Gra Valkas - Leiforian War

Belligerents| **Gra Valkas****Supported by:****URDM** | **Leiforian Protectorate Pact*** **Leifor**
* **Paganda**
* **Irnetia**

Strength|  * **IGVN**
+ 13 Aircraft Carriers
+ 3 Battleships
+ 9 Cruisers
+ 55 Destroyers
+ 12 Support Ships
+ 980 Aircrafts

* **IGVA**
+ 250,000 Troops
+ Landing Forces
- 3 Command Ships
- 63 Landing Ships

+ Air Service
- 760 Aircrafts
+ Leiforian Army
- 650,000 Troops
- 1,500,000 Reserves

+ Leiforian Navy
- 6 Aircraft Carriers
- 5 Dreadnoughts
- 12 Semi-Dreadnoughts
- 15 Pre-Dreadnoughts
- 22 Armored Cruisers
- 34 Torpedo Boat Destroyers

+ Leiforian Air Force
- 630 Aircrafts

* **Paganda**
+ Pagandan Army
- 14,000 Troops
- 26,000 Reserves

+ Pagandan Navy
- 2 Armored Cruisers
- 10 Steam Frigates

* **Irnatia**
+ Irnetian Army
- 9,000 Troops
- 13,000 Reserves

+ Irnetian Navy

## Battles and Events

**Operation Amboss Tropfen**
**Operation Donnerschlag**
**Operation Doppelschlag**

**"Hence, standing united with our allies in Paganda against the unlawful conduct of Gra Valkas, we will honor the Leiforian Protectorate Pact of 1590 and follow with our own declaration of war on the Gra Valkas Empire.”**

**- Chapter 14: Donnerschlag Part 1**

The **Gra Valkas - Leiforian War** was initially a conflict between the Gra Valkas Empire and Paganda Kingdom in retaliation for the imprisonment of Gra Valkan diplomats. However, Leifor and Inertia also joined the war to fight alongside Paganda in honor of the Leiforian Protectorate Pact of 1590.

## Background

The Gra Valkas Empire has sent a group of ten diplomats to establish diplomatic ties with Paganda which unfortunately, ended in disaster. The diplomats insisted that they and the Pagandans are on the same level which angered them. To add fuel into the fire, the leading diplomat, Dallas Claymond insisted that King Heinar of Paganda is "nothing more than an ordinary citizen and he should abdicate". The King lost his composure and ordered an arrest on the diplomats. After the news is reported back, the Imperial Council denounced Paganda and advocated for an immediate resolution to the situation. Hence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent a diplomat named Cielia Oudwin to negotiate for the diplomats' release.

As they arrived at the port to meet with the Pagandans, the Pagandan guards brought Dallas who has been tortured by them, much to their agreement with the Gra Valkans to "show signs of life from the diplomats". Seeing the terrible condition of Dallas' body, Cielia insisted that he should be treated with respect. Insulted by her words, they started to hurl insults at the Gra Valkans. They then demanded an apology and have Gra Valkas pay monthly reparations and inclusive rights for Pagandan citizens on Gra Valkan soil in which Cielia refused on all demands. Both sides left without an agreement and Gra Valkas is given one day to consider before the diplomats are executed.

A special forces unit of the Imperial Gra Valkan Army (IGVA), dubbed the Kommandokompanie has been deployed into Paganda to conduct Operation Amboss Tropfen which is to infiltrate Paganda and rescue the diplomats, bringing them home. All ten diplomats are successfully rescued. Unfortunately, Hartmann, who was the youngest among the Kommandos at 27 has passed away as he was bleeding too much blood after he got shot by a Pagandan MP.

Hours after the operation, a Pagandan diplomat is sent to meet up with Cielia once again. This time they demanded Gra Valkas to "return the ten diplomats rightfully incarcerated, hand over the perpetrators of the attack, and execute the highest commander responsible for approving the attack". Just like the previous meeting, Cielia refuses on all demands. As a result, the King of Paganda declares war on the Gra Valkas Empire.

