USI Temp -- travel journal

TJ.

2015/11/11 (As written at the time)

2015/11/11 -- Something like three years ago, I was assigned to div in Pastel. There I met Eugene a few months ago. Together we took part in the repelling of the Sinevians in August IIRC, then I was told to take direct command of a small [f] fleet. It was pleasant at first, but soon we had to fight off the Sinevian again during the Kouka Campaign. Seeing that they couldn't possibly invade by simply crossing the frontier between [f] and the Velpador, they tried to go through the Kouka kingdom; what they didn't know, was that we actually had the same idea. It resulted in a costly conflict on the Kouka territories. Fortunately, after a month or so, our fleet managed to reach the southern tip of Kouka and there, with help from one of the neighboring countries (Quasermanel), we were able to sink most of the Sinevian ships.
The "road" (by sea) to the South of Kouka wasn't an easy one though, as we had to clear one of the Western islands, but I think it was worth it in the end since at that time we captured an enemy aircraft carrier. A wooden one, but still a good one : small but well designed. It's called the Picnic and seems to be the only one of its class. Post-writing note for something I legitimately forgot to write down (2016/08/27): Pastel High Command also sent a modern aircraft carrier to assist us sometime during the Kouka campaign, a large one called Inspiration.
After that we encountered a flying ship (that's right : a flying ship) from an unknown country far to the West; fortunately, its crew was nice and they told us they were traveling to the East for reasons they couldn't tell us. We understood and suggested that we should explore what lied to the East together (their ship and our fleet). Mutually escorting each other we departed and soon we arrived to the "Second Dial", as Eugene put it. Another set of giant islands (continents, really) was waiting for us there. We began exploring and we met some nice people there, but we didn't stop for long. We then continued our road to the East.
The Third Dial was literally nothing but yogurt, or at least that's what it seemed. An endless sea of yogurt. We had a hard time sailing in this sea of yogurt first, but then some people of the Second Dial provided us with machines that enabled us to get through.
In the sea of yogurt we spotted the remains of the Sinevian fleet; only two ships. We thought we should capture them or sink them if they proved hostile; they indeed proved hostile, as they first tricked us into believing they were willing to surrender, but then they turned around and used one of their C1 cannon to destroy our flagship's command bridge. Two people died in the explosion and several other passed out, me among them.
When I woke up we were back in the Second Dial; from what I've been told a few days ago, the Sinevians were joined by another, unknown fleet during the battle, and our own fleet had to withdraw despite our air superiority. We saw the end of the yogurt sea though; it's only several thousands kilometers long before the yogurt becomes salted water again.
So currently we are stuck at the Second Dial. Not really stuck, but docked in a port for necessary repairs and to allow everyone to rest. When we depart again we know we'll have to face the Sinevians and their new, unkown allies; but this time we'll send some air recon units to light the way.

2015/11/11 (UPDATED)

2015/11/11 -- Something like three years ago, I was assigned to div in Pastel. There I met Eugene a few months after. Together we took part in the repelling of the Sinevians in August IIRC, then I was told to take direct command of a small Pastel fleet. It was pleasant at first, but soon we had to fight off the Sinevians again during the Kouka Campaign. Seeing that they couldn't possibly invade by simply crossing the frontier between Pastel and the Velpador, they tried to go through the Kouka kingdom; what they didn't know, was that we actually had the same idea. It resulted in a costly conflict on the Kouka territories. Fortunately, after a month or so, our fleet managed to reach the southern tip of Kouka and there, with help from one of the neighboring countries (Quasermanel), we were able to sink most of the Sinevian ships.
The "road" (by sea) to the South of Kouka wasn't an easy one though, as we had to clear one of the Western islands, but I think it was worth it in the end since at that time we captured an enemy aircraft carrier. A wooden one, but still a good one : small but well designed. It's called the Picnic and seems to be the only one of its class. Post-writing note for something I legitimately forgot to write down (2016/08/27): Pastel High Command also sent a modern aircraft carrier to assist us sometime during the Kouka campaign, a large one called Inspiration.
After that we encountered a flying ship (that's right : a flying ship) from an unknown country far to the West; fortunately, its crew was nice and they told us they were traveling to the East for reasons they couldn't tell us. We understood and suggested that we should explore what lied to the East together (their ship and our fleet). Mutually escorting each other we departed and soon we arrived to the "Second Dial", as Eugene put it. Another set of giant islands (continents, really) was waiting for us there. We began exploring and we met some nice people there, but we didn't stop for long. We then continued our road to the East.
The Third Dial was literally nothing but yogurt, or at least that's what it seemed. An endless sea of yogurt. We had a hard time sailing in this sea of yogurt first, but then some people of the Second Dial provided us with machines that enabled us to get through.
In the sea of yogurt we spotted the remains of the Sinevian fleet; only two ships. We thought we should capture them or sink them if they proved hostile; they indeed proved hostile, as they first tricked us into believing they were willing to surrender, but then they turned around and used one of their C1 cannon to destroy our flagship's command bridge. Two people died in the explosion and several other passed out, me among them.
When I woke up we were back in the Second Dial; from what I've been told a few days ago, the Sinevians were joined by another, unknown fleet during the battle, and our own fleet had to withdraw despite our air superiority. We saw the end of the yogurt sea though; it's only several thousands kilometers long before the yogurt becomes salted water again.
So currently we are stuck at the Second Dial. Not really stuck, but docked in a port for necessary repairs and to allow everyone to rest. When we depart again we know we'll have to face the Sinevians and their new, unkown allies; but this time we'll send some air recon units to light the way.

2015/12/02

2015/12/02 -- Quite a few things happened since last time I wrote here. We managed to send the remaining Velpadorian ships and their new allies to the bottom of the yogurt sea. The battle lasted for a whole day, it has been a bit fierce but we did sink them. We had total air superiority, since we had two carriers and they had none. Mid-November High Command had sent us some Mig-15s (also called Mig-20 apparently) from the mainland to fill our wooden Picnic-class carrier. Thanks to these cheap but efficient aircrafts we managed to effectively recon most of the yogurt sea before entering it. Then we spotted the enemy fleet. The two Sinevian ships we saw a few days earlier were there, two; but this time we used our Migs to neutralize their C1 cannon before they had a chance to use it. After that we closed their main fleet, and we noticed that their allies were using Ironclads. We had no problem dealing with them, although we lost a light cruiser during the battle as we closed the enemy. Everyone swam back to the Picnic though, and during the whole battle we only had to suffer five casualties (two dead, three wounded).
After the battle, we went directly East to enter the Fourth Dial. There we stumbled across another, small continent (I think it is small, since there are apparently only two nations/countries on it, but further investigation is to be done). There, we found two countries : a Kingdom and an Empire. The Kingdom people were very friendly and let us use their ports; they don't have airplanes and their ships are completely made of wood, but their grounded infrastructures are as modern as ours back in the First Dial.
We learned that the Empire, however, was the one who sent its military fleet to support and help the Velpadorians, which makes it our de facto enemy. We haven't got the chance to meet them yet, but I'm sure it can wait. From what we learned from the Kingdom people, the Kolorful Empire (that's the name of the Empire, that's not even a joke) was at war with the Kingdom five years ago, but surprisingly the K. completely destroyed their ground forces, which supposedly shouldn't have happened, since the Empire looks far more "advanced" with their Ironclad fleets and all. Well, the Royal Fleet WAS destroyed during the war, but what matters is infantry apparently. Anyway, we ourselves sank the Imperial Fleet so, no problem. In any case, relations between the two nations are still cold, as one can expect.

2016/07-08 -- Tchiho Crisis

2016-08-27 -- I hope it's over because I didn't really like that one. Tchiho is a large country just north of Manden, the machine country. Recently, either Tchiho went too far in its experiments or a natural disease simply appeared, but the country was ravaged by some sort of deadly plight that killed at least half of the population. In the ensuing chaos, a man called Babbo, former military, took control after a successful coup, and muster the Tchiho military around him.
The plight was very, very contagious and the Manden warned the ill Tchiho citizens that they shouldn't cross the border: the country was effectively in quarantine. Those who actually tried to cross the border to escape the chaotic country were shot by the Manden soldiers, which were posted all along the frontier. The thing is, with all its troops preventing the Tchiho people from crossing the border in order to avoid bringing the disease in Manden, the Manden military was actually pinned down.
On top of that, in his madness, Babbo began sending ill people by boat to the Manden East coast in order to either destabilize the Manden military or to spread the disease in Manden. Sounds bad? Pastel was naturally asked to intervene, and with a fleet of three aircraft carriers an several other ships, we had to repel the boats Babbo sent at us. Meaning sinking the ships full of people. Since there's no cure for the disease, these people were doomed anyway, but still. As much as possible we tried sinking the ships by torpedo not far from the Tchiho Southern coast so that the people inside could try and swim to the shore. But it was messy. Something had to be done and quick, and Babbo had gathered a somewhat strong fleet with what remained of the Tchiho National Fleet. To counter that, somewhere in the first half of August, Pastel, the Velpador and Manden formed a international temporary task force called PAMAVEL (Pastel, Manden, Velpador) to counter Babbo's plans, which were mostly acted at sea.

2016/08/26 -- Battle of Meret

Main article: Battle of Meret
The 24th of August, an operation was devised in order to capture Meret Harbor, the seaport from which Babbo sent us the boat. Actually, he had already stopped this (likely due to lack of remaining transport and ill people) but we still went with the operation. The result was the actual capture of Meret, but at a terrible cost: most of the Pamavel force was sunk, including aircraft carrier Midnight (that Pastel High Command sent us when Pamavel was created). (Actually the Midnight was reported missing on action. I didn't actually see it sink though, but the battle results screen lists a carrier as sunk, and I didn't combined either, so.)

2016-09 -- End of the Tchiho campaign

Main article: Battle of Pelecy

After the battle of Meret, PAMAVEL actually entered Tchiho with ground forces to clean Babbo's infernal mess and to put an end to its gloomy rebellion. After a few weeks of careful progress through Tchiho's countryside, cautiously staying on the road to avoid infection (Tchiho is 80% forests, and most animals were ill), we finally reached Pelecy, the capital, and managed to painstakingly take it (Battle of Pelecy). After the battle Babbo and most of his staff were captured alive.
Now we await its trial. A cure should hopefully be found soon. The death toll is unbelievable. Never had we imagined that it could be so high. It's truly the most terrible crisis the continent ever saw, I think.
PAMAVEL forces will soon be disbanded, as the war is now over. But I'm still not returning to Europe: Pastel and the Velpador want to organize a new expedition to explore the East, and I guess I'll be asked to be part of it, like last time. Hopefully it will go smoother too.

2016-11-06 -- CAP4 almost happened

Beginning of CAP4 on the continent...?
Expedition Helena, launched 15 of October, was very short-lived. After a few days of sailing to the N-E we stumbled across a somewhat large island on which the Velpador Rebel Fleet established a temporary base. Pamavel Command sent some boats there but our own fleet, which included the Picnic, was asked to return to the continent in the event war with Germifar actually happened. Because yes situation was very tense for a while between Germifar and the countries of the Pamavel. Most of the Manden infantry was still in position around the Tchiho border and recent conflicts depleted most of the Velpador and Pastel troops.
Now we wait and see.

2016-11-28

UPDATE: Thanks to the diplomatic effort provided by the nations of the Pamavel (now an official organization and not just a navy taskforce), war with Germifar has been avoided. Situation has been really tense during November 2016 but now things seem to cool down.
However, the VRF (Velpador Rebel Fleet) several thousands kilometers to the N-E of the continent are still a threat and must be dealt with somehow. According to info they have quite a lot of ships, most of which have been built there while we were struggling with the Tchiho Crisis. It wouldn't be surprising if they also had several cruisers from the Colorful Empire, with which they were allied not too long ago.
So now we've been sent back there with the Picnic, the Inspiration, the Zima of course, and a few other ships. Today's and yesterday's skirmishes cost us DD Imperial and DD Petard, but we also have a light cruiser, Orion, and we've just been reinforced with a Dido-class destroyer, the Phoebe IIRC, and another destroyer from the same class of the Petard, the Obedient. The Dido-class DD looks quite heavy and has 10 big guns in 5 batteries, I hope it will stay with us for a while. In recent skirmishes we also sunk several enemy DDs, a light cruiser, one or two submarines, and one or two large freighters.

