Chapter 1

Moving a large number of troops from one place to another in not an easy task, particularly when the move involves different continents. Even moving troops from an island to a mainland can require months of preparation before an operation begins. If an enemy is watching, then deception plays a major part in the plans. It is necessary to convince the enemy that one expects to land on beach A when the real target is beach B which is a hundred miles away.

In the early days of the war between the IFN and Jade Force, the IFN was repeatedly surprised when forward positions which were being fortified in areas belonging to coalition nations were suddenly taken with the capture of the coalition nation. To the civilian onlookers, there had been no real progress in getting down to the business of war. It appeared that the IFN forces were dawdling along and not making any progress in advancing on Jade Force. Only one beachhead was established and that was through Niella from Walford. The attempt by the IFN to move into Jade Force occupied territory met with disaster and the forces were wiped out.

Jade Force, on the other hand, could mass across a border and sweep in without any major difficulties in moving troops. Countries fell until Jade Force, or the Jade Empire as it was now calling itself, effectively controlled the entire continent. It was at that point where Jade Force now faced the same difficulties that had faced the IFN coalition in establishing a beachhead in enemy occupied territory.

The captured Second Fleet of the Chen Navy started making great circuits scouting out the eastern coastline of the Eastland continent. The fleet would move from Del Moray to Ulamb, up along the coast to Hamasada, along the coast of Hamasada and then north to the southern coast of Grete before returning to Del Moray. It had been making this circuit almost from the day Jade Force had captured the Second Fleet.

Each time the Jade Empire fleet made that circuit, Ulamb ran its fleet between its shore and the Second Fleet acting as a guard force in case the Second Fleet suddenly turned and headed towards shore. Hamasada and Grete did the same. Thus, there was an escort for the Second Fleet on each of its circuits. Fighter jets launched from the Second Fleet would make quick overflights of the shore while the other side scrambled its jets to counter. It was a game of cat and mouse, although who was the cat and who was the mouse remained an open question.

The eastern coast of Ulamb was rough. Large jagged rocks all along the coastline made approach from the sea dangerous. Small craft could navigate around the rocks, but for an all out assault the route was hostile to a fleet of landing craft. There was a small section of shoreline, about twenty miles in length, that was relatively free of rocks. Ulamb was convinced that Jade Force was planning to invade in that region where the beaches allowed an amphibious assault. IFN command, fairly confident that Ulamb was correct, ordered the construction of defensive structures overlooking the shoreline. Each time the Second Fleet steamed past that region of Ulamb, the defenses would go on high alert.

Hamasada had a shoreline that favored an amphibious assault to a greater extent than any other portion of the eastern coastline of Eastland. There were long sandy beaches with approaches to the shore that were free of major obstructions. With the vast length of shoreline to protect, there was no way to protect the entire length of it. Thus, Jade Force would have its choice of where to attack. Hamasada was convinced that it would be the site of the initial invasion. IFN command didn’t agree on the basis of logistics. Jade Force would have to transport men and equipment a further distance, and they would be relatively exposed upon landing. Both factors increased the risk to Jade Force that it would lose a significant fraction of its forces before it could even begin moving across country. None the less, coastal watches were set up with direct lines to air support and land forces.

Grete had been confused by the frequent passing of the Second Fleet along its southern shore. It wasn’t exactly located in a strategic position. Even if Jade Force landed there, they might be able to take Grete, but the neutral country of Palarma would be between Jade Force and the rest of the continent. At best, it would represent a slightly closer staging area than Del Moray. Coast watches were established, but they didn’t react with a high degree of alertness when the Second Fleet passed by.

IFN slowly moved forces into Ulamb. Before people could be moved in, significant construction of an infrastructure to support the forces was required. Large numbers of construction engineers were brought along with defensive troops to protect them. As facilities were completed, supplies necessary to support a large number of people were store there. After that, personnel were brought in to fill the facilities.

A small airfield in the southern part of Ulamb underwent significant renovation to lengthen and bring the surface of the runways up to a level that would support the demands of the Chen squadrons. Bunkers were built to house the jets. Dorms were built to house the personnel. Fuel and food were brought in.

One of the larger ports in the northern part of Ulamb, in the city of Sadre, was expanded to support one of the IFN fleets that would hold troops who would ultimately invade Surprise. The entry to the port was widened. Additional piers were built. Buildings, permanent and temporary, appeared as if by magic. Elements of fleets from coalition countries showed up and docked in the ports.

There had been no port on the eastern shore in the southern part of Ulamb. Unfortunately, that was were a port was needed to provide a presence that could keep the Misera Navy at bay. A second port was built in what passed as a reasonable harbor. The entire infrastructure was built from scratch.

The Jade Empire still sent the Second Fleet out, keeping it further off shore than in the past. Attempts to challenge their fleet were met with torpedoes fired from submarines moving off the flanks of the fleet.