## Operation Donnerschlag

**“...We as a people will not cower! We will not yield and submit! We are the Gra Valkas Empire, and just like with the Kain Divine Kingdom, the actions of the Kingdom of Paganda will not go unpunished!”**

**- Chapter 11: Die Würfel sind Gefallen**

### Gra Valkan invasion on Paganda

#### Air attack

At frightening speed, the Gra Valkas Empire sent fleets of bombers escorted by Ma-67 "Jauchzer" fighter jets the day after Operation Amboss Tropfen towards the Paganda Kingdom to conduct an aerial attack on the capital city of Priscina. At the ocean west of Paganda, five Pagandan ships including the lead ship, the Tilas-class armored cruiser Rakis had spotted the aircrafts and manned their circuit guns to shoot them down. Despite the fierce opposition, they are simply no match against the technological superior Gra Valkan jets. All five ships have been destroyed and sank with no casualties on the Gra Valkan's side.

As the bombers reached the capital city, they dropped their bombs into the city, specifically targeting their flagships and military installations around the capital city of Prisicina in order to render their defensive capabilities useless. The attack has taken the Pagandans by surprise as they expected Gra Valkas to mobilize their troops in two or three weeks, leaving them totally unprepared for the attack. An hour later, all of their coastal artillery batteries have been destroyed and their prized flagship, the Tilas. In addition, many of their military facilities such as the army base, the naval headquarters, the airfield and much more are also destroyed from the bombing.

#### Amphibious assault

After the aerial attack, 13 amphibious landing ships are deployed to gain a foothold on the Pagandan coast. Five of them are fast ships which will arrive first to unload their personnel, equipment and vehicles while the rest follow. However, only three fast ships have landed on the coast successfully. One of them arrived at a cliff face which forces them to abort their landing while the other one got stuck on an undetected reef and are requesting for tugboat assistance. This has been due to the lack of intelligence from the Gehiemdienst and the rushed implementations. Nevertheless, the brigade-sized invasion force of the IGVA was able to land without any resistance.

#### Conclusion

As the Gra Valkan soldiers of the 287th Sonder Infanterie-Abteilung entered the outskirts of Priscina, they met Heinar, the King of Paganda who wanted to bring an end to the conflict. After the chain of command received information about the king, the commander of the landing forces substituted for an official diplomatic representative as they began talks for their surrender. In the end, the Kingdom of Paganda has ceased to be a sovereign nation and is now under Gra Valkan occupation.

### Gra Valkan invasion on Leifor

#### Air attack

Just like the Gra Valkan invasion on Paganda, bombers and fighter jets are sent to Leifor's capital city of Leiforia to bomb and destroy Leiforian aircraft and air bases to gain air supremacy. Above Leiforia, four Muish-built biplanes are patrolling the skies which is more than usual as the Leiforian military upped their air patrols to maintain readiness for any Gra Valkan attack. Unfortunately, all four biplanes have been taken out in an instant by the Ma-67 "Jauchzer" fighter jets. Later on, the formation of Jauchzers split as individual units and destroyed the Leiforian air bases, surprising the anti-air defenses as they never expected the Gra Valkans to appear this fast. As the bombers dropped their load on Leiforia, not only did they bomb military targets, they also bombed civilian ones such as a building housing a Leiforian newspaper company known as the Imperial Telegraph. Almost all military installations are destroyed and what is left of the leadership have fled into the emergency shelters underneath the palace complex.

#### Amphibious assault

The landings have been carried out in harsh conditions as the Gra Valkans sent to assault the beaches have to deal with rough waves towering between two to three meters high. Despite the harsh conditions making it unsuitable for landing, the top brass wanted to take Leiforia as soon as possible. Hence, the troops have no choice but to follow their higher ups' orders.

As if the problems faced during the amphibious assault towards Paganda is bad enough, the events in Leiforia are much worse. Despite the successful bombardment on the city conducted by the Gra Valkan Navy Air Service, they have failed to destroy a few guns that has the range to hit anywhere in Leiforia. They are shortly spotted and destroyed by the 125mm guns from the destroyers. Furthermore, the harsh weather and strong waves resulted in a considerable amount of damage to their vehicles and injuring many of the soldiers, further delaying the campaign.

#### The capturing of Emperor Magno V

30 minutes after the bombs began dropping on Leiforia, members of Leifor's imperial family evacuated into the escape tunnels that led outside the imperial palace. Among the people evacuating are the boy Emperor Magno V surrounded by a squad of Imperial Guardsmen to keep them safe. As they are running down the sewers of the city, they are suddenly ambushed by a group of Gra Valkan Kommandos as one of them threw a grenade killing most of the vanguard of imperial guards. The rear guard then spun around distracted by the commotion at the front. However, little do they know, another grenade is thrown at them and exploded killing most of them. Taking advantage of the chaos that ensued, the Kommandos emerged from the darkness and killed anyone that was willing to fight in a swift but brutal manner. Fearing death, what is left of the guards surrendered.

