant diseases and famine plaguing the region.

However, Casia was wary of committing her most advanced forces to the Congo, given the likelihood of further conflicts elsewhere. Instead, she opted to equip the intervention force with outdated but still effective weaponry, sufficient to maintain control of the colony without drawing too much attention from potential enemies. Extensive surveillance of Parliamentary troop movements in South Africa had revealed that their forces were similarly composed of poorly equipped levies, making a minimal but strategic deployment in the Congo a viable option.

Leading the operation was KMS New Jersey, accompanied by Z23, a veteran of the Civil War. Their mission was clear it's to swiftly and ruthlessly extinguish the rebel threat in the Congo, secure the colony, and prepare for the possibility of future conflicts in the region. As the space fleet prepared to launch, the fate of the Congo hung in the balance, with Casia's gambit poised to either stabilize the region or plunge it into deeper chaos that would benefit Ironblood further.

.........

June 22, 2004

It was a silent night for the rebels guarding their positions on the outskirts of Brazzaville. The perimeter was well-lit by towers, and the rebels were confident that no surprise attacks would come from the Ironblood garrison, whose troops were spread thin across the Congo. The rebels, hardened by years of conflict, had grown accustomed to the routine of holding their ground against the sporadic, outdated assaults of the Ironblood forces. But this night would be different, a turning point in the brutal struggle for control over the Congo.

Unbeknownst to the rebels, high above them in space, the Adler class carrier, commanded by KMS New Jersey, had begun a covert operation that would change the course of the conflict. The carrier, an imposing symbol of Ironblood’s technological might, had launched its squadrons of aircraft toward Brazzaville and other key rebel strongholds. These aircraft were the vanguard of a meticulously planned assault, designed to crush the rebel resistance in a single, decisive blow. The plan was simple yet devastating: bomb the cities into submission, then send in ground forces led by Z23 to secure the remnants.