“Orland adopts hawkish policies! Queen Amelie Ludendorf of Orland made a ‘warmongering’ and ‘outrageous’ speech according to her detractors, or a ‘call to arms’ and ‘united defense’ by her supporters. The Queen of Orland vocally criticized in front of the General Assembly the ‘fence-sitters’ who obstruct the MN Defense Pact, or the MN Resolution 3250 that called for the collective defense of all MN member states against aggression by the ‘rogue states’ of the Coalition of Free Nations. The Orlish Queen outlined that these nations’ anemic reactions are endangering the safety of the worldwide citizenry, and going as far as threatening to vacate the talks of collective defense if MN member states fail to make a decision in time and begin defensive preparations. Her speech had been widely supported by Ivory Alliance member states, countries already invaded by the CFN or of the Confederacy, both North and South Opellia, but Imperial Asanai and the ‘peace’ bloc have remained silent on the matter. The Orlish Government has also supported their Queen’s speech, with Prime Minister Jacqueline Heiss declaring that preparations against threats to the world’s security, stability, and peace must be tackled with a ‘proactive response’.”

- Geopol Press

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Kingdom of Gallia

Toldoi City

April 2, 2025

“Well, you certainly made your point well over there,” General Victor Albrecht chuckled as Amelie was received in the command room of VACCOM’s branch in Gallia. Amelie could only shake her head as she entered, the officers of VACCOM all removing their caps as she entered as a sign of respect.

“That I did,” Amelie smiled. “I hope those nations received my words well.”

“We all hope they do, Your Majesty.” General Albrecht said. Amelie looked around the room. Indeed…it was now very much less populated than it should be. Quite frankly, there were now only four nations left in the Ivory Alliance. The Kingdom of Orland, its military leader. The Kingdom of Lorathia. The Kingdom of Gallia. And of course, the newly-reinstated Kingdom of Lieplatz.

Still, inside the room, the old flags of the lost members, the Kingdoms of Lombardia and Asturia, were still present. Almost as if these officers still held a nostalgic holdover to their former, now revolutionary allies.

But Amelie could only see officers of the four Kingdoms. In fact, even the Lieplatzan officers were…well, there were only three of them. Seemingly from their Air Force, Navy, and Army. Realistically, there were only three nations in the Ivory Alliance. Lieplatz might as well just be a client state pretending to be an independent nation.

Still…we’ll make do with what we have.

What could she do? The odds had never been this stacked against Orland ever since. The Ivory Alliance was supposed to be the premier military power of the civilized world. The ones who possessed the most well-trained and well-equipped militaries, ready to fight against the Order Pact’s numerically superior forces. And win against them.

Now…their leader was in a civil war. Lieplatz collapsed. Lombardia was snuffed from them without an ounce of resistance. And Asturia completely defected to the other state. All the while Gallia’s Armed Forces remained as incompetent as ever, with Lorathia not lagging behind.

Still, I’ll make do. That was how Amelie led anyway. She certainly was a glorified janitor, that was the truth. Or a firefighter. Born just in time to lead right when the junk of her mothers and grandmothers finally piled up their collective stank at the same time. How she would stop the CFN with this motley alliance, she didn’t fully know.

But…she’d have to trust these men and women. As always.

Amelie sighed. “Ladies, gentlemen, I am honored to be in this room. As you all know, Gallia is under the threat of an invasion, and you…will be the ones that will be leading the defense of this nation. General Albrecht.”

“Aye, Your Majesty,” General Albrecht marched forward. “We’ll begin in earnest at planning the defense of this nation. Let us start with the most important part of our defense. The Gallian Armed Forces.”

Immediately, a black-haired woman wearing an elaborately designed white uniform spoke with confidence.

“Your Majesty, General Albrecht, I believe that Gallia is prepared for any aggression against our homeland.”

Princess Louise Alois, the next on the throne to Gallia, just four years older than Amelie, leader of the Order of Harmony, an elite corps-sized formation of the Gallian Royal Guard, and rumored to be de facto in charge of Gallia’s Armed Forces and the leading figures of its purges…err, “defanging” wasn’t someone that Amelie trusted with her words.