Then the size of the Jade Empire Fleet suddenly doubled in size when naval vessels from Del Moray, Misera, Ismal, New Franc, San Troph, and Walford joined it. Tensions along the eastern shore of Eastland increased. It was clear that invasion was imminent.

Then one day, there was a report from the northern part of Hamasada that sent shock waves through the IFN Force command. In an isolated section of a national park, there was debris that indicated that over a thousand men, twenty tanks, and thirty armored personnel carriers had parachuted in. It had arrived sometime during a time window that spanned a three day period. Amongst the debris was a mangled San Troph APC whose parachute had failed to open. No one had reported seeing anyone or anything.

All available aircraft were sent north to search for the invading force. The effort to locate the invading force was massive. Day and night planes flew over the area. During the daylight periods, they looked for movement. During the night, they looked for heat signatures. For three days, they searched and found nothing.

Ships and planes tracked the Second Fleet as it moved along the southern coast of Grete. In a break of a long established pattern, the fleet paused for two days off the coast before resuming its regular circuit. Forces raced into the area of the coastline near where the fleet had paused searching to see if something had happened there.

“Why do we get all of the dirty jobs?”

“Because we’re all so good looking.”

“Get real. You’ve got a face that even a mother couldn’t love.”

“Did you set the charges?”

“Yes.”

“Set them off.”

One of the men shouted, “Fire in the hole!”

Everyone turned away and covered their ears. An old tank and two trucks went up in a loud explosion. The group of ten Gangin, members of an elite special forces team, watched the vehicles burn. They had been dropped behind enemy lines to convince the enemy that there was a force of a thousand running around the countryside.

They had collected the parachutes that had been dropped with dummy loads made of ice. When the ice melted there would be no sign that the parachutes had not held a person. It had taken them hours to stuff the parachutes back into their packs. They drove the tank on and off the palettes used when parachuting heavy loads into a war zone. They had driven the trucks around tearing up the ground. They had spent most of the night establishing that a real army had been dropped behind enemy lines.

They had then driven a couple of miles into a ravine. They had spent hours making sure that there were no tracks to indicate where they had gone. For the past few days, they hid with their covered vehicles, and watched the planes fly overhead.

“Let’s head out. I’d like to get back to a soft bed and hot food.”

The men walked over to a battered old delivery van. The name of a car parts company was painted across the side. It was the kind of vehicle people see every day and think nothing of it.

“Couldn’t you have stolen a better van?”

“I tried. All I could find was this stupid delivery van.”

“It’s too small.”

“If we need more room, we’ll steal another van.”

“Let’s load up and go.”

The men climbed into the van. It was cramped and uncomfortable. There was more than a bit of complaining as the men sorted themselves out. A minute later the van rumbled down the road, rattling with each and every bump it hit.

For the past week, they had managed to distract a quarter of the IFN forces and all of the intelligence operations. Not bad for ten men.

On the third night after the discovery of the Hamasada airdrop, forty seven amphibious landing craft disgorged their passengers into six sleepy fishing villages on the western shore of Ulamb. Communication lines were cut, power was shutdown, cell towers were taken out, and roads were blocked. In a matter of an hour, the fishing villages were isolated. The leaders of the villages were given the choice of surrender or die. Wisely, they choose to surrender.

A handful of troops from the Jade Empire were left in each village. The village leaders were warned that if anything happened to the men, that the entire town would die. The invaders struck off eastward. The amphibious landing craft headed south. They would return in seven hours filled with more men and equipment.

The first anyone with a military connection in the Ulamb knew about the invasion was at dawn when the Jade Empire forces swept through the airbase where the Chen squadrons were parked. The surprise was complete. It was a short, but extremely violent battle. The forces guarding the base were wiped out. Support personnel and pilots were captured. Most importantly, the three squadrons of planes and two dozen assault helicopters were taken intact.

An hour later, Jade Empire pilots climbed into the captured planes and took off. Squawking an IFF signal identifying them as friend, they headed to the nearest port. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Ships were tied up at dock. Men were only beginning to move around the base. Defenses were not fully manned. The fighters let loose with air to ground missiles taking out targets of opportunity. The bombers dropped their loads on the ships, sending them to the bottom of the harbor. For those on the ground, it was fifteen minutes of hell. Before any kind of response could be launched, the attacking planes were gone.

The battle for Ulamb had begun.

There was a stench of death and destruction in the air. Dust blew in swirls that clogged the nose and irritated the eyes. Smoke from fires that were still burning drifted through open spaces like fog in the morning. Underlying all of the other smells, there was the chemical odor of spilled petroleum.

At each collapsed building, men were hard at work moving rubble while searching for survivors. As unlikely as it might seem based on the destruction, there were survivors. Over stressed medics worked over those still alive while other soldiers loaded bodies into body bags.

Admiral Mallard walked along the street on which the bombed out facilities posed like the shattered remains of trees after a direct hit by catagory 5 tornado. He was followed by dozens of officers. It was a surprisingly quiet group of men. The only noise came from the vehicles that were following them.