2016-12-21

Expedition Ivan, led by Kamen, has encountered a large island on the West of the continent. From what Kamen and his fleet report, some people on the island have built or are still building some kind of gigantic structure that stretches to the skies, and some of the population are allowed to live there, while the rest must leave on the ground below in misery. Quite typical, but when Komen's fleet was noticed by locals, they made contact and people understood that the ships were coming from somewhere East, and some of them tried to sail in that direction using fishing boats that were obviously not made for such a journey. The guys on the structure up in the sky apparently began to shoot on the escapees, so Kamen wished to intervene but wasn't allowed to do so by Pamavel Command. So Kamen is angry and does his best to rescue as many people as possible. He has already sent back a destroyer full of these locals. Pamavel Command wishes to learn a bit more on this island before attempting anything, if anything is to be attempted at all. According to Kamen, it's very important that he be allowed soon to aggressively escort the departing boats but for now it appears he'll have to wait.
I have the feeling these expeditions create more problems than anything.
In other news, Expedition Julia to the S-W has encountered a whole continent complete with real advanced and developped nations, called Barlucolia, and contact has been made and everything is going smoothly there. There are three important nations in Barlucolia, Acacia, Malmatel and most importantly, Pefear (I guess it's pronounced pefe-ar and not peh-fear, but I'll have to ask Wisbech about that). Pefear is some kind of federation of small regions/empire that rules over 60-70% of the land of Barlucolia.
About the VRF, it appears that we must have sunk most of their fleet in the recent skirmishes because our patrols near their base island hasn't encountered anything in the past few days/weeks. So we've withdrew a few of the big ships, including the Zima (BB) and the Picnic (Classic CV). The Inspiration (Modern CV) should soon follow.
It's pretty calm but Eugene told me that tensions between countries of the Pamavel (especially Pastel and the Velpador) and Germifar were resurfacing so, wait and see as usual.

2017-01-02

It's still calm. Germifar is not doing anything rash apparently, and Kamen should be moving on soon. His latest reports state that things have cooled down where he is. High Command wants to do something there but our forces are a bit to stretched as of now. The fleet has ships sailing East (that's us!), to fight the remnants of the VRF (if any remain at all. An amphibious assault will have to be undertaken there at some point), South of Kouka (to keep an eye on Quasermanel), West (Expedition Ivan with Kamen) and South-West (Expedition Julia currently near Barlucolia).
Ground forces are still resting and licking their wounds after the Tchiho Campaign. In retrospect, it's really lucky that Germifar didn't do anything.
Manden infantry will soon stop guarding the Tchiho border though, so the Pamavel should have some fresh infantry divisions at its disposal again soon (these Manden troops aren't exactly exhausted, having done nearly nothing for the past few months except guarding the border between Tchiho and the Manden).
Oh also, KG1s (the frogbuckets) have finally entered massproduction with a few dozens ready for the field exercises in January.

Speaking of which, it should begin soon. It will be a huge field exercise across Pastel and the Velpador, with several thousands troops participating, dispatched into two teams, red and blue. We'll know which team we're in soon.

2017-03-12

After more than two months, the field exercises will soon come to an end. Our next big offensive (planned for sometime around March 20th) will aim to push as far West as we can so our battalions can actually reach the Western shoreline in Pastel.
Most Expedition parties have safely come home, and soon we'll be able to have the whole Pamavel fleet gathered at one place for a quite needed review of all ships and all forces in general.
Things seem to have settled in Barlucolia, Germifar doesn't threaten antything anymore, Kamen has come home and hasn't discovered anything past the huge structure in the sky (and we've established vague contact with that place). Overall, this period is quite refreshing, and Winter is almost finished, meaning we'll hopefully have nice, sunny weather for the next big push West. Although rain is never quite far, I'm afraid.

2017-03-26

Mrmlmlr, I wanted to wait for Kamen before we launch the offensive (that was planned for around ~March 20) but he's taking his sweet little time to come back from Expedition Ivan so I'll just prepare everything so we can begin in one or two days. The thing is, time is of the essence because Red Team is also on the verge of launching a similar offensive on their own; the plan is for us to move the main bulk of our forces along the northern border of the Velpador, all the way to the border with Pastel; and from there, divide the army in two groups: Div 1, which will push toward the Western Coast of Pastel, and Div 2, that will go South along the Pastel border and take the Red Team force on its rear. A tiny small Division 3 will be remain in the plains before our HQ just in case. Because it seems clear at this point that Red Team will try to move South along the border with Kouka in order to march directly on our GHQ. That means we'll have twice as less troops than them when we'll be on their rear, but we'll be fighting their rearguard so, whatevs. Anyway, what really matters is that we reach their HQ before they did ours. In other news I've made this doc so we can keep track of our naval forces (ships whereabout, ongoing expeditions and operations, etc. The review with (almost) everyone home is planned for next week).

2017-04-3

Kamen has finally come back! As well as Wisbech. They're still around their respective naval bases though so I won't see Kamen until a bit of time.
The field exercises are nearing their end. We're in the decisive moments. Our valiant Blue Team, Division 3, is repelling the main bulk of Red Team's forces South of the Cetciska mountains. Our proud Division 2, taksed with attacking the enemy rearguard, has been completely wiped out, though. The enemy turned around and faced them with all available units, something I didn't think they would do. But that gave more time for Div 3 to organize their defenses and ensure air superiority over the area (meaning we're the only one with remotely-controlled airplanes in the area!). In the meantime, our Division 1 is advancing quickly and should reach the Pastel coast in a few days -- if anything goes as planned, which is rarely the case anyway. Trivia: the governments of Pastel, the Velpador and Manden spent 2 millions in paint for these exercises. Fortunately, only about half has been used, meaning we will be able to do another 4-months long exercise soon, yay! ... .
I guess we will know in a few days where the next expeditions will take us; I bet S-E but who knows. Maybe it'll be North as it is also one of the few direction we never went to, because we don't have any naval bases North of the continent.

2017-04-27

So yeah, the military exercises have finally ended two days ago. Blue Team ended up victorious! Woohoo.
We still don't know where the fleets are going to be sent. Speaking of the seven Fleets of the Pamavel, it has been decided a few weeks ago that from now on, each fleet should have about 1/3 of ships from Pastel, 1/3 of ships from the Manden, and 1/3 of ships from the Velpador, which seems reasonable and should promote unity in the fleet and the rest of the army, I think.
And, in turn, speaking of that, we heard that they want to build a brand new military academy near Posemeille, in the Velpador. Pastel already has its military school, the Velpador has the Strategy and Tactics School in Pamenka, and the Manden also has its own thing (military university of the Manden or something like that), but this new building should replace all other existing institutions, and in the not-so-distant future, soldiers (or should we call them students? I hope not) from the three countries should spend some years there together. This program should begin in quite some time though (several years I think). Either way, a cool endeavor I think.

2017-05-11

Things are weird in the South-West near Barlucolia. Apparently a fleet is to go there soon-ish but it's just rumors. We'll soon have info on that I guess.

2017-05-12

So from what we've been told two fleets are to move to Southern Barlucolia (reasons unknown to us at this point) but Barlucolia doesn't want that to happen, because they don't want such a military force to cross their territorial waters, which is kinda understandable (especially considering the Pamavel 1st Fleet already has some ships near Northern Barlucolia). Howevs, Pefear and Acacia have been moving a significant number of troops and equipment, mainly AA, to the South, so make what you want out of that. The weather has been deteriorating in South Barlucolia for the last months, and apparently it has some sort of significance in what's happening these last days.
Anyway, one of the two fleets that are to move to Barlucolia is the 2nd Fleet (Kamen), because it's basically the fleet that has the nearest naval port (Znamenka). Kamen has a lot of work this year! The second fleet to depart will be decided tomorrow. For now Kamen's job is simply to go to Barlucolia but without entering their own waters.
Oh yeah also there's Quasermanel, whose intentions/thoughts on the situation are basically unknown at this point. Are they even aware of all this? I can't say.

2017-05-13

We now have three fleets near Barlucolia -- elements of the First Fleet, and both the Second and the Third Fleets in their entirety -- which represents a quite powerful force. It seems things are going to unfold pretty quickly although we still don't have much info on what's going on exactly.
Today at about 3pm some kind of machines literally fell from the sky in Southern Barlucolia, and there were people inside, who have been taken into "custody" by Barlucolian forces from Pefear. What in the world is happening, we still do not know, and I think the Pamavel High Command doesn't know much either.
As for us, the Fifth Fleet, we've been asked (ordered) to move to Eastern Kouka, and stay there for the time being. The Fourth Fleet is still near Quasermanel, which has apparently begun to discuss the situation with the Pamavel. Until now Quasermanel seems to be quite a reasonable country so I wonder why there's so much distrust towards it.
More info on the situation as soon as I have some.

2017-05-25

Things have gotten pretty hectic. To summarize, although our new Operational Reports are quite useful for that, aircraft of unknown origin have attacked each other in SW Pefear a few hours ago; or rather, some guys landed on SW Pefear, and were immediately followed by other guys in wooden aircraft that fired upon them and dropped bombs and stuff. Nothing has happened since then. Our forces there are in full alert with airplanes patrolling the skies at all times, and tankers being dispatched from the continent to resupply our ships/airplanes. Naturally, the Fifth Fleet is moving as fast as it can from East Kouka to Barlucolia. We should arrive there in 7 or 8 days. Here's hopping the situation has calmed down by the time we get there...

2017-05-28

So from what we can gather the Allegans are moving pretty fast NE. Pefear and Malmatel were unable to hold their lines more than a few days at Perfex and it's still considered a high feat considering the number of men Allega can put on the field. The Allegans are clever and tend to stay far enough inland so that our fleets can't target them with their guns, which made Stanoter's First Fleet useless near Perfex for exemple. Still, a Pamavel invasion fleet (1st and 2nd Armies) is en route to Barlucolia to aid Pefear and Malmatel (and Acacia) resist the invaders. Acacia, South of Pefear, has been pretty spared, probably because there's a mountain range between it and Pefear, preventing the Allegans from moving too fast there.
Our own ETA (for the 5th Fleet) is 1st of June.

2017-06-07

At this point it's really recommended to read the operation updates too (Available here).
We have quite a lot of ships now South of Barlucolia, but most the aircraft on our aircraft carriers (which count for the most important part of our firepower) have been sent to Acacia and near Mollegar, Pefear's capital, which has come under attack earlier today, according to the last news, but was successfully defended. Now we are a powerful naval surface force, but pretty useless when it comes to what's happening inland. Oh well, let us not complain.

2017-07-14

So Operation Firework is over and most of the Pamavel Fleets and most of the 1st Army are going back to the continent. It has been pretty uneventful for the 5th Fleet, except maybe at the end, like two weeks ago, when we had to investigate on this island to the S-E of Barlucolia. But even then, nothing important happened there.
I wonder what we'll be doing in the next few weeks?

2017-08-31

Two hours remain before September. Two weeks ago or so, two Velpadorian citizens were kinda kidnapped by Anado, but it appears they are well treated and the Velpador is currently negociating to bring them back home safely. Anado has always been a pretty religious country but their superstitions never went that far. Btw, I know it's a bit disrepectful to talk about Anado's religious beliefs in such a way and to dismiss them as simple superstitions, but they said that these two poor people could move objects with their minds and stuff and that therefore they must be possessed and "cleaned" or purified somehow. That's preposterous. Anyway, a small contingent has been sent near the border and is regularly crossing the border between the Velpador and Anado, in a more or less secret fashion (at night), to keep an eye on the place where the two kids are held. They're not really kids (the guy is like 25-30, and the girl about 30, maybe less. From the photos alone I would have said that she is more like 25, even less maybe, but whatevs). I don't know why I said they are kids. Don't ask me. It's 21:59 and I got up at 6AM so give me some break wilya. They are held in some kind of Ambassy that looks like an old castle with a huge cross on the roof -- Anado is really a weird country. From what I understand Kamen is going to be involved in this thing sooner or later.

