0301 April 3rd, 2020 CE

0432 Sun 3rd, 196 AE

Primopolis

Military Advisor Caius Igennus had been flagged down by one of his subordinates.

“Sir, we are receiving a lot of requests from generals that we accept the Americans’ offer of assistance.”

Caius waved him away.

“Nonsense, we can deal with it ourselves. We may have been pushed back to the Verona. but that was because we were unprepared. The surprise attack combined with our disarming after the defeat of the Mach Imperium were important factors in the success of the elves. Once we reorganize, we can push them out in an instance.”

0926 April 3rd, 2020 CE

0743 Sun 3rd, 196 AE

A few miles from the Verona

In a building, a person slammed his fist on the rickety wooden table.

“Our wyverns are being shot out of the sky. I thought their planes didn’t have the range to get here.”

“The Elves are probably using the airfields they seized from us.”

“There’s not enough airfields on the other side of the Verona for this magnitude of planes. Anyways, that’s not important. What’s important is that without our wyverns, we have got no reconnaissance of the enemy.”

“General, our recon cavalry are keeping an eye on any possible Elven advance.”

“That’s not what I want to know. What I want to know is the exact positions and the number of tanks the enemy has. Only aerial recon can do that. Now, the attack will be even more dangerous if we don’t have a clear picture of what exactly we are facing.”

 

The Magus First and Fourth Army were entrenched a couple of miles away from Verona. The front was split in half. The left half was under the Fourth Army while the right half was under the First. The original plan was to have the armies occupy a position right on the other side of the Verona. The loss of the forward elements, which guarded the bridges, caused that to change. A1 tanks were also being brought to the front in large numbers to prepare for the assault.

 

General Andri of the First Army was still upset about the fact that their wyverns were being shot down but continued to plan the attack with his subordinates. Then an adjutant came rushing in.

“General! They are attacking our Eastern flank faster than we had expected! They haven’t stopped to consolidate their forces at the bridges. Our scouts have reported enemy tanks are moving towards our trenches.”

Verona Defense Line

News of the incoming attack had spread throughout the trenches. Private Noah Gawin looked out of his trench. He had heard of the news and was waiting for it.

1000 April 3rd, 2020 CE

0800 Sun 3rd, 196 AE

Nothing came. The tension that dominated the air when the news came had evaporated over time. Many thought it was a false alarm. 

Less than 30 minutes ago

A different part of the Verona Defense Line

Soldiers in the trenches looked up towards the sky as they heard a loud and terrifying howl. The enemy attack was finally here. Multiple planes were diving straight towards them. They came closer and closer as if they wanted to crash into the trenches. Then suddenly the planes arched up and multiple objects detached from them. Black dots filled the sky and struck the ground. Dirt and dust were thrown up as massive explosions occurred all around the trenches. The sirens and explosions continued as more elven magi dive bombers pummeled the trench. Men that were knocked back by the explosions lay groaning on the ground. Those that instinctively dove to the ground were in better shape. They stood up in a daze after the howling and explosions came to an abrupt stop as the elven aircraft flew away.

“Medic!”

“We got wounded here!”

“Aghhh!”

The bombs from the Ra-189s devastated the area around the trenches. Some tanks were turned to scrap. People were yelling to get the heavily wounded out in stretchers. Soldiers stared at the sky in fear for more enemy planes. 

Before long, they could hear ominous clanking noises coming from over the trenches. 

“Tanks! Enemy tanks!”

Soldiers looked out of the trenches to see countless grey tanks heading straight towards them. They watched as the streaking light of a tank shell flashed towards them. Soldiers ducked back into the trench. A massive explosion destroyed one of the A1 tanks sitting behind the trench line. The booms of elven tanks firing dominated the battlefield. 

Back to the present

A few miles from the Verona

The adjutant of General Andri rushed into the headquarters again. 

“General! We received magram reports from our frontline observers! They have broken through multiple points on the trenchline!”

“What!?”

“They didn’t attack the entire line. They concentrated their tanks and broke through at certain points.”

“Have they occupied those areas? Are our men in retreat?”

“The enemy tanks didn’t stop. They are continuing to push and our men were overrun.”

“Fill the gaps immediately! We will encircle them and put them behind our lines.”

 

“Sir! Enemy infantry and motorized units have prevented us from retaking the gaps.”

General Andri looked at his map and wondered out loud.

“What are they planning?”

The enemy had broken through many points on the trench line and sent their forces deep. But they didn’t attack the entire line. Most of the trench line was still intact. The General observed the map on his table. Red lines on the map indicated where the enemies broke through.

“Sir, look at the distance between the points where they have broken through.”

General Andri’s eyes widened as this was brought to his attention. The breakthrough points on the map were far apart but they were at certain intervals.

“They are trying to encircle us! Call a general retreat!”

Verona Defense Line

A whistle sounded.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

Private Gavin looked around confused. Nothing had happened so why were they retreating? He followed the other soldiers as they rushed out of the trench. The A1 tanks started to turn around too.

20 minutes later

Private Gavin followed his platoon as they marched with the rest of the division quickly down the road. An A1 motored beside them. Multiple A1s exploded at the front of the line. 

“Enemy assault!”

Just as that scream reverberated throughout the area, an explosion on the long line of infantry caused them to dive to the ground. Grey tanks appeared from the left. The A1s turned and started driving towards them. The grey tanks stood there motionless.  Another volley came from them. Gavin scrambled to get to cover as his fellow platoon members did too. 

