GDW African Front

The **African Front** refers to a series of battles and military expeditions fought between the Nuuk Empire and Weltreich on the continent of Africa during the Greater Decade's War. The front saw varied success on both sides, with the Nuuk Empire occupying southern Kamerun and the Gold Coast, and the Weltreich occupying Kenya and Tanzania. The expeditions were each ended with a catastrophic failure, for the Empire it being the Battle of Douala, and for the Reich it being the Battles of Zanzibar. Conflict in Africa came to a close in 2998, along with the Greater Decade's War. The battles across the continent ravaged much of its infrastructure, especially in Nordafrika. The Nuuk Empire set about not only reconstructing, but also improving the infrastructure of formerly Reich occupied areas, however the Weltreich did little to rebuild Nordafrika's southwest region, seeing the Africans as inferiors. Many africans still living in the Gold Coast live in poverty, and millions migrate to the Nuuk Empire for a better life annually.

## Development

The first battle in the African Front was the Battle of Nairobi, an expedition carried out by Weltreich general Wolfgang Grutzberg that pushed deep into Kenya and opened a gateway into East Africa. In response, the Nuuk Empire launched an offensive into southern Kamerun, capturing Yaounde within weeks under the command of Zhuldyz Gulnar. With the development of other fronts, such as Asia and Europe, the front was fair stagnant for several years until Imperial general Thomas Shepherd led an amphibious invasion of Liberia and the Gold Coast in 2994. At the same time, Grutzberg was leading a massive campaign into East Africa, pushing as far south as Lake Malawi. Little concern was raised about the amphibious invasion, as it was theorized to be a failure, and as a result Wolfgang focused his attention to the East.

### Battles of Zanzibar

Wolgang had reached the southern tip of Lake Malawi, but had been pushed back along the coast of Tanganyika. As a result, he turned his focus there, relocating to a private bunker near the coast. He planned an assault to capture the islands of Zanzibar, a key trade location for the Nuuk Empire in East Africa. On May 14th, 2994, his forces launched an assault on the Imperial Military Base on the coast of Tanganyika. The surprise attack forced the Imperial troops stationed there to evacuate to Zanzibar in escape boats. There, they mounted a defense against the Reich invaders. Wolfgang underestimated the amount of support the Imperial troops would receive, but even so demanded his forces push forward. He commanded a small fleet of ships to sail for the beaches of Zanzibar and launch an amphibious assault. His troops landed at Zanzibar, but were met with an insurmountable forces and were forced to evacuate. "The shnitzos," said Zhuldyz Gulnar, who was present for the battle, "never made it past the sands of the beach. They came and left with the tide."

Furious due to the failure, Wolfgang shortly thereafter ordered a second assault, this time with more supplies and men. Merely a few hours after the first, the Second Battle of Zanzibar raged the islands. This time, the Reich made it into the city's streets, but were assaulted on all sides but Imperial troops. Several were taken out by snipers stationed in the windows of high buildings, and their equipment was sacked. The entire army was wiped out, the last broadcast to Wolfgang being, "It seems Officer Loesch has been killed. I think the rest of the squadron is getting panicked. I reccomend we ev-".

The failure of the second battle did not deter the foolhardy Wolfgang, who launched a third assault shortly after he recieved this broadcast. He sent everything he had remaining to Zanzibar, with the hope that they could launch an insurmountable assault. However, this was not the case. The third battle was the shortest and the deadliest, as several missiles sunk the ships the soldiers were on before they even hit the coast, destroying all Wolfgang's supplies and men. Enraged, Wolfgang ordered backup, but was denied by Ragnarr von Thorheim, who scoffed and said, "You remind of Cadorna right now," a reference to Luigi Cadorna's Twelve Battles of the Isonzo River. Now with nothing left to defend the mainland, Wolfgang's forces were pushed back when Zhuldyz's forces landed their own invasion of the Tanganyika Coast. This proved incredibly successful, and Wolfgang was forced to evacuate. He was relocated to Douala, where he would command the Reich troops at the Battle of Douala, the most influential battle in the African Front.