2017-09-26

Trouble in Anado has ended and the "prisoners" were released after a few days.
However, important events have occured in the last few weeks. One of the last Pamavel expeditions has encountered a whole new set of islands to the S-E of the continent; some of these are so big they could count as continents themselves. As it happens, there are several countries there that live peacefully with each other, except two, a paramenat (a kind of regime), and the Republic of Samou. As usual, "Republic" come from the Pamavel translators that were with the expedition when they discovered these lands, so it may not really be a republic as we know it.
Although we don't know much yet about all this, and we don't know the reasons for this, the Pamavel has reacted surprisingly fast and has already sent the 1st Army over there, as well as the 1st Fleet (Stanoter). Considering the first army is two Pastel divs, two Velpador divs and two Manden divs, it was set in motion particularly fast. The 2nd Army is also being sent there as we speak, and several other fleets too, including the 5th one.
Obviously we're going to meddle in the affairs of other nations again, but I guess the Pamavel aims to expand from now on. But something in the swiftness of all this tells me there's more than meets the eye this time.

2017-10-10

So uh. I can't say if things have slipped out of the Pamavel's control or if everything is actually playing in the Pamavel's hands, but things took a sharp turn. So as we know Toumou and the Paramenat have been at war for six months and now the Pamavel have sized with the Paramenat, for some reason unknown to me, and the Fifth Fleet, the First Fleet (CO: Stanoter), and both the 1st and 2nd Pmvl Armies have all been sent there to repel the Toumouan invasion of the Southern islands of the Paramenat. The reasons for the war ? We don't know quite yet. The Paramenat and Toumou are surprisingly close to the Continent (~10 days by destroyer at full speed), it's one of the last explexp who discovered these nations. Apparently high command has some reasons for thinking it's better 1) to become involved and 2) to fight alongside the Paramenat rather than Toumou.
From what I've seen both nations look pretty industrialized, looks like Western Europe, if I was brave enough, I'd say they look more advanced than the countries of the Pamavel, so! Beware. They have jet fighters and flying ships, although the use of flying ships has still to be proven more effective than the use of traditional, floating ships. Toumou soldiers have unsettling uniforms with cables/pipes linking their backpack to their helmets and stuff. Besides the pipes and the brown-ish colors, and the uncanny vision glasses they sometime wear, they look like standard soldiers though.
Like in Barlucolia though, civilians look pretty much like our own civilians back in Pastel and the Velpador (the Manden remain an odd case, being far more African-ish than everything I've seen so far). They even have colorful subcoats and stuff. And people in the Paramenat wear all kinds of hats.
It's hard to say what kind of jobs people do for a living in normal times in these parts though, because we've never seen them in peace times. I guess they build tables and make clothes. There doesn't seem to be much else to do from where I stand; and I stand on the deck of the Cinizima and I just look at photographs and reports so uwell.
Our next order of business is to take down a Toumouan fleet more to the South; meanwhile Stanother and his 1st Fleet will try to clear the way North of the Paramenat Southern island.
The 1st Army has a full contingent of KG1, which proved disastrous in the moor in the South a few days ago; and all carriers are slowly but surely being filled with Full-Flappers! (The new Madinké airplane whose flaps allow marvelous maneuvers and stuff. Should prove useful against Toumouan jets).

2017-10-13

Two days ago, Paramenat forces on the Southern island, moving to recapture Elaspic with help of a small Pamavel contingent, were stopped short by a new Toumouan devilry: the Killing Cry. Toumouans have indeed mastered the art of killing via yelling terrible shouts out of their throats or lungs. It is still unknown if it downright kills or simply paralyses those who hear it, but all the same it is something very dangerous they have come up with. Reports say Toumouans played it in a huge speakerphone. Paramenat soldiers were forced to retreat on the spot -- those who were still able to move, that is. It could be comical if that was not so grievous.
As for us in the Fifth Fleet, we'll soon be carrying our orders, which are to destroy a Toumouan fleet South of the southern tip of Cilica and secure the area around the docks there.

2017-10-15 (night) -- Preparations for naval battle South of Cilica, not far from Promeveo

Alright. We are closing in. Tomorrow we will engage the enemy fleet currently cruising South of Cilica. The enemy fleet has 9 ships: 1 battleship, 1 cruiser, 1 aircraft carrier, and 6 destroyers. They also have jet fighters, and we do know that their jets are better at dogfighting than our own airplanes. And Paramenat planes are nowhere to be seen in that area.
We have 1 battleship (the Cinizima), 2 aircraft carriers (Picnic and Inspiration), 2 cruisers (Manivel and Maniata), and 3 destroyers (Kadakat, Krikrin and Chelou). All in all, unless we discover that their ships are significantly better than ours, I'd say this will be an even battle.
To counter the superior enemy planes, I plan on keeping the fleet regrouped (including planes) so that our air units can benefit from our ships' AA guns. Considering the most dangerous enemy planes are their fighters and that they only pose a marginal threat to our ships, I could simply have my own fighters disengage, but I need them to shot down the enemy attack planes, which are, according to reports and intel from the Paramenat, far less daunting than the fighters.
I've made the necessary preparation for the battle in the OOB Command Interface. So, Order of Battle. This interface is better than AW for naval battles.

2017-10-15 -- Battle of the Tremelon Sea (Naval battle of South of Cilica)

It's 2:24PM and the battle is over. We won, of course, but we lost the Picnic, which saddens me to the highest point. Fortunately, Cotton survived. All the enemy ships have been sunk, against only 1 on our side, so I'd say we did pretty good.
======================
Here's a quick summary of the engagement for further reference: first we moved staying grouped very tightly. We the enemy planes attacked, we weren't doing so badly in fighter-vs-fighter combat thanks to close air support from our ships, mainly our cruisers; but then the enemy attack planes arrived and quickly damaged and sunk the Picnic at 13:54. Nonetheless the enemy planes were quickly dispatched after that, and two or three of their squadrons retreated to their carrier. Following them, our own fighters discovered the enemy fleet; at 14:05, our airplanes began attacking the enemy fleet.

Our squadrons took their share of damage but so did the enemy ships. Our ships then closed in and ship-to-ship combat began.

After a while, at 14:05, the enemy carrier (CV Enicar) was sunk, and just after, the enemy battleship, the Magrevar, was sent to the bottom.

Then it was just a formality to get rid of the remaining enemy ships.
======================
Almost all of our ships have suffered minor damage, so we're heading back to Pomo Harbor, North Cilica, for repairs.
It costed us the Picnic, but at least all the area South of Cilica should be under our control now.
About 85% of the crew of the Picnic managed to get off the ship in time, because the Picnic did not actually sink right away. As is often the case, it just burned, and we scuttled it later. All the surviving crew members, including Cotton, were taken aboard the Cinizima and the escorting destroyers. CA Maniata took several torpedo hits during the battle, and although no severe damage is to be observed, the ship is listing and can't go very fast. We should reach Pomo in a day or two.

2017-10-18

The day after the naval battle we captured the crew of a Toumouan recon plane, that had participated in the fight but had escaped our fighters. Rather, during the battle our fighters had more important targets than recon planes. 2 of them (the only 2 of them present, in fact) survived the fight but one of them, lost at sea, was captured and retrieved by one of our destroyers (DD Kadakat). The crew (2 men) was interrogated and we learned that the Toumouan fleet we have sunk on October 15th was supposed to protect the left flank of the Toumouan General Fleet main area of operation, that is to say the sea between Cilica and the Toumouan mainland.
Although this is plausible there is some things in all this conflict so far that don't add up. The Toumouan Fleet all in all is supposed to be quite larger than the fleet of the Paramenat; but so far we've only seen three fleets, two of which were not THAT much of a problem to deal with (if Stanoter manages to take care of his own trouble North of Cilica, which remained to be seen, tbh). Where's the rest of the Toumouan navy? Also, Toumou holds the docks at Promeveo on the Eastern tip of Cilica. They are making some effort to prevent the Pamavel and the Paramenat from retaking the docks and the surrounding areas, but so far they haven't launched any major offensives, and they're not exactly massing troops in preparation for one, although they ARE landing reinforcements regularly to keep their Promeveo garrison at decent strength. But still.
Pamavel high command still hasn't address all these questions, but things are moving nonetheless. At the end of the week, either Saturday or Sunday, a "joint offensive" will take place to finally retake the dock at Cilica. 5th Fleet will be to provide cover from offshore, as well as the First Fleet if it's available. The twist is that Pamavel will use our new secret weapon, the space rocket, courtesy of Babbo's engineers. Indeed a space rocket will be launched from the Continent, and will go all the way up above Cilica and Toumou and will take pictures from the skies, and then, hopefully, will fall in the sea so one of our ships can retrieve it. The goal is to have accurate pictures of the whole Cilica/Toumou area for intel, especially intel about the position of the Toumouan fleet if possible. Well I mean, I, as part of the Pamavel fleet, is especially interested in such intel. All intel will be welcomed by the Pamavel high command of course. In theory weather specialists are positive the skies will be completely clear next week-end so it's good news.
Actually this should have no influence on the actual battle for the docks as the pictures will be received and analysed later but still.
The 5th Fleet has reached Pomo Harbor on the 16th of October and stayed there for repair for two/three days. Then, tomorrow, on the 19th, all available ships will set sail, full speed, towards the Eastern tip of Cilica, which should be reached Saturday morning. In the meantime, the captured crew of the Toumouan recon planes will be sent to the Pamavel HQ in Atarami 2. The other recon plane whereabout are unknown btw.
I'm still sad about the Picnic, as is Cotton, but at least, if the Toumouan fleet stays nowhere to be seen, our task this week-end will be nothing but providing fire support, so less risk of seeing our ships sink, I hope.

2017-10-21 -- Battle of South Cilica

The battle is over! Total victory for our forces. The battle took place more North than what I would've guessed initially, so Stanoter and his 1st Fleet had a lot of work in the beginning of the fight. Fighting fiercely, combined forces from the Pamavel and the Paramenat were able to find their way through to Promeveo, and capture the city.
As for us in the Fifth Fleet, initially we had to deal with enemy airplanes as well as some cruisers. Indeed the Toumouans had a lot of aircraft, and one of their fleet, sporting a battleship and several cruisers and destroyers, showed up East of Cilica before the battle began. However they stretched their naval lines so thin that their ships were quickly isolated. And for some reason they had their fighters retreating very early -- except some of them retreated West instead of East. We even captured the aircrew after the battle.
The thick of it was the Toumouan units garding the docks of Promeveo. Lots of tanks and indirect guns. The Cinizima took its share of damage (lost 6 HPs to enemy indirect units during the fight), and one of our air squadrons was shot down. Our goal quickly became to go around Promeveo, despite the area offshore being in range of artillery units, to join up with the 1st Fleet and provide fire support to our advancing ground units.
North of Promeveo, the Toumouan battleship managed to sink BB Trombone, flagship of Statnoter's fleet. Thankfully, Stanoter himself survived and was retrieved by a nearby allied destroyer.
The Toumouans had several submarines, and thinking about it, it's lucky that we didn't get hit more than that. One of our destroyers stumbled upon a submarine very near to the shore near Promeveo and was forced to stop while in range of fire of a Toumouan artillery unit. Next turn, two of Stanoter's cruisers joined in and sunk the submarine, puting themselves in range of the enemy artillery unit. Much appreciated.
Both the 1st and the 5th Fleets took some amount of damage, but apart from the Trombone and a destroyer from the 1st Fleet (DD Enbe), no ship was sunk.
The battle was fought using the AWDR command interface (Red -- 5th Fleet, Blue -- Pamavel forces, including 1st Fleet, Yellow -- Velecordian units, Black -- Toumouan units).
Results and screens from the battle can be found here.
In parallel news, the space rocket has safely taken off and will soon be taking pictures. They will be decrypted and analysed in the coming days.