 

Gavin was lying flat on the side of the road. The clanking noise and the monstrous size of the grey tanks scared him.  There wasn’t much an infantryman could do against a tank that was miles away. Gavin viewed the tank battle. The A1 tank crews were valiant but victory did not seem possible. They couldn’t even get their guns in range to fire upon the enemy. The A1s charged as the grey tanks fired upon them. One shot caused a fiery explosion as it hit one of the tanks. Gavin lay there mersimized in fear at the scene. Someone nudged him.

“Quickly, we are leaving.”

Gavin got up and saw that everyone else was leaving too.

 

 

They had managed to get out of sight of the battle. The A1s were left behind to cover the retreat of the infantry. Gavin was surprised that the enemy was already here. Did they somehow overtake Gavin and his unit? Then suddenly an explosion ran out in the middle of the infantry formation. 

“Enemy tanks!”

Everyone started running. Unlike when they were fighting the A1s, the enemy tanks started coming towards them. These ones were much smaller than the tanks earlier. But they were fast. And they were armed with a machine gun instead of a cannon. The organized retreat fell into chaos.

A few miles from the Verona

“General! We haven’t received any messages from our scouts.”

“Do we know anything about the frontline?”

“The last message was that we are on complete retreat. More scouts have just been sent out to check the situation.”

One of Andri’s subordinates voiced his opinions.

“General, we are too close to the frontline now. I suggest we relocate to a safer location.”

The rest of his staff agreed. General Andri closed his eyes and rubbed them in a tired fashion.

“Tell everyone to get ready to leave. Keep me updated on what the scouts find. Once everything is packed, we shall go.”

 

 

“General! General!”

His adjutant ran into the building seemingly out of breath.

“We have to go!”

General Andri looked perplexed.

“Calm down. What’s happening?”

“Enemy tanks are closer than we thought! It will be only a matter of time before they are here! Our main force has already been completely encircled. General, we need to leave.”

Andri looked at the map before looking up.

“Quickly then we don’t have time to waste. We are leaving right this instance. If it isn’t important, leave it behind or burn it.”

 

Andri and his staff walked out of the building and got into their cars. Then he heard shouts.

“They are here! Enemy tanks!”

General Andri looked back at the scene unfolding behind him. Grey tanks were moving into the area where he had set up his headquarters. He turned back and shouted at his driver. 

“Driver! Go!”

Machine gunfire could be heard behind them. A group of cars and some trucks sped out of the camp. 

1124 April 3rd, 2020 CE

0842 Sun 3rd, 196 AE

Primopolis

“Your majesty, the First and Fourth Army faced a simultaneous attack an hour ago. Large portions of both armies have been surrounded by the elves. The eastern and western flanks of the front have been completely open. We are scrambling to set up a new defensive position.”

Emperor Arstant sat down and closed his eyes.

“Where is Caius?”

“He is currently busy. A lot of generals are threatening to resign after what happened. They were the ones that had requested we accept the American’s offer of help.”

“Get me to him right now!”

 

Caius was dealing with all the angry generals that had barged into his office.

“We have absolutely nothing to fear gentlemen.”

They all stared at him with hostile eyes. 

“Nothing to fear!? Of course, we have something to fear! Two armies were completely encircled and pushed back. How do you expect us to even stop them?!”

“I ask you this, gentleman. Are we a nation that is not capable of defending itself? Are we, the Magus Imperium, just going to let another nation defend us? Are we going to put our nation in more debt to another nation's actions? We? A nation that has held the title of superpower for more than a century. We are the Magus Imperium and we need no other country to defend us!"

“If the country is gone, that superpower status and debt won’t matter!”

 

The door to his office opened once more. Caius sighed. Not another one. Surprisingly, Emperor Arstant strolled in. All the generals bowed at his presence.

“You may all rise. What is going on here?”

One of the generals spoke up.

“Your majesty, we can not continue this any longer. We need help from the Americans.”

The Emperor looked at everyone in the room.

“And you all agree on this?”

All the generals nodded at once. The Emperor sighed.

“We will request help from the Americans.”

The generals all brightened up as he said that. Caius looked at the Emperor in surprise.

"But your majesty!"

"No buts, Caius. The eastern and western flank has already fallen. Our defenses are spread thin. We will only face destruction if it continues like this."

1352 April 3rd, 2020 CE

Miami

Diplomat Underwood and Translator Hoffman were once again in a meeting with the Magusian Ambassador. This time, they have finally requested help from the United States.

“We are willing to let some of your units through to fight the elves. We will only allow a certain amount of aircraft. They will be deployed to areas designated by our generals and supervised by our officers.”

Underwood had a face like he was through with this.

“It’s all of them or none. We want to be able to deploy our units as we like. Completely under our command and with freedom of movement. If you don’t agree, then get out of here.”

Ambassador Jacques looked to the ground and sighed before looking up. His majesty was hoping they would agree to that but it seemed like they had no choice.

“Fine.”

0633 April 4th, 2020 CE

0616 Sun 4th, 196 AE

Near the Mach-Magus border

Near a barn, a farmer tended to his field. He stopped his tractor when he heard something that sounded like an object endlessly whipping the sky. He looked up. His eyes nearly popped out. Hundreds of objects with what seemed to be propellers on top appeared in his view. Then he heard rumbling on the road that was next to his farm

Apaches, Chinooks, and Blackhawks flew overhead. M1A2 Abrams, Bradleys, and Strykers rumbled down the road.  A massive procession heading straight towards the front.