The War of Independence
Inside the Palatine Assembly Hall, in the Revolutionary Army's temporary command center, Augustus and his Umojan staff officers stood before a long bench moved from the main hall of the council hall. On it was an open global map of the Korhal, with each flag representing a Confederacy or Korhal Revolutionary Army unit.
Augustus stared silently at the flag representing Confederate Marine Corps camp on the outskirts of Sterling City, while his staff officers around him engaged in a heated discussion.
A week before Angus delivered his Declaration of Independence speech this morning, soldiers from the various divisions of the Korhal began to assemble. They were transported to various cities through the rail network that spanned the continents of the Korhal, a fact that the incompetent and corrupt Korhal government was not unaware of.
However, when lower-level officials learned of this news, they either had no reaction whatsoever and had no idea what it meant, or they chose to conceal it and have someone else report it on their behalf to shirk responsibility.
While Governor Korhal was waiting for news of a large militia gathering, this distant relative of the Tarsonis Old Families was still reluctant to accept it due to his long period of comfort. Only when more information kept pouring into the governor's office did he remember to inform the commanders of the Korhal Defense Force and the Confederate Marine Corps to request support from Tarsonis.
On the issue of how to encircle and suppress these armed forces, the Korhal Defense Force and the Marine Corps, two forces belonging to different interest groups, began to shirk responsibility, preserve their strength, and place their hopes on the Confederacy troops that were about to come to their aid.
After repeated delays, Augustus, who knew the importance of speed in warfare, had already deployed a large number of troops in various strategic locations and at key factories and starports that needed to be captured as soon as possible.
The local Korhal Defense Force was composed entirely of Korhal people, and the majority of the defense force sided with Augustus without hesitation. The rest, including the marines, numbered less than 100,000.
Despite the army's lax discipline and poor training, Augustus still dared not be complacent. The Confederacy's advantage lay in its strong fortifications, powerful Power Armor, and heavy weaponry. The retired Avenger units in the geosynchronous space stations and starports could also provide them with strong air support.
Of the Korhal Revolutionary Army, only two brigades from Londerstein's 1st Division and Kydd's 2nd Division had completed the replacement of their armor with Power Armor and C-14 Electromagnetic Rifle, totaling only 60,000 men. Augustus deployed these elite forces in Steeling, where the Confederacy had a large Sterling, and Balik, a heavy industrial city in the Southern Hemisphere. The attack was launched precisely at the same time, right at the moment Angus began his speech.
Fortunately, the combat capabilities of the Korhal IV Confederate Marine Corps did not "disappoint" Augustus; their combat effectiveness was even inferior to that of new recruits on the front lines, let alone compared to Resocialized Soldier.
Korhal has eight cities with populations exceeding one million and fourteen Confederacy military bases. Five of these cities didn't even require an attack from the Revolutionary Army; the fanatical rioters, defecting defenders, and spontaneously organized militias took control of the entire city.
The Confederate Marine Corps, numbering only around 50,000, was scattered across multiple military bases, urban barracks, and orbital space stations, with fewer than 30,000 soldiers actually participating in combat. When Revolutionary Army soldiers stormed Confederacy outposts, they even found Confederate Marine Corps lying on the ground fast asleep due to intoxication.
In just one day, the flames of revolution swept across the entire Korhal like wildfire.
Good news keeps coming.
But before Augustus and his comrades could celebrate, the Confederate Marine Corps were not entirely useless. Some of the Marines who had retreated from the front lines displayed astonishing combat power. Relying on the city walls, Bunker complexes, armor, and weapons, they repelled the Revolutionary Army's offensive in some areas and even briefly. As a result, the Korhal Revolutionary Army soldiers, who lacked Power Armor, suffered heavy losses.
Within fourteen hours of the outbreak of war, the number of casualties on both sides had exceeded 100,000 and was still rising. Private hospitals in various cities began to admit wounded soldiers.
On this day, cheers and cries of grief for the loss of loved ones mingled together.
By the afternoon of the third day, Augustus, who had not slept all night, finally received the news with a sigh of relief that Raynor's Raynor's Raiders squadron had captured the Confederacy's geosynchronous orbit base. Undeterred, Augustus immediately assigned Chief Engineer Rory Swann and his team to construct an orbital platform and space-based weapon station in orbit.
Of the twenty-two major battlefields, fifteen were won by the rapid and powerful offensives of the Korhal Revolutionary Army, while the Confederacy army also showed signs of decline on the remaining battlefields.
When the report of casualties was presented to Augustus, he fell into a long silence. Augustus tried to memorize the densely packed, thousands upon thousands of names, but he could not.
In the early morning of the fourth day, the largest military fortress in Korhal, the War Plains Fortress located Sterling City, fell. With the support of railguns and powerful laser railguns provided by Umojan, the commander of the 1st Division Londerstein, led his soldiers into the fortress and killed the enemy commander.
The War Plains held extraordinary significance for the Korhal people.
This is a vast plain facing the Sterling City, through which a ribbon-like river flows. The flora and fauna on both banks are well protected. However, tourists or painters who admire the beautiful scenery have probably long forgotten the meaning of the War Plains and the first war between the Korhal colonists and the Tarsonis.
The War Plains is also where the original colonists of Korhal IV reached a reconciliation with the Tarsonis Confederacy and submitted to a unified regime. Since then, the Confederate Marine Corps have been stationed on the War Plains, and it has long been under the jurisdiction of the Confederacy Army. Now that the Korhal have reclaimed the War Plains, it also means a renewed break between the Korhal and the Confederacy.
At this moment, Augustus his strength had been drained, and his exhausted staff officers helped him to a cot.
Augustus slept for less than six hours before rushing to Sterling Town Hall to deliver a speech on the new Senate elections. His father had appointed officials from the Pan-Thai Nationalist Front (PTF), some of whom were former government officials who were also retained.
This is not because they have proven to be honest and capable, but rather because, compared to their disgraced colleagues, these people are at least not beyond redemption, and the new government still needs them to maintain basic administrative functions for the time being.
Afterwards, Augustus traveled by airship to Sterling Hospital to visit the wounded Revolutionary Army. The mortality rate of soldiers injured by electromagnetic guns or Spider Mine was alarming, so he could only watch sadly as the dying soldiers dictated their wills or called out their mothers' names before closing their eyes while they were still conscious.
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