2017-10-23

News: the 2nd and the 3rd Fleets (Kamen and Wisbech respectively) will arrive tomorrow. Our Fifth Fleet as well as the 1st Fleet are relocated to the coastal city of Ioplay, and will soon depart when repairs are over.
For indeed we are to depart again soon, and High Command have finally given us some well deserved info.
The Pamavel High Command and generally, the Pamavel governments were aware of the Paramenat/Touhou conflict months before actually sending troops there. Indeed, they had been warned by two emissaries from the land of Melesper, which is apparently some sort of country high up in the sky -- like Allega.
A looooong time ago (actually, a few centuries ago so not THAT long ago), there had been a conflict between the countries of that area, and in these times, or maybe before, the Melesperians teached the Toumouans about flying ships and the likes. And they also developed something terrible that the Pamavel HC mysteriously calls a superweapon (although of unknown nature), that is burried or submerged or otherwise hidden South of Toumou. South of Toumou there is only water and a misty area, or so it seems. Topotorpedoes revealed some time ago that there IS a landmass in the mist there, but what is there we do not know.
Now, the first satellite pics that the space rocket took (and is still taken even as we speak) have been analysed and it seems that from what can be gathered, the Toumouan General Fleet (small black dots on the pictures) are moving South, most likely to go and find the thing that is still in the misty area South of Toumou.
The emissaries sent by Melesper a few months ago had one job: to warn the Pamavel (how they knew the Pamavel existed is still to be discovered) and warns them about the threat that Toumou could pose if ever that country found the Melesperian superweapon.
According to HC, people from Melesper did not say much about what that weapon actually is. Maybe they forgot because it was made such a long time ago. But the messengers are positive it's still there and that someone has to stop Toumou.
Now, the good news is, the combined forces of the Paramenat and the Pamavel are probably much stronger and larger in numbers than those of Toumou and their puny allies. But if Toumou reaches the SW, we'll have some trouble stopping them, according to Melesper emissaries. The end goal of Toumou is yet to be found, but it's certain that they will stomp Velecord and then go straight for the Continent if left unchecked.
All that story has some plotholes in my eyes but the Pamavel High Command has yet to fail us after all, and we are informed on a need to know basis. But I'd still like to know why Toumou didn't go for the superweapon earlier. What was stopping them? and why in the world are the Melesperians not fighting alongside us. That would be cool.
In any case, we are to depart in a few days, as soon as repairs are complete.

2017-10-30

So, we have entered Fog Zero (the name HC gave to the misty area far to the South). Visibility must be 4-500 meters which is not as bad as I thought, but not exactly great either. It's even very dangerous actually.
We have reached the coast of the island there -- the topotorpedoes were right, there IS a landmass here. We couldn't see far inland because of the thick as heck fog, and because the island seems to be surrounded by fairly high rocks, mountains even.
More grievously, longrange communication, mainly via infinite radio waves, actually ceased working when we entered Fog Zero. We can't communicate with HC and we can only talk to ships that are less than a few kilometers away. More than 2 kilometers, it becomes very hard to understand what is being said. Most of our ships are equipped with foglights that can be seen through the fog up to a few hundreds meters but that's still far from ideal.
Even more grievously, we have sent DDs Kadakat and Chelou further up along the coast to recon the area, and they've run into at least two enemy ships (likely DDs). They have exchanged fire but no hits were registered. So we know the Toumouans are there. We also have sent DD Krikrin back North to Cilica to report all these findings to HQ.
The 2nd and 3rd Fleets should be arriving soon. Maybe Stanoter will be sent here too but they didn't depart with us (their repairs apparently took longer than planned). Also, I wouldn't be surprised that HC wants at least one fleet near Cilica.
Our next order of business is to circle around the island to try and see if we can land a party ashore somehow. Since we can't communicate with ships who left the formations, once DD Krikrin will have completed its task (to report our findings to HQ), the ship will have to go back to the island and go along the coast like we do to find us. Here's hoping Krikrin won't fall into any trouble while searching for us, being a lone destroyer with the Toumouan fleet looming around and all.

2017-11-19

In the end, it appears there's only one place where we can safely land troops on Jolene, and that's in some sort of fjord North of the island. Unfortunately, the enemy is already there and landing troops there is deemed too risky by HC. We exited Fog Zero for a day about two weeks ago so we could exchange information with the 2nd and the 3rd Fleets, which are almost here (since we can't communicate via radio over long distances in Fog Zero). We've then launched a coordinated attack with the 2nd and 3rd Fleets on the fjord and managed to sink a lot of Toumouan ships. However, all 5th Fleet DDs have been seriously damaged, and a lot of DDs in the 2nd and 3rd Fleets have been sunk. We are leaving Fog Zero tomorrow again so we can report to HC and take new orders. Most likely, if we are to stop the Toumouans, we'll have to land troops no matter what -- only two options then: forcing our way in the fjord, or, try and land troops elsewhere, despite the mountains encircling the island completely. Which would be dangerously slow, but if the enemy is only keeping guard around the fjord far to the North, it could be possible.
Time is of the essence though, so I hope things are going to move quickly from now on. Who knows what the Toumouans are doing and how close they are to their goals (which are still vague to me, but hopefully HC will give us more details soon).

2017-11-28

So visibility has decreased in the last days to 1-250 meters, and that's when HC decided to land troops on Jolene. We found a small breach in the mountains on the western side of the island, and we landed troops there. The breach is so small and the slope so steep that it takes forever to land troops that way. But the enemy doesn't know we're doing that here I guess, which gives us some time. When we exited Fog Zero a few days ago (that's when the landing was organized), we also learned that HC planned on sending an airplane and airdrop soldiers directly on the island, which is possible despite the fog as long as the soldiers end up on the island and not in the sea. Just a matter of calculation I think.
So we knew that had to happen, but in our ships we have no way to have info about what happens inland (because of no radio waves, see previous entries). So we waited for a messenger with a powerful flashlight who was tasked to light it at a planned point and a planned time on the coast. At the right time and place we met him and took info from him.
So, here's what he told us: a few days ago, last Sunday, we (the land troops, not "we" as in, the fleet) first established a quick bridgehead, and a few hours after that there were gunfire. Then, nothing for a few days. Then no later than a few hours ago, our land troops, about 50 Pamavel and Velecordian soldiers, launched an attack on a city just 500 meters inland. Well, a small town rather than a city. Like everything else on the island, the town was abandonned, but occupied by Toumouans. From what we gather the battle was fiercer than planned but our forces still took the town. But some Toumouans retreated so now a counterattack seems unavoidable. We'll see another messenger at the same place in four days (Saturday), but we'll exit Fog Zero in two days (Thursday) to take possible orders from HC.

2017-12-02 Blind delivery

As planned, we left Jolene and Fog Zero on Thursday to take orders from HQ. And we were greeted with news of soon-to-be movement. Indeed we learned that the Pamavel and Velecord had been planning a larger scale landing operation using Velecordian flying ships from their last aerial battle group. See this doc for more info on that operation.
The Paramenat has only one full Aerial Battle Group left, 10 flying ships. We don't know exactly how many flying ships the Toumouans have left, but Velecordian intelligence says about 40+, so 7 or more battle groups (a Velecordian battle group is 10 ships (a battleship and several smaller ships around it), Toumou operates smaller groups of 5 or 7 ships).
These flyships cannot be replaced once lost, because they were given to these two countries by Melesper in ages past (a few centuries ago actually). Since then, Velecord and Toumou took care not risking them too much in battle and kept upgrading them, but the recent conflict has seen most of them being sunk/heavily damaged.
Nevertheless, the Pamavel and the Paramenat consider of the utmost importance to take action on Jolene to stop the Toumouans.
So the plan is to use Velecord's remaining flyships in order to transport two full divisions of soldiers to Fog Zero and land them directly on Jolene. This is a risky move because the Toumouans most likely have submarines patrolling the area between Cilica and Fog Zero, despite the fact that this area is in theory under our control. So they'll most likely notice any fleet movement of that size, and will try to put a dent in it.
This is why the invasion fleet, en route as I write, is being escorted by the (repaired and reinforced) 1st Fleet, which sports a new CVC from Pastel (Calico), full of airplanes ready for interception.
We plan to deploy all 15 000 soldiers on Jolene tomorrow (ships are quite crowded). Then the ships will turn back, go back to Cilica, take another 15 000 soldiers, and make the same trip again to deploy them on Jolene too -- making our total number of men on the island 30 000, so, quite a powerful force to face the most likely equally numerous Toumouan battalions. Velecord intelligence says they must have two full divisions; IIRC, a Toumouan division is about 10 000 men. But according to intel, Toumouans have recently reinforced their garrisons there; easy for them to do since they can safely land them at the harbour North of the island.
Anyway, the Pamavel/Paramenat Alliance's objective is twofold: 1) to stop the Toumouans from doing whatever they're doing (probably searching for that famous superweapon we've been told about), and 2) secure the harbour North of Jolene to secure the island. That means, taking out all the Toumouans we encounter, which in turn is the promise of fierce fights to come.

2017-12-11

Things took a turn for the worst! All last week our forces were making slow progress N-E, and yesterday they were about to strike at the Toumouan digging site that they had finally located.
But something happened - what exactly, we do not know, but most likely the Toumouans activated something - and the island actually *rose* from sea level into the sky with all our troops on it! And the Toumouans too, obviously. It was already surprising enough but then the the fog started to lift AND Jolene turned *upside down* in just a few minutes! And we saw a Melesperian fleet of Melesperian flyships in the sky above Jolene.
Everyone on the island fell into the sea and that's where things became hectic:
-Pamavel ships went below Jolene to pick up survivors
-the Velecordian Bro Fleet did the same
-a giant shark-thing that was living under the island started swallowing people in the water as well as a few of our ships (the Toumouan General Fleet, that we could now see thanks to the fog having lifted up, was just little dots on the horizon retreating fast. It must have been warned beforehand somehow)
-Melesperian flyships started to attack both people and ships in the water, and Velecordian flyships from the Bro Fleet
It was a heck of an hour. The sky was now bright blue and after so long in the thick fog, visibility felt like it was 1000 kilometers.
Melesperian flyships are like snail shells with a propeller inside. But they don't fly thanks to the propeller, something else power the ship, although I don't know what. After all, they ARE the ones who gave Toumou and the Paramenat their flyships. The thing is, their propeller is some sort of weapon. These flyships used it to "swallow" 2 of the Velecordian flyships by cutting them appart. Other Melesperian flyships went vertical and lowered their propellers at sea level to tear appart Pamavel ships and soldiers still in the water. Velecordian flyships under the brothers Ankor and Tujur Plufor did manage to blow up two Melesperian flyships, then everyone retreated back North towards Cilica. Pamavel ships shelled the giant shark-thing which went underwater and didn't show up again after that. Also, Pamavel subs scored several torpedo hits on it, but their whereabout is unknown now. Which is worrysome, because radio communication was made possible as soon as the fog was lifted up.
Now we are all cruising at flank speed towards Cilica and nobody knows what in the world is going on nor what the heck will happen from now on.
For the sad record, ships sunk by Melesperians and eaten by the giant shark-thing were: DD Pordodex (1st Fleet), DD Cibuge and DD Corieon (2nd Fleet), and CA Wintebo (3rd Fleet).

2017-12-27

So, to keep things recorded: Melesperians and Toumouans landed on Cilica, which the Paramenat and the Pamavel deserted (we called it the Great Retreat). A lot of men and equipment were evacuated towards the Velecordian main island, Velecica.
Velecica is highly fortified (especially now), with a lot of old fortresses and stuff. Most notably, several train tracks go round the island. The Pamavel has lended a lot of AA guns to Velecord and these have been placed on train platforms, so they can be moved and repositionned very quickly. However, we thought and still think that the enemy will try and land on the South-East part of the island, so we have concentrated the defenses there.
The defense of the island is coordinated under the command of a Velecordian, Say Pamal. I've seen him, he's very thin but rather tall and he wore a black coat over his Velecordian uniform. Don't know why we haven't seen him before -- he seems to be a rather big deal in the Velecordian military.
Now, to the sensational (and good) news: this afternoon, a special secret operation ended in success for the Pamavel and Velecord. A few days earlier, Pamavel command devised an ingenious plan to buy us some time by attacking the enemy attack force (almost) without using our own forces.
Context: About a week ago, Ankor and Tujur, commanding the illustrious Bro Fleet and a force of more than one hundred airplanes, attacked head-on the enemy invasion force. It costed us two flyships and 70 airplanes, but the Plufor bros managed to take down at least 5 Melesperian flyships and to temporarily repel the enemy by sinking quite a few Toumouan surface ships (Melesper doesn't have surface ships) and straight bombing a lot of Melesperian troops who were walking out of cover on the sea (did I mention Melesperian troops are equiped with special shoes that let them walk on water? Now I did).
Although a strategic victory which bought us a few days, it costed us dearly in men and planes. High command then thought of a plan to keep attacking the enemy invasion force without us taking damage.
So the plan was to use that giant shark-thing which was living under Jolene. Pamavel Command knicknamed it Superselak (Super, like, super, and selak, like, selakhos, selachi, etc, shark). It doesn't appear to be willing to leave the Jolene area (thank god), but Pamavel and Velecord sent 15 subs with the order to draw it all the way towards the enemy invasion force. Volunteers were chosen and the subs were sent away. A few days after (today!) they reappeared with the Superselak on their heels, and while most of the subs have unfortunately been eaten in the operation, the plan worked like a charm. The shark-thing completely scattered the still-seaborne enemy invasion force, which retreated in mass toward Cilica while fighting both the fish and our planes, sent to further deorganize the enemy formations. We could see the exploding columns of water from the coast, as the enemy was actually very close to the island. I think it was only a matter of hours before they attacked for good.
But this has surely given us at least a week of time for more preparations. Say Pamal was delighted. The Melesperians are moving Jolene itself straight West of Cilica for some reason. I wager they'll attack Velecica from the South with it. But we'll see.

