The commonwealth war I

[Ayzek]

((OOC: Your ships have been swarmed with Ishnalli air- and ground-launched anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. Literally swarmed, to overwhelm their point-defense systems. Should I assume that they were all destroyed or what?))

Drassari air base
The Ishnalli were ruthless. Taking full advantage of their defensive position and greater resources, they maintained a killing field in the direction the Soyabarian were advancing. While the craters did initially serve to offer some cover, they became graves as Ishnalli infantry specifically targeted them with anti-personnel mortar. When the Soyabarians left the craters to advance, they did so against heavy machine-gun fire.

While the dust and smoke thrown up by the mass bombardment did offer some cover, it dissipated closer to the first line. It was in that final stretch that the defenders massacred the Soyabarians in a crossfire of machine gun fire from the first and second lines of defense. And once the melee broke out, the Soyabarians' physical advantage meant little to the shotguns, combat knives, and shovels of the zealous, Hanj Army. Elements of the Hanj Army engaged the Soyabarians as the rest of the first line withdrew to the second.

As the battle dragged on, more and more Ishnalli troops arrived from the north-east.


Near Drassari
The Soyabarian effort to disrupt Ishnalli supply lines from the river saw poor results. The Soyabarian boats had no visibility beyond their line of sight, where the bulk of Ishnalli supplies were moved, and so were largely firing blind and hoping they hit something. And once they did open fire, they soon found themselves counterattacked by Ishnalli forces on both sides of the rivers. Unlike the Soyabarian boats, the Ishnalli had more mobility and spotters--who were able to guide Ishnalli artillery into landing direct hits on the boats. Ishnalli infantry also sneaked towards the riverbeds and opened fire using anti-armor weapons, aiming to blow hopes in the sides of the ships.


Skies above Drassari
As the Soyabarian anti-aircraft aircraft approached the battlefield, the Ishnalli played their trump card. Ishnalli forces had advanced enough that Drassari was now within their anti-aircraft curtain. Thanks to AWAC systems behind their lines as well as forward radar units, the Ishnall were able to detect the Soyabarian aircraft before they were in position to attack Ishnalli armor--and guide Ishnalli anti-aircraft missiles to intercept them.

As they approached the battlefield, the Soyabarian strike fighters found themselves at the mercy of their worst enemy: a homing surface-to-air missile. Ishnalli fighters had also been launched to intercept them.


Soyabarian camp near Drassari
Largely unhindered by the Soyabarian strike fighters, the Ishnalli armor attacking the Soyabarian lines continued to assist the Ishnalli infantry seizing the Soyabarian positions. Soyabarian transport helicopters found themselves assaulted by both vehicle- and infantry-launched anti-aircraft rockets, while their infantry, unloading into clearings, were exposed to Ishnalli machine gun fire.

Other elements of the Ishnalli advanced sought out to find and disrupt Soyabarian artillery positions. The Ishnalli had no shortage of men.


Soyabarian air base in New Zealmark
The strike aircraft the Soyabarians had launched to attack the Ishnalli armor made it easier for the Ishnalli's own strike aircraft to find the air base. And when they did, the struck systematically. Ishnalli stealth fighters first fired anti-radiation missiles to knock out Soyabarian radar, which was quickly followed by strike fighters targeting the runways and other discernible valuable targets.

A second wave followed shortly after the first, again opened by anti-radiation missiles to disable guided air defenses. The Ishnalli were aiming to give the Soyabarian aircraft already in the air nowhere to return to and make it difficult for the Commonwealth to continue opposing the Empire in the skies.


Ishnalli Sea
The Ishnalli completely expected their facilities on Paschlam Island to be attacked, though they didn't quite expect the haphazard, poorly guided attack the Soyabarian submarines executed. Still, when the Soyabarian missiles rained down on the island, Ishnalli defenses ripped alive. CIWS and RAM systems positioned around the base and on the roofs of buildings intercepted and destroyed the majority of Soyabarian missiles, greatly limiting the damage. The Ishnalli lost only a fuel depot, a barracks, and a few hangers, as well as two of numerous runways.

The Soyabarians, however, would lose a lot more. When the submarines surfaced to fire, the revealed their location to Ishnalli anti-submarine forces. Ishnalli aircraft in the air forwarded their locations to Ishnalli anti-submarine destroyers, who began to hunt the Soyabarian submarines alongside their anti-submarine helicopters. A few were close enough to immediately fire anti-submarine missiles and torpedoes.