In the distance there was the rumble as another building, weakened by bombs, collapsed. In the same way that a small movement of snow could start an avalanche, small shifts in the forces holding structures up would ultimately bring some of them down. For the men working around the buildings, it was a constant source of danger.

A small car pulled up beside the group with Admiral Mallard. Captain Aquavita from the Office of Naval Intelligence climbed out of the car. He did not look happy.

“So what happened?”

“It appears that forces from the Jade Empire bombed us with the planes that had been provided to us by Chen.”

“How did they get the planes from Chen?” Admiral Mallard asked.

Captain Aquavita answered, “We don’t know. All we know is that the airbase was taken a couple of hours ago.”

“Where did the forces from the Jade Empire come from?”

“We don’t know.”

“Is it that group that parachuted into Hamasada?”

“They couldn’t have gotten here yet. It has to be from a different invasion force.”

“So they have two damned armies running around here and we don’t know where they came from, and what they’re doing?”

“We know some of what they are doing. A half an hour ago, our radar tracked over fifty planes flying into the base from off shore.”

“Fifty?”

“We think most of them are fighter jets. Taking into account the Chen squadrons that they captured, they outnumber our air assets three to one.”

“Where in the hell did they get fifty airplanes?”

“They’ve got the combined assets of nine air forces. They’ve got fighters, bombers, tankers, tank killers, and transports. If they’ve sent fifty planes here, we estimate that they have another hundred and fifty back in Surprise. I don’t know if we’ll be seeing them any time soon.”

“Jesus.”

“Right.”

“If they’ve got that many planes here, then how many men do you think they have here?”

“I can’t answer that.”

“Guess.”

“I don’t know. Several thousand, at least. That’s not counting the thousand we believe are coming in from Hamasada.”

“How could they get that many men here without us knowing about it?”

“I don’t know.”

Admiral Mallard turned to Captain Fuentes, “How many ships do we have that are still afloat?”

“Two cruisers.”

“Two cruisers?”

“We didn’t even know they were the enemy until the bombs hit. No one had a chance to set up any kind of defense.”

“My entire fleet is gone and I didn’t even get them out of port.”

Ulamb was one of those countries that, like most of the countries on the continent of Eastland, had a weak central government. The real governing forces were the leaders of what were effectively tribes of ten to thirty thousand people bound together by geography and blood ties. These leaders were basically war lords. Every adult male, at least males over fifteen, carried a rifle.

At any given time, two or three tribes were at war with each other somewhere on the continent. While there weren’t any out and out battles involving large armies, there were raids. What this meant is that Ulamb was a country of hardened fighters. They were trained and supported by generations of tradition. They weren’t disciplined soldiers who marched in formation and coordinated attacks of major forces. They were raiders – fighters who went into battle as individuals. They were also followers of Jarjan.

What this meant from the perspective of the Jade Empire was that capturing the leaders of the central government did not grant control over the country. Controlling the country required getting each tribe to submit to the Jade Empire. That was easier said than done. Other countries had tried and failed, often in spectacular manners.

A dirty white pickup truck, generating a plume of dust, pulled into the small town. It was a typical Ulamb town which had a population of a little over three thousand people. There was a small market in the center of town. The market was surrounded by houses, each house with a high wall that surrounded it. The gates granting access to the properties were massive.

The truck came to a stop in front of a small shop just off the central market. It was a combination coffee and tea house. The front of the shop was open to the market. A small group of old bewhiskered men were seated on large pillows inside the shop drinking small cups of tea. A couple of the men were smoking tobacco using a hookah. Against the wall, well within reach, were rifles belonging to the old men.

Two Jade Warriors got out of the truck and went into the small shop. They were fully armed and wearing their armor, including the battle helmet. The old men never took their eyes off of the two warriors. With slight little adjustments of position on the pillow, each old man moved a little closer to his weapon.

Sword Miquel called over to the owner of the shop, “A tea.”

The owner of the shop looked over at two of the old men. One of the old men shook his head. The owner returned to what he was doing as if the request for tea had never been made. The exchange did not go unnoticed by the two Jade Warriors.

Sword Tomas moved to the back of the shop where he could watch the old men and the market. He leaned against the wall in an insolent slouch. His relaxed posture was deceiving, his hand rested on the butt of his pistol.

Sword Miquel picked up a pillow and plopped it down in front of two of the old men. He sat down and looked at the men facing him. Their eyes had narrowed into slits. His actions were viewed as being extremely rude and disrespectful.

“You are Habib and Saud of the Hammidi. I am Sword Miquel.”

The use of the name Hammidi for the people led by Saud was an informal reference rather than a tribal name. This group, like most of the other groups did not have a name for themselves, but used the name of the town in which the leaders of the group lived. It was an informal practice in the area which allowed them to refer to themselves.