2018-01-06 Beginning of the Velecican Campaign

Upon learning of Jolene's bombing capabilities, Pamal ordered the installation of dozens of layers of anti-bomb antenas (these thin metal structures supposed to stop bombs) above the fortifications South of Velecica, near Parmena. Pamal indeed bet that the enemy would be attacking from the South near Parmena rather than from the West near Leniflux, and so they did, on the morning of January 5 at 4am.
It was quite a scary sight. The Melesperians placed Jolene right above the fortifications and bombed them with literal bomb shells for an hour. Then Melesperian and Toumouan infantry stormed the barricades and the bunkers; they attacked from the sea, but thanks to their Melesperian shoes they didn't have to use any ships, and our radar stations didn't pick them up. We had seen Jolene though, and were fully prepared for what came at us. After the bombing, our troops were too suppressed too effectively repel the invaders though, and by the time the sun was completely up at 8am, the enemy had managed to establish a beachhead. We think we still inflicted dire casualties to their troops, and they didn't have any armor when landing (landing tanks takes ships). However, they paradroped tanks and troops directly from Jolene directly inland, behind our coastal defenses. Jolene flew over Velecica from South to North but didn't bomb anything during its trip. Now it's somewhere North of the island, off Milicorpi. I think the enemy doesn't have infinite amounts of bombs so they want to keep some in reserve.
We spent a considerable amount of AA ammo ourselves on Jolene, but with no avail. Jolene is about 200 km square and we don't know what makes it fly, so destroying it by "sinking" it is not happening any time soon, and the only reasonable option would be to land troops on it directly and wrestle control of it, but we don't have the resources for that at the moment. It would take flyships and at least 10 000+ troops according to my estimations. We do have those numbers (minus the flyships) at home on the Continent, but as trouble is brewing in Barlucolia Pamavel Command still hasn't decided what to do.
Because yeah, Pefearians are massing troops around the bases we have so painstakingly established on their territory during the Allegan War and basically take a threatening stance.
This is the situation now: Melesperians and Toumouans have sized a sizeable portion of the island to the South, are at the doors of Parmena (the Velecordian capital), and are pushing North-West towards our main HQ, currently located at Mayon not far from Veluzen. Their objective is probably to capture the Paramene so he declares that Velecord surrenders. From what we understand, Melesper's intentions, while clouded and mostly unknown to us, are simply to conquer the land and to neutralize our forces so they can live the good life with Velecordians as their slaves or something. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.
Back home, we can raise an army of about 100 000 men in a few weeks, but the Velecican campaign will be over before that, unless Pamal manages to hold its position for a *very* long time.
The situation is not yet desperate though. There's a lot of defenses on the way that the enemy will have to take from their current position to Veluzen and the Velecordian capital. We just have to devise a way to keep Jolene off our back and to hope that the Melesperians doesn't have millions of troops in reserve. Velecordian intelligence estimates Toumouan forces to be about 200-300 000 troops. No figures for Melesper, of course, but we can expect several hundred thousands. Our own forces are 75-100 000 troops for Velecord, and 70-80 000 men for the Pamavel, with reinforcements coming soon (+20 000 troops in two weeks, escorted by the 7th Fleet). The Pamavel is currently discussing with Anado, and in case of desperation it will also turn to Germifar. Other possible options for help would be Malmatel and Acacias. Aquivol is too far and we have almost no relations with them except a treaty regarding the usage of the giant fans.

2018-01-09

The situation is somewhat complex. The Toumouans and the Melesperians have established a solid beachhead just West of Parmena, and have entered the city. Meanwhile their main force are thrusting North but have been temporarily stopped at Celmou, South of Alazen Fortress. The enemy have next to no armor and only a handful of guns for artillery, and lack air cover, because Jolene, which was acting as their a flying aircraft carrier of sort, is now North of Milicorpi. Indeed, Say Pamal fears that the Melesperians use Jolene as a launchpad to launch an attack from the North near Milicorpi, where we have basically no defenses.
All this means their main attack force near Parmena is powerful but also quite fragile and vulnerable to air attacks and artillery barrages, as well as armored and fortified positions, because the enemy is 85+% infantry. (This is explained by the fact that when the enemy landed, they had no ships to transport their armor, meaning most tanks and other heavy vehicles were carried in the backpacks of infantrymen (!) as detached and separate parts, and assembled later directly on the field.)
Their next objective is Alazen Fortress, obviously. Valid Valuta, one of Pamal's officers have devised a plan to cut through the enemy right flank (which is trying to outflank our position in hope of encircling our troops near Celmou) and meet with the Parmenan Garrison, still fighting inside Parmena. This would effectively cut off their flanking divisions from supply from their beachhead.
Speaking of supply lines, the enemy is using ships and most importantly Toumouan flyships to carry over supplies from Cilica (where they have their main base) to Velecica. It is likely they also have quite a bit of supplies on Jolene itself.
Another of our plans is to launch another space rockets above Jolene to take photos of it like we did back in December (IIRC), then analyse the pics to find out the location of the Toumouans airfields (Melesperians have no planes and their ships don't seem to need resupplying on the ground). Once it's done, we can launch an air attack to "uninstall" their air bases on Jolene, ensuring total air superiority for us for the rest of the campaign. How cool would that be? Very, according to the Pamavel High Command, which have agreed to the plan. The space rocket will be launched tomorrow if everything goes as planned.

2018-01-13

The plan to cut off the advancing enemy forces from supplies has kinda worked. The battalions involved in the battle (called the Valid Detachment after Valid Valuta's name, the guy who devised the plan) cut through Melesperian formations and joined forces with the Parmenan Garrison as planned, but due to increased intensity in enemy attacks aimed towards Parmena, the Parmenan Garrison retreated North with the Valid Detachment, basically declaring Parmena an open city for the time being. Indeed the enemy now has more armored vehicles at its disposal, they probably transported some tanks from Cilica using the Toumouan flyships. Unable to hold their positions in the countryside for long, the two forces then retreated North to Sushizen Fortress, destroying most advanced Melesperian units on the way. This whole affair has bought a lot of time on the Southern Front.
We now call it the Southern Front because Pamal is certain that the enemy will soon attack from Jolene, thus opening a Northern Front. Consequently, Pamal wants to launch the planned air assault on Jolene ASAP. The space rocket plan I was talking about in the previous entry is indeed underway. The rocket has flown over Jolene and took all the pics we needed, before being shot down by a Melesperian AA missile. Now we have the location of the enemy airfields on Jolene and are in position to strike them. Pamal has prepped a formation of 75 planes which is to take part in the air attack (25 Pamavel planes, 50 Velecordian planes). The attack is planned for tomorrow!

2018-01-21

After our air attack on Jolene, the enemy made its move and landed troops from Jolene directly on Velecica. Pamal had expected this and had sent several divisions North, but the Melesperians cut through them and are not really slowed down. They will soon be at the doors of Mayon. The Paramene, the government and Pamal now all agree that the situation is grim and that the enemy will not be repelled. Thus the evacuation of Velecica and as many inhabitants as possible has been decided. Now the campaign goal is to buy as much time as possible for the evacuation to go smoothly.
In the South, the situation is equally grim: Melesperians and Toumouans forces managed to surround then capture Alazen Fortress, the Sushizen, and are now making their way towards Leniflux in the North and Agrema to the West. Available ships harbored at Mervidor are to provide support fire in the defense of Agrema. The city must hold as long as it can. Our forces are getting meagre compared to the overwhelming enemy army.

2018-02-05

Agrema has been taken and Morvidor is surrounded. Morvidor being the main available military harbor in Cilica, when it is taken, this will mean the end of naval support for the rest of the campaign. All the ships anchored there have already stocked up supplies and left for the open sea. Mutar still holds on. North of the mountains, Mayo has been taken and all troops there (including the Pamavel forces) have retreated to Veluzen fortress, which will probably be besieged in the very near future. And the enemy has broken through most of our defenses to the North and is moving fast West towards Bogado, which means the evacuation will have to be aborted halfway. Pamal is still stuck in Veluzen Fortress and the Paramene and the Velecordian government have been moved to a secret location. The situation is THAT bad right now.
However, it should be noted that the Melesperians seem to have some trouble with their supplies. The Toumouan flyships used to bring supplies from Cilica to Velecica have stopped coming through since a few days, for some unknown reasons. For weeks now, there has been talk of the Melesperians and the Toumouans not agreeing on things. Be it political or military matters, that's good for us.
And to add to that, small Velecordian groups are striking the Northern enemy supply route from the Menitri forest near Milicorpi. These small groups are completely cut off from supplies and even chain of command, it's almost guerilla at this point.
But overall, the situation has worsen a lot in these last two weeks. The campaign could be over in a matter of days and not of weeks now.

2018-02-17

Bogado has finally been taken yesterday by Melesperian forces, thrusting hard from the East (they've sustained a lot of casualties, but they were simply so many). Now only small pockets of resistance remain on Velecica. The campaign is basically over.
What next? About 20% of the island has been evacuated (civilians and military). All the Fleets (Velecordians and from the Pamavel) are en route to or are already anchored in continental harbours and in the process resupplying and reorganizing. Same for the ground troops. HC will have to decide wether we try to retake Cilica in the next months or if we wait a possible Melesperian invasion.
There are two big questions. The first is, what will the Melesperians do now? Jolene is still floating North of Velecica and doesn't show any sign of movement.
The second question is, what will the Toumouans do? Apparently they've been somewhat quarelling with the Melesperians about stuff in Cilica and maybe Samou, which explains why enemy supply lines had been interrupted these last weeks (these supply lines were being run by Toumouans flyships, the Toumouans did use that to bargain and basically "went on strike"). For now it's impossible to know what the Toumouans and the Melesperians are quarelling over and if they will fall in agreement at some point.

2018-04-01

It's been a month and a half since Velecica's evacuation. During this time the PPP (Para-Pama Partnership) has been building temporary fortifications along the Eastern continental coast, spanning from the Malinke coast all the way down to Quafalia, with an emphasis on the Velpador coast, because it has beaches thought to be more vulnerable to the hypothetical enemy landing we're kinda expecting. No sign of the enemy has been reported during all this time though. The fleets and most of our forces are undergoing heavy repairs and reorganization.
It's a bit tough for the Velecordian soldiers because they have to acclimate to the Velpador environment, where most of them have been sent. But overall everyone on our side seems to be getting along, despite the general bitterness caused by the failure of our last campaign.

2018-05-07

Everything's still calm. Well, something peculiar happened a few days ago. A single Melesperian flyship approached the Velpador coast from the East. It was dragging along a big white piece of cloth and was sending signals using blinking light, asking us not to fire. It said that he was here to deliver actual mail from Velecord, to be redistributed to Velecordian soldiers. Since one single flyship could not possibly do much harm to our fortifications in that sector, we went along and let it paradropped a full sack of mail. Pamavel Command sent a platoon to inspect the sack and bring the letters to a safe location, so as to "inspect" them before redistributing them (this is wartime, after all). Of course, with the flyship being high in the sky, every soldier in the area saw it, so the letters couldn't be kept hidden for very long. Most letters were from Velecordian soldiers' families hoping to see them back soon.
After further inspection, it seems the letters were genuine. The Melesperians occupying Velecord really took the time to redispatch actual letters from Velecordian families all the way here. I guess one reason the Melesperians did that was to instill doubt in the mind of the Velecordian soldiers. For now, they don't seem too shaken, but we'll see what happens in the next few days. The other obvious reason was to have a flyship fly safely over our fortifications for reconaissance purposes. We could have shot it down, but we DID let the flyship leave the area safely.