Her apparent fiancee, a meek-looking man named Marshall Henry Tuvein, just twenty-five, only nodded in approval to his Princess’ words. Quite frankly, these two were hand-in-hand in the entire Asturian Intervention fiasco, as they led the operation from day one. However, Amelie knew that it was really the overly ambitious Princess who, as Marie said, ‘an egotistical woman who had dreams of conquering Vaeyox herself before she became Queen’ that was running the entire trainwreck.

Of course, these two, already slated to be the next Queen and King of Gallia, wouldn't be replaced. Unlike in Orland where Orlish Queens couldn’t care less about their military prowess, where a Princess that would step back and let her ministers and government do all the work was preferred by the people for Queenly duties, in Gallia, military prestige was something popular. After all, they were right in front of the Order Pact.

A Gallian Queen must be someone who could lead her men to the defense of her people.

And thus this. Ironic, Amelie thought, considering how inept they were in actual fighting. Then again, it was all for optics anyway. Just like House Ludendorf’s supposed love for constitutional rule, until Amelie discovered that she had such wide ranges of powers she could wield all because she shouted “emergency!”

“Is that so, Princess Alois?” Amelie asked. “I have heard that…there have been problems with the Gallian military’s leadership?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” the Princess laughed as if it was all comical. “I assure you, Your Majesty, we have dealt with the problem ourselves. There won’t be a single officer in the Gallian Army that would dare act with insubordination to his nation’s defense. Isn’t that right, Marshall Tuvein?”

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“Aye, Your Highness.”

“See,” the Princess smiled. “I monitor the GAF with utmost efficiency. And my dearest Marshall Tuvein over here is a competent man ready to lead this nation’s defense forces. There won’t be cracks in our defenses. Nothing at all.”

Yeah…sure you say that, Princess…

Marshall Tuvein then intervened. “As Her Highness said, the GAF remains a formidable force. We have erm…shifted, yes, our forces from the southern borders.”

I wonder why you fools have to shift them now. And why you had to have them there in the first place.

“Alongside that, we are mobilizing our Great War formations. Within a few more weeks, the Gallian Armed Forces should swell to more than a million troops in the front against the Order Pact, with millions more in reserve. Defenses are being built, logistical lines are being prepared, and exercises for preparations are being done.”

Princess Alois smiled widely until she turned back to Amelie.

“See, we’re doing fine. Your Majesty, what about your nation?”

Don’t look smugly at me. Amelie really wasn’t a fan of overconfident people like her. I bet my few brigades will do more than those millions you’re mobilizing.

“General Albrecht,” Amelie called, and his General naturally responded quickly.

“Your Highness, Orland, as you know, has already sent three mechanized infantry brigades to the frontlines. They will soon be joined by two armored brigades, and alongside that, our new light mech brigades. The M2 LSS Panthers shall soon join the fields of Vaeyox. These six brigades will form the I OEF Corps.”

“...Your Majesty,” Princess Alois shook her head. “Is that really all Orland will offer? Twenty-five thousand troops, two hundred tanks at maximum, and a brigade of LSS Panthers. How many mechs would even be in it?”

“...” Amelie didn’t really know yet, luckily, as always, her reliable General was quick to the rescue.

“Your Highness, we will be sending the 5th Light Mech Brigade ‘Donnergrollen’, part of the 12th Light Mech Division ‘Vereinigt’, and a veteran of the Battle of Halia, where it fought with the modern era’s largest armored battle. Two hundred sixteen M2 LSS Panthers will be landing in your nation under the 5th Light Mech Brigade, that’s four battalions of LSS Mechs, two of which are the cream of the crop. Your Highness…these men may be few, but they’re the best Orland can offer in high-intensity maneuver warfare. The I OEF Corps will act as our most effective QRF force.”

“Is that so?” The Gallian Princess seemed skeptical, which only irked Amelie more. Truly, her allies were insufferable. She sometimes wondered how it must be in the ranks of the CFN. If the CFN’s specialty was ruthlessness and brutality, the MN’s specialty must be its crippling incompetence.

Except for Orland and a few nations of course. Amelie seriously believed that if there was anything Orland now had for itself, it was their rapidly reforming military and military-industrial complex. Politically, her Kingdom was still stuck in its past ineptness. But at least she now had an economy with rapidly expanding production and a military growing in both power and capability to both fight a civil war at home and a global war outside of her borders.