### Battle of Douala

Following the great defeat at Zanzibar, Grutzberg, dishonoured and ashamed, was forced to retreat back to Reich Nordafrika. Seeing the Nuuk advancement into the Golden Coast, Grutzberg saw the city of Douala being the best and most appropriate base of command. While Gulnar advanced through the rainforest of the Golden Coast, Grutzberg was building his defenses, preparing and baiting the Nuuks for a massive battle. An ace that Grutzberg would have was his prototype spying network, more advanced than any Nuuk espionage networks, it was granted to Grutzberg as a means to redeem himself and to test its capability. Learning from his past mistakes, due to the lack of intelligence and information, Grutzberg was determined to gather as much information he could, right up to the individual and personal details of every soldier under Gulnar. He would spend hours upon hours, studying Gulnar, her tactics, her history and her personality. His determination for knowledge would earn him the nickname of "Polymath." While doing, Grutzberg would advance his tactics and strategies, reading a great deals of guerrilla warfare, and notably, of the warfare made by the legendary Vietcong. While Grutzberg was perfecting everything, making sure all the fortresses and trench lines were as hidden as possible to both Nuuk surveillance and blind eye, Gulnar was marching forth. Upon hearing the news of Grutzberg's embarrassing defeat in Zanzibar and his following retreat, Gulnar thought that if this 'arrogant fool' had confidence in those 'idiotic peaces of comedy,' she would easily wipe the floor with this 'Aryan Shnitzo,' as she described him. Gulnar, empowered and bolstered, would underestimate Grutzberg's resolve, mostly because of her army's speed and prior victories. Gulnar's plan was to chase the Reich army retreating, catch them with their pants down and destroy their command in Cameroon. Gulnar's plan had seemed to work, she had cached the small main German army in Douala. Gulnar would order her army to vaguely enter the city and wipe out any resistance. She would give command of her army to Lyam Bissonnette, Gulnar's Quebecois assistant. Bissonnette was filled with the same arrogance that Gulnar had, he would personally lead the army into the city. The Nuuks, deceived by false information, certain that the Reich army was extremely diminished due to multiple attacks and evacuations, while on the contrary was much larger than the Nuuk army itself. Being entrenched in secret foxholes in buildings, streets and even sewer. Not only in the city, buy surrounding Douala as well.

As Nuuk soldiers shoot down small pockets of Reich soldiers, bolstered by what appears to be supporting Africans, was actually a diversion for the real battle. As the Nuuks stood still, while watching their banner fly over the city, Bissonnette would interrogate the German commander of the city, Frank Oest. Oest, even when threatened with death, was determined in keeping the lie of the German army was crushed, though a larger reinforcement was heading its way from Egypt. With the German headquarters in Doula, filled to the brim with false plans, armies and more, Gulnar and Bissonnette were, without a doubt, confident in their victory. But as the sun finally set for the victorious day and the Nuuks soldiers began to rest, German soldiers stormed from the trees and foxholes. Armed with machine guns and other rapid fire weapons, even one account of a flamethrower, the Germans absolutely slaughtered all Nuuk soldiers, without discrimination between them and even local citizens caught up in the action. In less than an hour, an entire army was being routed. As Nuuk soldiers tried to escape the city, they only found out that the entire area was encircled by Germans. They were all mowed down, including Bissonnette.

In one of the most stunning Reich victories, an entire Nuuk army and one of the most respected Nuuk generals, were dead. Luckily for Gulnar, she left prior to the attack, as to report for a briefing with Thomas Shepherd. Grutzberg would comment on the situation with, "they were dreaming while I was scheming." Now on the run, the Nuuks would have to flee from all of Cameroon and surrounding area. The battle would go down in history, as not only of the bloodiest, but also one of the greatest. With half a million Nuuks dead, Grutzberg had not only restored his honour, but had earned enough respect to be promoted to Field Marshal, earn the Steel Cross and earn command of the entire African front. Gulnar's career following this would never recover, even after the war, with her being the only one, rightfully so, fit for blame.