2018-06-02

Nothing's happening and yet the situation worsens. Pamavel command now fears several things.
For one thing, the current state of war has ran for quite some time now without any positive results, and with devastating costs in money, equipment and lives. The Pamavel is a political alliance as well as a military one, but individual countries and their population are now seriously questioning the validity of the war as well as the need to keep it going. A lot of money and resources is sunk into licking our wounds, yet there's no sign of the enemy anywhere so why are we still standing on the Eastern coast, people are asking. If the national governments wish to stop the war from going on, they technically can. However Pamavel command is adamant about keeping things going. I suspect they know stuff we don't.
Second, Germifar and Pefear behaves strangely. This week, Germifar had the audacity to suggest sending troops to reinforce Pamavel defensive positions on the Eastern coast. Germifar has always been a nation the Pamavel felt it can't trust (Pastel in particular), and the current Germifarian government and its leader are not helping. As for Pefear, a delegation has been sent there this week. Discussion are still ongoing, from what I know, it's about Pefear sending help (equipment and some troops) in exchange for stuff like us abandonning some of our bases in Barlucolia.
Basically, if the Melesperians somehow attack, and Pefear claim our Barlucolian bases, and Germifar size the opportunity to do god-knows-what in Pastel/the Velpador, then we'll be in the worst situation ever.

2018-09-25

I think it's safe to say the war is over now. They are still a lot of things we don't know, much is still shrouded in mystery, so to speak, but Melesper and Toumou seem to have reached their goal -- conquest of Velecord territories. The Pamavel is still deeply wounded by the war and the notion of a return to action beyond that great ocean seem ludicrous. The Pamavel meddled in the affairs of foreign countries one time too many.
Submarines patrolling the seas S-E of the continent report nothing. Subs cannot stray too far S-E. The Superselak, the giant shark-thing is still lurking. A few weeks ago a sub sent to spy on the coast of Velecica sent a clear SOS transmission just before being eaten whole by the shark-thing. Now our subs just stay relatively close to the Continent.
From where we stand, we cannot see a reason for Melesper to try and invade our lands now, although we think they have the logistical means for that. But Melesperian motives were one of the (maybe bad) reasons which pushed the Pamavel into the war.
South West, the situation in Barlucolia hasn't changed much, except the Pamavel has abandonned as many as 6 military bases in Pefear and Malmatel. Acacias remains our most trustworthy, supportive and loyal ally in the region.

2018-10-07

For a few weeks now I've been "visiting" Panoven, and part of a different, smaller staff than usual (Eugene has remained in the Pamavel). Actually the Pamavel has sent there a few dozens of people from the main- and sub-command staffs. Up until just recently, Panoven has been at war with tttTTT, and was fighting a campaign to reclaim its own territory against occupying tttTTTian forces. The campaign ended just a few weeks ago, and after being "expelled" from Panoven the tttTTTians agreed to a peace treaty. However the two countries are still hostile to each other, and although the war is officially over the Pamavel still wanted to send in a few people to help Panoven with reconstructing the defenses just in case. There's at least one naval base in Panoven that is useful to the Pamavel and its ships, which explains why the Pamavel is eagger to help. Of course a more substantial military help during the Panoven/tttTTT war would've been out of the question because the Pamavel was already fully involved in Velecord, and it would've meant going at war against tttTTT too, which stance towards the Pamavel has been perfectly neutral until then. Which is also why our being in Panoven is completely secret (at least it's secret to tttTTT).
Now there's also another, more mysterious reason why the Pamavel sent people to Panoven and that's because there's yet another "territory" further North, beyond tttTTT, and the Pamavel wants/needs more info on it too. From what we know from Panoven intelligence services, it's also intriguing tttTTT, which has moved a substantial amount of patrol ships near its Northern coast. More info about it later.

2018-10-27

The more North you go the weirder it gets. The Pamavel has secretely sent a submarine North of Panoven and tttTTT and a topotorpedo confirmed that there's indeed a large landmass a few hundreds kilometers North of tttTTT. The Pamavel has a plan to investigate it without actually sending people there. The plan is to launch a space rocket that is going to fly horizontally above the mysterious landmass and take pictures of it. A bit like we did during the Velecord campaign (IIRC). The space rocket will be unmanned and will have to be remote-controlled from the ground. That's where we (Pamavel people in Panoven) come in: the radar dish and the antenna on our shack in the wood has recently been upgraded, which will allow us to control the space rocket from there.
(Note: I may not have talked about the shack in the wood and the antenna and the radar dish. While us Pamavel people in Panoven are officially lodged in the main Panoven Army HQ (a large office building in a countryside town), a shack in a nearby wood has rapidly become like a secret HQ for us. It's been equiped with an antenna, supposed to catch any form of communication (nothing of worth has been catched), and a radar dish, supposed to detect any approaching aircraft from tttTTT)
The launch of the space rocket is due for sometime in the next 3 weeks.

2018-12-28

The space rocket was launched successfully and we were able to guide it above the Intermark as planned, but unfortunately the fog there is so thick that we have only a very general idea of the shape of the island.
More interestingly, recently a Pamavel sub was patrolling along the coast of the Intermark and spotted what appeared to be a skeletton walking on the beach. Despite being quite spooked some crew members went to investigate and realized it was some kind of robot. It has been taken aboard the sub still functional. We haven't hear anything more since then!
At home, civil discussion about the Pamavel continues. It seems obvious that the people of Pastel, the Velpador and the Manden think that the Pamavel has fought campaigns to extend its strategic interests over the oceans, but with little thought about how this could translate to better living standards for the actual people living in the countries of the Pamavel. These campaigns (mainly Barlucolia and Velecord) also cost many lives and lots of military equipment, and large sums of money which were sunk for seemingly no real result (especially regarding Velecord, which was a failure which put the entire Pamavel at risk of invasion from Melesper - a threat that still lingers today). So yeah -- it's no wonder a majority of people now consider the Pamavel to be a failure and want it gone.

2019-03-31

A month ago I returned to Pamenka, Velpador, and left behind Panoven, but I may have to return there in the mid-term future.
When I returned I found the Pamavel in a surprising state. It still exists, despite increasingly strong opposition, and discussion now revolves around the question of wether Velecordian soldiers should be integrated, temporarily or indefinitely, into the ranks of the Pamavel.
The Velecord community in the Pamavel has a few dozens of thousands of people, both civilians and military personel, that ended up on the Continent after the evacuation of Velecica, but they have been given a special status by the Pamavel administration when they were taken in after the failed Velecord campaign. Among them a leading figure has been rising in the last months, Masha Darpa, a high-ranking woman from the Velecord military (which, as surprising as it may be to the people of the Pamavel, and especially the Malinkés, employs both male and female soldiers). I don't like her looks, but she demands that Velecordian soldiers be integrated into the Pamavel and that operations should be mounted ASAP to evaluate the feasability of the retaking of Velecord. She managed to get the support of the Velecordian community, understandably eager to return home, and most surprisingly the support of a great portion of the female population in Pastel, the Velpador and even the Manden. Her ideas require the Pamavel to continue existing, which appeal to these parts of the population apparently. This complicates the debate around the existence of the Pamavel itself. We have people who want it gone, people who don't want the Pamavel to keep organizing military campaigns left and right, people who are anti-war but also pro-Velecord and touch the question of restarting the fight against Melesper, and we have the Velecordians themselves, with Masha Darpa possibly taking seat in the Pamavel administration soon, albeit under special status.
We still haven't heard from Melesper since the Velecord campaign though. They could be plotting anything, or maybe they're not plotting anything. It is unsafe to send subs on patrol over there to gather info because of the Superselak (the giant shark-thing), which roams the ocean.
And no answer about the Intermark either.

2019-05-04

This is a strange era for the countries of the Pamavel. No doubt, after decades, if not centuries, of rather mundane headlines in the newspapers, the countries of the region and their populations must be at a complete loss right now. The extremely quick expension into the unknow -- starting with Expedition Alex in 2015 all the way to the Velecord Campaign -- has provoked a nameless mess in just 4 years. The creation of the Pamavel was to preserve peace, but the only way the Pamavel attempted to achieve this was to expend its sphere of influence across the unknown seas west, east and south -- and starting wars and campaigns left and right. The result is the present mess -- tenets are shaken and new, strange values are making their way in the Pastelese and Velpadorian societies, brought by news of far away countries and even foreigners from said countries, such as the Velecordians.
A few months ago, the Pamavel was on the verge of disappearing, and now civil movements for women's rights, of all things, have risen up across the Pamavel, mostly in Pastel, but also in the Velpador, and call for preservation of the Pamavel. This is entirely caused by the fact that Masha Darpa, the de facto leader of the Velecordian diaspora, has been given a seat in the Pamavel Council, along with a small delegation -- as observers without any real power, but still. The Pamavel is still just what it was in the beginning: a military alliance. People are tired of this and want it to become a true political entity, and not just some sort of supreme command effectively led by literally 3 people (a Pastelese, a Niverian and a Malinké) and a small bureau of experts. People call for a Pamavel "Parliament", and that's kinda what Darpa has managed to start to achieve, somehow. The Velecordian delegation has managed to position itself to be the only real "force" able to discuss and question the decisions of the Pamavel Council. While being led by a woman, in a region as backward in this regard as the Pamavel!! I don't like her looks, but I must admit she has some serious skills.
The protests are growing in intensity these days. Wait and see, I guess.
In the meantime, we also must keep our eyes peeled, and I am to return to the Panoven, with Eugene this time, discretely, if not secretely, in about a week. No countryside this time, directly to the city -- info and instructions await us there.

2019-06-15

Instructions are to not say anything about the Intermark and to not do anything and to go back to Decimaux. Very useful trip to Panoven.

2019-07-03

Today, the Superselak, the giant shark-thing has been defeated for good! The operation was thought of, pushed and overseen by Palesa Paleso. It had been in preparation for several months already. It was approved after internet cables between the Velpador and Luminer were mysteriously ruptured underwater. Merchant cargo ships in the area were positive they saw a giant sea creature, and Pamavel command concluded it was the Superselak. The operation was also considered a good idea to perk up everyone's spirit. All benefits.
The plan was to send a dozen of unmanned electric subs in the sea S-E of the continent, armed with sonars and explosive charges. The shark-thing would've eaten one of them, the charges would've detonated, and then Full Flappers with depth charges would've finished the jobs. It happened mostly like that. It took several days for the Superselak to be spotted by one of the unmanned subs' sonar; once it had been spotted, all subs (nearly out of battery) converged and sure enough, one of them was eaten. Then the sub exploded with the fish. The shark-thing was not far below the surface and when the Full Flappers dropped their charges, the fish was probably already in a bad shape. After the depth charges, it was most likely dead, despite its very though scales. Then the newly formed Pamavel battle line of 9 Battleships (3 from Pastel, 3 from the Velpador and 3 from the Manden), commanded by Oldendorf, appeared and shelled the heck outta the shark-thing. Probably useless at this point, but we never know. Then the battleships encircled the fish, cabled it, and began to tow it to bring it back to one of the Velpador's harbors.
At this point the Melesperians showed up (a Univalve-class flyship first, followed by 2 more 30 minutes later). No planes were in the area (the Full Flappers were already RTB at this point, and not armed for air-to-air combat anyway), so the battleships were to fend for themselves. AA fire was intense enough that it broke through one of the flyships' propellers, and the flyships kept their distance at first. Then they launched a propeller attack, razing the surface of the water, and completely ruined the body of the shark-thing the battleships were towing. After a time and many AA shells, closer to the coast, Pamavel planes showed up and the flyships retreated.
Now what remains of the shark-thing has been taken in charge by the Pamavel special services. This skirmish served to remind everyone that a state of war still exists between the Pamavel and Melesper.