The Gra Valkans then restrained them together with the maids, Magno V and his family and in a harrowing twist, forced the boy Emperor to watch as they played a cruel game of Russian Roulette. After the game, the "winner" among the 15 men and women is released and returned to the Imperial Palace intentionally as a message sent by the Kommandos to notify the government about the capture of Emperor Magno V together with the imperial family.

#### Conclusion

After the message has been relayed to Deric Kalmar, regent to Emperor Magno V and the surviving leadership of Leifor, the regent is livid and demoralised. With the capturing of the boy Emperor, the disappearance of President Sauren Axar and the destruction of nearly all military facilities and communication infrastructure, he and the surviving leadership have no choice but to prioritize the preservation of what is left of Leifor's old status quo. Hence, Leiforia, the capital city of Leifor has surrendered to the Gra Valkans and is now under their occupation.

## Operation Doppelschlag

**“I have here a plan to systematically subjugate the unsurrendered regions of Leifor by means of intelligence gathering, posturing, diplomatic pressure, and lastly, combat maneuvers..."**

***"...Meine Herren*, I present to you, *Unternehmen Doppelschlag*.”**

**- Chapter 16.5: Yoha no Naka**

Despite the formal surrender of the Leiforian federal government issued by Deric Kalmar, the local governments in some other regions of the country refused to or did not know of the surrender. This was due to a mix of disrupted lines of communication, general confusion and nationalistic fervor. Furthermore, having only one mechanized division entrenched in the capital, the bulk of Leifor's armed forces have scattered across the country amassing hundreds of thousands of men, albeit temporary paralyzed due to loss of their chain of command. This concerned the Gra Valkan high command as they are aware that a mobilized response can easily push their meager 14,150-strong force of the 47th Panzergrenadier division back into the ocean, outnumbering them by 20 to 1. With a verbal push from the Emperor himself through the Imperial Council, who demanded that the precarious situation be rectified, the military moved to their backup plan, Operation Doppelschlag.

### Operation Rammbock

Through the intelligence gathered by the Geheimdienst, there have been reports a surviving Leiforian general by the name of Jonas Jakobsen rapidly reorganizing and mobilizing a massive force near the city of Havro to conduct a major counteroffensive against the Gra Valkans to reclaim the occupied cities of Leifor which will start by approximately early next month at the start of autumn. This has caused the Gra Valkan commanders to rethink and redraw their planned offensive to be pushed closer in time to next week.

Back on the homefront, support towards the war is no longer popular as their last war was the 43 year Eternity War against Kain back at their home planet, Yggdra which ended due Gra Valkas' transference to Asherah. To maintain popular apathy, the government censored the death toll and labeling deployments as "snuffing out guerillas" and "securing POWs". Furthermore, they also limited their military presence by deploying only 13 divisions from two army corps and two air forces consisting of 760 aircraft. Nevertheless, the commanders are urged to subjugate Leifor at a short amount of time.

#### Objective

Dubbed as Operation Battering Ram, Operation Rammbock is a three-day long offensive to "overrun and destroy the still organizing Leiforian forces and take the northeast regional capital Havro". Five divisions of the III Army Corps will come from the northern front while eight divisions of the II Army Corps will come from the primary southern front so that they could form the primary pincer against Havro. Meanwhile, two air services and artillery brigades will conduct bombing runs and long-range strikes respectively on anything that can cause problems to their fellow comrades from the ground and air such as heavy artillery, supply depots and anti-aircraft gun emplacements.

After those are neutralized, they will then start aiming at a heavily fortified mountain defense line known as the Helsingsand Line which is a network of reinforced concrete bunkers and heavy defense emplacements. It also contains two triple 301mm long-range guns mounted in rotating battleship turrets which are the primary targets as these are one of the only weapons Leifor possessed that have somewhat the same range as the Gra Valkan artillery. As they fired at the Helsingsand Line, ground forces will come in to break the frontlines and push further while the engineering units follow behind to construct forward operating bases.

With the Leiforians having no air power and a shattered army, the Gra Valkan high command is confident that their army will not face much resistance as they move in.