My country will really have to do the heavy lifting in the end. She lamented about that, as General Albrecht and the Princess continued discussing whether or not the numbers of the I OEF Corps. Amelie knew that with the war coming, the numbers of the I OEF Corps wouldn’t be enough in the long run.

But, she had already been insured that they, again, were the cream of the crop. The OAF after all was still under a major reorganization to its smaller, more mobile, full brigade-based operational organization. The divisional command had fully proven itself to be…outdated. Thus, they were forming fully integrated and self-sufficient brigades that had already existed beforehand (as special independent units) from these divisions with the lull in the fighting.

She was expecting her armored and light mech brigades to be fully formed within a year. The target, of course, was high. At least twenty-eight armored brigades and sixteen light mech brigades. Why? Because she was going to fight an open conflict in the seas. The OAF estimated that it would need a full one hundred thousand specialized expeditionary forces in Gallia within six months of fighting.

But for now, this woman was pushing her buttons and demanding more right now. I OEF Corps was what she could provide. That was six damned brigades of the OAF’s best. Why the subtle mockery then? Thankfully, General Albrecht held the Princess’ gigantic head off and answered the questions respectfully, and it seemed that even she understood not to press too hard.

All while the Lorathians and Lieplatzans watched silently in the background.

“Onto the plans then,” Amelie said. “What shall our plan be?”

“On that, VACCOM has produced War Plan Cyan,” General Albrecht declared. “The focus of War Plan Cyan is the effective defense of three defensive lines for the first six months of the offensive.”

With that, everyone finally turned to the map on the table. Amelie saw three defined defense lines, each filled with the assigned positions of each unit on three defensive lines. The first defensive line seemed to be directly in the DMZ.

The second defense line was a little further back, utilizing a few river lines and abandoning the Liebnich peninsula and the northeastern provinces of Gallia.

The third one was only a few kilometers away from Toldoi, lined along four major cities from the Heuse river up north, and the Pezzan border in the south.

“Our first defensive line, of course, would be the DMZ. We cannot abandon this line until the position turns untenable, due to how many defenses we have constructed on it. The Orlish, Lorathian, and Gallian Air Force must thus ensure air superiority or deny the CFN air superiority to prevent any breakthrough.” General Albrecht finished.

“And that’s something the GAF is ready to do so,” the Princess proudly interjected. “Surely, those disorganized rebels would struggle to break through this.”

General Albrecht, of course, kept his lips off from speaking contrary to her claims.

“If they do, however, we shall move into the so-called ‘Loop–Satre’ line. Running from the coastal city of Loop, down to the town of Satre on the Pezzan border. This defensive line takes into account a few rivers, and as you’ve all reported, the GAF has already constructed scattered defense lines and trench lines in this area.”

Marshall Henry Tuvein nodded. “Indeed we have. We even have garrison troops already manning the defenses we have there. We can occupy it rapidly if need be.”

“Then, of course, the third defensive line,” General Albrecht said. “By this point, however, we expect that the enemy would have been sufficiently depleted. Unlike in the Great War, we will be abandoning land and refusing to fight over it whenever the situation turns untenable. These lines are meant to be held for a few weeks to inflict casualties on their armored core, and we shall be conducting fighting retreats whenever it is clear that we have to, in order to stretch their lines.”

General Albrecht then pointed his finger again on the third defense line. “Once we reach this place, the Orlish Air Force will have at least eight hundred air assets over the skies of Gallia. Alongside that, we should have reinforced the badly mauled I OEF Corps with four newly reorganized armored brigades. With the help of fresh Lorathian Expeditionary Forces as further reinforcements, we shall conduct a piercing offensive…a breakthrough, with our armor, on the center of the frontlines. Their weakened forces will collapse, and we will drive north—to the coast of northeastern Gallia.”

Amelie seemed impressed by General Albrecht’s plans. He certainly wasn’t planning on a drawn-out attritional battle for Gallia. Instead…it almost seemed like War Plan Cyan would be a feigned retreat plan. Lure them deep into Gallia while weakening them with casualties, then once they reach the final fortified line right when Orlish and Lorathian reinforcements arrive—their combined forces would suddenly attack and encircle them.

“And with that—we may avoid another drawn-out trench warfare in northern Gallia. War Plan Cyan, ladies and gentlemen, will be Gallia’s salvation, even with the sacrifices that would be made.”