2019-07-08

Now that navigating the ocean is (relatively) safe once again, recon missions will be able to resume. Several subs (real, manned subs this time) have departed and are currently sailing to the S-E. We are waiting for their reports.
In other news, we have already re-established Internet connection with Luminer (continent to the East in what was called the Second Dial).

2019-08-05

So the most recent news are: the discovery of the VGR and the CeSaChu.
Recent recon missions to the S-E have started, as mentioned earlier, and one sub went so far as to go beyond Melesper. Reportedly that sub discovered cities on the ocean floor S-E of Melesper, a line of cities (obviously inhabited since underwater), or some sort of old urban line, stretching all the way up to the literal end of the sea. Indeed at some point the sea stops and the water just falls into what looks like a void. The sub went along the edge of the sea to the South and eventually reached a shore. Recon missions on foot were performed on this unknown land and some contact was made with inhabitants, but due to supply reserves running low it was decided to get back to the N-W. After 2 weeks at (fast) cruising speed the sub finally got back to a Pamavel harbor. In the meantime it had reported its findings by radio. These findings included the existence of the VGR (Victory Gram Republic) and the CeSaChu (Central Satanist Church), as well as some other but less significant countries like Tibia and Carcass. The situation there seems complicated and further missions should be performed very soon, with subs hopefully equipped with small seaplanes for better recon.

2019-08-20

Two days ago on August 18th, fleet-scale exercises have begun. After spending so much time near the coast, the ships can finally go to the ocean after all these months. I guess Pamavel Command is willing to perk up everyone's spirit and to make everyone leave that sort of apathy we've fallen prey of these last months.

2019-11-01

Ok so, news: on Monday 21st October 2019 the new Pamavel Parliament, under pressure from the Velecordian delegation, voted to begin preparation for a major counter attack against Melesper and their ally Toumou.
The Pamavel high command then revealed lots of new sensational informations about how things are going to proceed. Preparation were slowly taking place even before the vote, actually they've been underway since the defeat at Velecica, that much the General Staff knew, but we didn't know that so much had happened behind the scenes in the last weeks/months.
Turns out that: (and yeah I know, the font size is changing 'cause of the list)

• Anado, pumped by the existence of an actual Central Satanic Church (the famed CeSaChu) in the newly discovered lands S-E of Melesper, is willing to go there and bring back what they see as good order. However Anado doesn't have a navy, being a landlocked country, so they made a deal with the Pamavel: the Pamavel will lend them ships for transport; BUT first, Anado will have to help the Pamavel get rid of Melesper in Velecord, basically liberating Velecord. It has to be done anyway if any action is to take place in lands controlled by the CeSaChu, since the Velecord-Toumou Area is in the way, so Anado agreed. So we're now allied with Anado, which will bolster our numbers by a great margin.
• The Velecordians present on the continent will of course help us to the best of their ability (especially with intelligence regarding Velecordian terrain).
• The Pamavel, in dire need of more personnel, will follow Velecordian way of doing things and, in an unprecedented move, will now recruit directly in the female population. So Pastel, the Velpador and even the Manden will now have, by obligation, to employ female soldiers. Unthinkable just 6 months ago. Masha Darpa outdid herself. This will significantly increase the ranks of the Pamavel, but will undoubtedly generate a whole lot of new issues. Recruiting have already started just two weeks ago. For now all newly recruited female personnel has been sent into new, special regiments, as the question of wether or not the Pamavel armies must be mixed or not has not yet been resolved.
• Speaking of mixing things up, in an effort to harmonize the Pamavel armies, all Pamavel armies will now follow the way of the Pamavel navies and will become the Pamavel Army. A single uniform for all and mixed battalions. No more national armies. This is also met with some resistance, but things are well underway, and the Pamavel already have a central High Command structure anyway. One problem remains to be solved: that of the new unique uniform. It hasn't been created yet.
• The invasion will be carried out sometimes next year. Extensive landing training will have to take place until then.

So yeah. Lots of heavy news. Hopefully things will go well. Can't believe Masha Darpa managed this. Because of course, it's all her doing. National leaders -- Queen Camille, the Velpadorian President and the Mansa of the Manden have expressed their aproval, despite the Mansa being a bit upset about the female soldier thing. But, it will be alright. The Queen of Pastel is not exactly thrilled but she understands the situation, or believes she does, especially considering she was somehow befriended by Masha Darpa.

2020-02-01

It's been three months already since the last time I wrote in there. I can't say a lot has happened. The new unique uniform is still not designed. The merging of the Pamavel national armies in one big Pamavel Army is still underway but things are proceeding without too much trouble. Personel will be redistributed randomly across all the divisions.
As for the recruiting in the female population, after the first few weeks, numbers of new recruits dropped very fast. Looks like all the people who wanted in applied right at the beginning. The boost in numbers isn't that great. But with Anado troops at our side, maybe things will even out.
Preparations are still underway, and namely take the shape of lots of training for all branches. Coastal landing training will take place soon, in mid-February. Pastel will soon have finish testing the prototype for their new wooden rifle, which will equip half of the soldiers.
Since I've been back at Penilon I've noticed quite a few departures and arrivals at the submarine base. I guess we're still doing lots of recon near the VGR and the CeSaChu. I wonder what's going on over there?

2020-03-21

As the merging of the Pamavel armies almost comes into fruition, we are faced with an unforseen issue that we couldn't have planned: a worldwide pandemic. Unfortunately, the countries of the Pamavel are not spared; but thankfully, the lack of international airports in the region has made it easier to contain the first outbursts of new cases. Although everything administration-related is slowed down, routine operation in the army are continuing as if nothing was happening. I don't think it's a good idea, but we might see a change very soon.
The thing I fear would be an attack by Melesper at this time. Unlikely, if reports from subs patrolling the Velecord-Toumou area are to be believed, but still a scary thought.

2020-05-05

The Coronavirus has considerably slowed down all our operations and proceedings. Even though most of the armies of the Pamavel themselves are not confined or quarantined, the countries themselves are, and most of what is needed to complete the merging of the armies into one, uniform army can not be produced fast enough. I'm mainly thinking about the new uniforms.
In any case, I've been sent to Panoven, when I must take care and charge of the single only battalion Panoven has accepted to provide us with. All in all it's surprising Panoven is helping us at all, considering they have always stayed well out of the affairs on the continent, but I guess even they can feel somewhat of a danger lurking across the seas.
There are no news from Melesper nor from the VGR-CeSaChu area. Yet according to letters from my acquaintances in Penilon, there's still a lot of to and fro at the submarine base, so I guess recon missions still take place. Wait and see.

2020-06-12

From what I gather, things are slowly getting back to normal on the continent. Most importantly, an initial draft for the invasion of Velecica has been proposed, and more ideas are coming from the different Pamavel HQs.
The first draft goes as follow: first, an empty but sizeable invasion fleet will approach Velecica's coast. This fleet will be a decoy used to draw the Melesperians out of the places where we really intend to land: cliffed areas. Well, areas with rough cliffs rather than smooth beaches. Indeed this is where the enemy expects us the least and most likely the defenses there will be very thin. We are currently experimenting large scale landing via grappling hooks and it shows promise. Of course we can't land as many troops at the same time that way compared to traditional landing crafts, but if the area is empty of enemy units, it could do the trick.
Now the funny part is that the real invasion fleet will be embarked in large, purpose-built submarines. The first one isn't even out yet but we already have a few prototypes in the works. They just need to quietly sneak their way up to the cliffy coast, surface, and unload the soldiers, who will make use of the grappling hook system being fine-tuned as we speak, and which will equip all these submarines.
According to the simulations though, we will never be able to wear down the enemy enough without sufficient air power. We have aircraft carriers that can be used to project tactical bombers, but we need bigger, level bombers to deorganize enemy units. The thing is, the operational range of our level bombers don't allow them to make it to Velecica, drop their payload, and come back to the Pamavel home territories. And such large aircraft cannot be fitted on aircraft carriers.
To counter this problem, I suggest that Pamavel engineers (specifically Malinke engineers who have a knack for that kind of air contraptions) work on a level-flying-boat-bomber, a bit like the old US airplane Catalina, except bigger, with buoys under each wings to be able to cruise/take off/land on water, and a big bomb bay in the ventral area. Such airplanes could land on water and be resupplied by nearby destroyers or supply ships. They could take off and land anywhere near the coast of the island with great freedom.
This would normally seems a bit wacky but considering the other parts of the invasion plan I think it'll fit just fine.

2020-09-04

Ok so the invasion is imminent. I wonder if Melesper knows that. I don't know if they have any way to gather intelligence stealthily like we do with our submarines.
Anyway, the plan is going to go as follows:
The invasion fleet and its escort (3 Pamavel fleets) will approach Velecica. Our brand new level-flying-boat-bombers, designed by Malinke and Pamavel engineers, will cruise alongside the fleet. They will be resupplied by supply ships when near the Velecican coast, and will then proceed to bomb any Melesper defenses. The invasion fleet will then approach the coast at points where cliffs are very rough and beaches basically non-existent, and the troops will disembark using the rope-and-grapplehook system devised in these last months. It is thought that the Melesperians won't have much defenses in these areas (since they are not applicable for regular amphibious assault). To be fair, a lot of the plan depends on this. Submarine patrols along the Velecican coastline suggest that the defenses are indeed light.
Once on the ground, infantry will be tasked with liberating the nearest towns and villages, and then quickly make way towards the Eastern harbors and beaches of Velecica and capture them, in order for the heavy equipment to be landed as well. Indeed, one of the flaws of this plan is that infantry will be on their own until either a beach or an harbor has been captured.
After that it will be a matter of advancing inland, and of protecting the very looong maritime supply corridor stretching from the Continent to Velecica.
The exact date has been scratched and the new one will be kept secret until the day before. But signs are there.

2020-11-04

News: four days ago a Pastelese submarine docked in Penilon fired by mistake a topotorpedo. Turns out a Pastelese battleship was coming back from routine patrol and was on the path of the topotorpedo. The torpedo did struck; fortunately there's no explosives in these torpedoes, but I reckon the topo-shockwave must have surprised the crew. The topography around here is already fully known but the staff of the harbor still took the opportunity to check the results of the topotorpedo and noticed a weird artifact not far from the coast. At first it was thought to be either a random artifact or a big fish. A nearby escort destroyer used its sonar and detected the same thing again. The DD went to investigate, and to everyone's surprise found an underwater surveillance device ostensibly belonging to Melesper! A long underwater thread was attached to it; the DD followed the thread for a few kilometers, getting farther and farther from the coast, until it spotted water-walking Melesperian personel in the waves, with some equipment apparently designed to receive info from the underwater device via the thread (which was actually a cable). The Melesperians, took by surprise, as well as their equipment were captured and brought back by the destroyer.
This is obviously a big deal because it means Melesper has been keeping an eye on us for some time now, although we don't know how long exactly; maybe the prisoners will give us some more info on that.

2020-11-30

I think I can't get behind that stuff. We're getting more and more precise information about what's going on in the VGR/CeSaChu conflict. The VGR has been slowly but surely repelling CeSaChu forces near the South; a VGR airfleet was poised to score a significant victory after one of its airwing managed to incur great damage to a CeSaChu aerial battleship. The battleship was almost "sunk", and was about to be finished off by a VGR light cruiser arriving from the North, but when the cruiser fired its main guns, its first half suddenly blew up. We, here in the Pamavel Command, know for a fact that it was a deliberate act of sabotage by our own special agents. (Because yeah, the Pamavel does have secret agents, and some of them are already operating in the VGR/CeSaChu area.) It was purposely done so that the VGR do not advance too fast along the Southern coast of the continent, because it is feared that should the VGR actually win the war, they may not be as willing to help us in our own war against Melesper. As it stands, the CeSaChu aerial battleship was able to escape and did destroy a few bridges across a major river, greatly reducing the speed of the VGR's advance.
This kind of action by our own forces (sabotage of future-friendly forces) is REALLY questionable. Not even mentioning that if the VGR discovers who is really behind the sabotage, we can say good bye to our "future" alliance with them. ("Future" between quotes because we haven't started fighting together just yet anyway).

