Year: 3002 AD
Month: April
Day: 4th
Hour: 06:30
Position: Galactic North (Segmentus Arcticus, Sector 1.000.001, Planetary System (PS): Steinlichten, planet Alpheim Secundus – forward mustering planet for northern exploration.
After the short speech was over, the soldiers scrambled to execute their orders faithfully, whilst Albert and Walter made their way to Oberst von Lehmann's Module. Their walking pace was brisk, as they did not wish to be the last ones to arrive. Brigadier General von Lehmann was a staunch and honourable individual that valued precision and rules, therefore it was not uncommon for him to reprimand those who arrive late thusly embodying the mantra: "being on time is late".
After a few minutes of their heightened pace, Albert and Walter approached entrance to the Regiment HQ Module, where they were greeted by the guards. Their IDs were checked as per protocol, and one of the sentries directed a subtle hand gesture to Albert, indicating that they are not the last ones to enter. Albert internally breathed a sight of relief and proceeded to enter with slightly more enthusiasm followed by his adjutant who could already guess what had occurred.
The insides of the Module mirrored that of Albert's, except that the individuals gathered here were one echelon above his, i.e. 10 Oberstleutnants, their adjutants and the Brigadier General von Lehmann. They looked for the Brigadier General and once they located him, they stood at attention, saluted and greeted him. The Brigadier General wearing a neutral expression on his face, returned the greeting and commanded them to be at ease. Albert then exchanged pleasantries with the gathered officers whilst they waited for the meeting to start. The final few officers entered before they were "on time" and the meeting could begin without issues, Walter could swear that his keen vision picked up the slight disappointed look in the Brigadier General's eyes.
Once everyone was gathered, Brigadier General von Lehmann gathered everyone's attention with a measured cough followed by his deep yet crisp voice: "Meine Herren, it is 06:45, let us begin the meeting." The lights darkened and the tactical map lit up, displaying the whole army with the subsequent corps, divisions and regiments, highlighting the 1st and 2nd divisions as well as the regiments involved - these being the 1st and the 6th regiments.
Brigadier General von Lehmann gathered his thoughts and spoke: "As you might gave gathered from the grapevine, some unexpected training exercises were scheduled at the last minute. The difference being that the whole Regiment is being mobilised instead of single battalions. Gentlemen, the exercise revolves around dislodging and conquering an enemy that has dug in. The regiment pitted against us is the 6th under the command of Brigadier General von Baarstadt who is well known for his defensive abilities. His previous posting being with the Line Corps leading a siege regiment. the 6th regiment has left a few days ago in order to prepare their respective positions."
He gestured and the tactical map moved to the position where the 6ht has dug in. Brigadier General von Lehmann continued: "This is the location and layout of the defences, at least those we are able to see. To make it more difficult, we are only allowed to see battle map with 1 day of latency, creating a fog of war effect. Let us begin by analysing their trench systems, pillboxes and artillery positions." The meeting continued for another hour where the officers analysed the defences and discussed the best possible patterns of attack.
Brigadier General von Lehmann gathered one's attention once more and spoke: "Gentlemen, as you can see, the 6th regiment has managed to build their trenches in a star pattern." The classical way to counter their defensive positions would be by surrounding them, cutting off their means of supply and starve them out. We are not blessed by an infinite amount of time, and our window to take the positions is 4 days. Our winning conditions entail capturing their HQ and or capturing / killing their commander. Theirs on the other hand, entail surviving and fending off our assaults, or reducing our troops to 20% strength. The officer's faces slightly paled when they heard that their timeframe and the winning conditions.
Whilst the meeting was ongoing, Albert was having an internal discussion with Otto. They went through the history of Brigadier General von Baarstadt. They analysed his upbringing, interests, exploits, favourite movies and books, anything that can establish a pattern which can be opened to exploits. Once they established a few patterns they began to identify potential exploits. Just as the 4 day timeframe was mentioned, Alfred spoke up: "Brigadier General Sir, I have a proposition that could help us secure victory. Brigadier General von Lehmann gestured Albert to continue. Albert spared no time to let Otto hijack the tactical map and began: "As we have discussed, there are few options that we can truly choose, as the exercise is so straightforward. Therefore, I propose that we flip the board. First we play by the rules and encircle their positions. We begin bombarding their positions and look for weakpoints. Since we cannot make full use of our scout companies, I propose an Orbital or high altitude insertion, which can be conducted by the navy, -Albert snorted when mentioning them and the officers dryly laughed, or we can insert our scouting companies with our own supporting aircraft.
Albert's speech was interrupted by Oberstleutnant Hermann Schwarz expressing his concern: "Albert, this is all well and good on paper, but what makes you think that they have not prepared for exactly this?" This was the moment Albert was waiting for, and manipulated the tactical map. "It is a valid question, thank you Hermann. As you all are aware, our Anti Air batteries require ample space and can easily be identified. The areas where AA units would garner most benefits are empty or crowded up with artillery units. Whereas they can be hidden and used at the last moment, this can and will diminish their utility in battle.
Our scouting aircraft will not sit idly by, but fly overtly over the enemy positions to distract them. Once the troops have been dropped on top of them, they can do little besides chase aircraft. Furthermore, neither the enemy nor us are expected to use our utility aircraft beyond initial insertion and final extraction. We have done the mandatory drops and exercises as part of our curriculum, but those are never or only used as a last resort, therefore it should not be a problem. As I have mentioned, we will be conducting our assault by the books with sporadic use of our scouting planes as bait. On the final day, as the enemy has gotten used to our assault patterns, we will drop on them and deal them a decisive blow to their HQ." The Brigadier General as well as the officers could be seen with thoughtful expressions on their faces, mulling over the pros and cons of the following plan. Once a few quiet minutes passed, the Brigadier General clapped his hands, and snapped everyone back to reality. "Gentlemen, as unorthodox as this plan is, it might work if we act at the right moment. Albert, I am placing you in charge of the High Altitude Insertion, make the necessary arrangements, Do not Disappoint me. We are to deploy at exactly 12:00 hours, to achieve that, we must depart by 10:00." The brigadier General raised his voice slightly to convey urgency: "Make the required preparations to depart by that time. Dismissed!". The surrounding officers saluted their superior, who returned the salute. They then made haste to return to their respective battalions in order to finish their preparations.
Albert and Walter split up. Walter was to inform their battalion of the plan whilst Albert made his way to the storage facility, and sent a message to all his peer to send their Scouting companies to the Storage facility where Herbert was. As that message was sent, he contacted Herbert directly, to requisition enough gravitic parachutes from the now disgruntled quartermaster.