2021-02-01

At long last we set sail! The whole Pamavel invasion fleet has left port and is now heading towards the Velecica/Toumou Area. A sizeable portion of available forces has been left on the Continent just to be safe, but the invasion fleet is quite a sight to behold. Unfortunately its size means we are quite slow. We should be arriving to our destination in two to three weeks.

2021-02-04

So far so good -- no incident to report since we left a few days ago.

2021-02-19

Approaching Velecican coast. Radio silence is enforced. Tension is rising. Sub patrols go to the coast and then back to us and report information directly by voice or paper. We should arrive February 22nd.

2021-02-22

Well, that was a heck of a Monday morning, as Plunip was saying. We did not land anything on actual beaches during the first 24 hours; instead we used the grappling hook method and "landed" hundreds of soldiers directly on cliffs both North and South of Bogado Harbor. There were virtually no defenses nor garrisons present at these places, except for some MG nests that were quickly dispatched by naval bombardment, so a bridgehead was quickly established, but not a very practical one -- a bridgehead is only good if you can actually use it to unload troops and heavy equipment. Nevertheless, our troops then made way towards their first objectives further inland, and made contact with Melesperian troops. Although firefights sparked at different places, resistance was far lower than expected. I guess the VGR has already started attacking Melesper... But I think the Melesperians will be quick to react and will dispatch more forces at us in the next days.

2021-03-08

Things are proceeding basically as planned, even if a bit slowly. There was sporadic fighting the first few days of the invasion, until a proper frontline developped in the third and fourth days. Right from the beginning though, we noticed the Melesperians were using Toumouan tanks flying the Melesperian flag, a curious thing we did not witness during our campaign in 2017-2018. We do not really know if the Toumouans and Melesperians are still allies at this point.
Anyway, we've been enjoying solid close air support, thanks to what I dare to call air superiority, although the Melesperians did deploy a half-dozen of shellships against us, three or four of which our planes managed to shot down out of the sky. Our troops haven't captured Bogado yet, though; it seems most of the Melesperian forces have been preparing the city as a defensive position. Yet we'll need to capture it if we are to ensure a steady flow of supplies between Velecica and the distant countries of the Pamavel.
Things have been pretty easy thus far, and it seems Melesper is not commiting even half of its forces to the fight -- maybe the VGR diversion is actually paying off. But information about that is classified for now.

2021-03-30

The campaign is proceeding rather well all things considered. Up until this point, that is. Bogado was finally captured a few days ago, after a relatively long siege (High Command didn't want to commit to a costly attack, which would've probably be the only way to capture the port faster).
High Command has divided our forces into two armies: the First Army is to clear the mountains at the center of the island, and the Second Army is to bypass the mountain and secure the Southern half of the island, including the cities and ports, which is a tall order, because there's much ground to cover and a frontline to stick to. The Second Army is proceedingly slowly and cautionously in the plains, and our planes have made countless sorties to provide CAS. The 1st Army also has its problems, as its forces are getting lost in the snowy mountains in the center of the island. There are so many mountain paths out there, it feels like a maze, and our troops have already been victim to several deadly ambushes.
In other news, we finally have some info about what's going on on the VGR side of things. VGR forces are slowly but surely pushing back the CeSaChu westwards, and have recently opted for a change of strategy when it comes to airships: with a good portion of their airfleet now busy on the Melesperian front, VGR Command felt having a lot of small task forces was no longer sustainable; instead, they have opted to gather their remaining available airships into two big fleets. Exit the smaller task forces; enter, the concentration of firepower. They have already had a victory over a CeSaChu task force a few days ago. The thing is, with only two fleets, they won't be able to be everywhere at once. So it's a double-edged sword: they are sure to win any air-naval engagement, but they can only be at two places at the same time, so it could allow the CeSaChu to outflank them. Hope they planned to account for that!
VGR forces have engaged the Melesperians -- it was all but confirmed, but now it's official, although info is scarce. We know a few details; apparently it's very, very hot in Melesper right now. It's springtime and since the Melesperian land is floating high and mostly above the clouds, sun hits hard. VGR forces are not used to this kind of weather, so they have to position an airship directly above the marching troops to provide shade, so the troops don't end up boiling down there. For now, the VGR seems to encounter the same surprises we did: the Melesperian shellships are surprisingly sturdy, the crustacean shell is almost unbreakable, and their propeller acts as an almost impenetrable shield protecting the only vulnerable opening, deflecting most shells, except for the luckiest hits. VGR High Command thinks they could prevent the Melesperians from building more shellships by finding and disabling their ore extracting and processing centers, especially when it comes to the ore that is used to build the shellships' propellers.
In any case, maybe that hot weather can explain why shellships have their propellers constantly rotating. It acts like a fan of sort, refreshing the crew inside. It also deflects enemy projectiles, and it is used as a weapon. I wonder how the Melesperians came up with such a dreadful kind of machine.

2021-04-02

The campaign is suddenly starting to gain steam! Large amounts of Melesperian troops have been seen maneuvering and heading towards the plains south of the mountains. I fear a deadly clash between our 2nd Army and the Melesperians. The 5th Fleet has been ordered to move along the coast and provide CAS (from the carriers) and naval artillery support (from the surface combat ships) as requested by the ground troops. Kamen says he's been expecting a counter-attack for days. He should've said it sooner...

2021-04-06

The Melesperian counterattack has began in the South on April 4th. Our troops are being pushed back -- slightly and temporarily, I hope. The situation has stabilized, but the frontline is becoming more meaty all the way from the foot of the mountains down to the Southern coast. As long as there are no surprises, I'm rather confident.
The 1st Army has fortunately began breaking through yesterday evening, but the snow is slowing down their advance (the mountains are always snowy, although the snow thins out in the summer, according to our Velecordian weather experts). With some luck, the 1st Army will break out of the mountains and then will be able to move south and attack the right flank of the Melesperian counterattack.
Five shellships have attacked the fleet earlier today, but one was shot down by a lucky hit from one of our Full Flappers, and the others retreated.
For now, we haven't seen Jolene at all. A theory is that the Melesperian is using it as an elevator to raise and lower troops from their mainland to the sea and back.

2021-04-14

Yesterday a Toumouan Fleet arrived South of Velecica. But as the Pamavel fleet was about to engage, the aircraft carrier around which the TF was centered exploded suddenly.
This leads to several questions: are the Toumouans in the fight after all? And why did the carrier exploded from the inside? An accident?
For now the most plausible theory is that some of the Toumouans are collaborating with the Melesperians, but some among those "collaborators" are actually against Melesper and sacrificed their ships in order to foil the Melesperian battleplans.
In any case, the fight is intensifying, and just before we reached the other end of the island, too. Mastak did plan its counterattack well, and our advance is basically halted in the plains South of the mountains. The First Army is working on a plan to flank the enemy advance.
In other news, Malinke pilot Mamadou Kanté has been shot down by Melesperian AA (actual AA canon from Melesper, with the mollusk shell and all) and crashed in enemy territory, but is still alive. But we don't know if he's been taking prisonner yet.

2021-05-18

Breaking news! Jolene captured on May 10! An entire shellship fleet decimated on May 18! See the 2021-05-18 entry from "ICC - notes" for more info. Here it is, copy-pasted here for convenience.

2021-10-14

It's been months now. We're preparing for the inevitable invasion of Cilica, the natural next step before Samou Island itself, but it takes time. Our forces tried to make Mastak talk, and while he didn't say much, he did concede some information about what may await us on Cilica, and so we must also take that into account.

2021-12-09

January 4th, 2022 will be the day.

2022-01-04

The new command interface will be used for the upcoming landings on Cilica. Maybe the operation will be postponed one day just the time to make sure everything is ok on that end.

2022-01-05 - Invasion of Cilica

Oh my. So the landings have begun. And it's not great.
Cilica has that small "growth" at its northern end, like a small peninsula, and there's a harbour there. Cutting off the peninsula and capturing the harbour, while maintaining a beachhead and roughly securing our southern flank, was (technically still is) the primary objective of Army 2, of which I have been assigned. Army 1 is landing south of us. Things are going ok on their side, but the landing of Army 2 has been messy. There's no unified command because we have no real HQ, and we simply haven't landed enough equipment. The Melesperians quickly counterattacked with tanks, airplanes and even ships they "borrowed" from the Toumouans. And then, their shellships appeared, and we had an issue with the stockpile of glue missile, so our fighters had a hard time countering the shellships, who could reach and damage our force with near impunity. As a result, the landing force have suffered casualties at a rate far higher than predicted.
However, things are not completely desperate yet. Army 1, landing with more units and encountering lighter resistance, is sending reinforcements our way, with Kamen at their head. We just have to hold our small beachhead for a while -- maybe a few days at most. When Army 1 reaches us, a bridge between our two beachheads will be established, increasing the size of our continuous controlled area, so there's that at least.
Plus, after the glue missiles problem was fixed, we were able to inflict great damage to the Melesperian shellship fleet, sinking at least 10 or so.
But needless to say, after the near flawless campaign of Velecica 6 months ago, we were expecting better this time around.

2022-01-08

Reinforcements from Army 1 have finally joined the fight! And, I must say, are bailing us out for free. Kamen is prioritizing the securing of our right flank (the south of the peninsula), in order to cut off enemy reinforcement routes, and then he will focus on the capture of the harbor and the city at the northern tip of the peninsula.

2022-03-29

Campaign still in progress. January's landings were rough but things were a bit smoother after that, now things are getting rough again as we approach Promoveo.

2023-04-23

One year later, what's new? Cilica is under our control. And a Pamavel invasion fleet is currently sailing towards Toumou. According to intelligence reports, public opinion in Toumou is overwhelmingly against the war and against Melesper, which is seen more as an occupying force than an actual ally. This is verified on the field, as very few Toumouan units have been spotted near the Toumouan Western Coast. It is probable Melesperians are forcing Toumouan units to fight against their will. Pamavel Command thinks that if we can 'liberate' Toumou, the country would either side with us or become neutral. This is of course excellent news as it deprives Melesper from a lot of manpower, however Toumouan equipment (weaponry, vehicles, etc) and industry is still in Melesperian hands. Melesperians still can't pilot airplanes, but they now operate Toumouan tanks in addition to their own.

2023-04-28

The landings in Toumou took place yesterday. Heavy casualties. We all thought it was going to be easier. The shellships in particular were more numerous than we realized, and although Pamavel airplanes sunk a lot of those, they still did a lot of damage to our forces. But we do have a beachhead now. The Toumouan fleet is nowhere to be seen, too, so our supply lines going from Cilica to Toumou seem to be rather secure. Next order of business is moving East. The Toumouan mainland is basically divided up in 3 thirds. The largest one is the one to the West, that is to say the one where we have landed. Pamavel Command has separated our armies into 2 main groups: one that will move north, along the northern coast; and one that will move south. Group South will probably face the hardest challenge, since it's closer to Melesperian home territories, and also Group South will have to take more territories. Once the Western half of the Toumouan mainland is firmly under our control, we will push East as well as North (to take the peninsula).

2023-04-30

Been assigned to Group North. Some hard fighting. Underestimated size of enemy forces in the area. Many shellships, although our airplanes are shooting them. Melesperians are using Toumouan AA vehicles in addition to their own strange-looking shell-hull with turrets that fire "shell-points" of sort. Currently leading a special operation to cut down their supply lines far to the East. The plan is to drop infantry units there using the new Pastelese T-Copters, and capture cities far behind enemy lines.
We are currently on the defensive and the enemy is slowly pushing us back North-West, but I think there's still hope to turn the situation around if we make good use of our bombers. Indeed the enemy only has older Toumouan airplanes at its disposal, which will make it possible for us to gain air supremacy.
Our fleet is also patrolling North but the main battle is taking part too far south for our battleships to support us. However our carriers may be able to launch combat sorties.

2023-05-03

The situation is hopeless for Group North! The enemy has surrounded the industrial center of Minca with countless armored and artillery units. Our forces are holding valiantly but everything leads to think the city will fall soon. The only saving grace is that our fleet is nearby and can bombard enemy units with impunity, given that the Melesperians doesn't have a naval fleet, and their shellship fleet has almost entirely been sunk during the battle. In theory, our fleet should be able to indefinitely keep the enemy from capturing the city and making use of its infrastructure, however the question is how to gain back all this lost territory.

See also