Alice's Point of View
Staring at the map on the table, Alice Glass, captain of the Hungarian Royal Guard and general of the Undying Legions, sipped coffee and pondered her position.
They're heavily dug in at Kalanchak, she observed.
There was a whole belt of stiff Russian resistance from there to Armiansk, guarding the approach to Crimea. It was a long way from the early days of the campaign where the sight of her approaching Vanguards sent the enemy into a panic, with many dropping their weapons and fleeing in terror. Whoever was in charge now had managed to motivate his troops to stand and fight.
Mounting casualties from concentrated artillery and mines had slowed her down somewhat, but the real problem was their Ukrainian allies. They simply didn't have the personnel to meaningfully assert control over all the ground she'd taken back, and the supply situation got worse the further from the Dnieper she ventured.
When she complained to her government back in Budapest, Galiban provided a software update that allowed lightly-damaged Vanguards to function as combat engineers, but mine-clearing operations were slow, and Russian stragglers were still harassing them here and there.
"If I mass my remaining Vanguards I can break through anywhere," she complained, "but I can't exploit the breakthrough. The Russians will just reform and we'll be right back where we started."
Her adjutant and liaison with Ukrainian high command, a Major Chernenko, took a long drag on his cigarette. "Ma'am, you've done more in the last two weeks than I've seen in the last two years. Of course the Russians are fighting like devils, Gratin needs the Crimean peninsula. It's too strategic to give up without a fight."
Anger boiled over inside her. Alice knew that! She didn't need to be told!
She sighed. This was so frustrating, especially after the easy wins they started with. Chernenko didn't mean anything by stating the obvious.
"Any word on reinforcements?" she asked.
"My government can't meet the logistical needs of many more troops than you already have," the Major pointed out. "From what I heard, new Vanguards are being used to train more commanders. The priority is gradually replacing our heavily-depleted infantry with the robots, where possible. Only you and Kapitan Usyk really know how to handle them, though I believe he's a general now."
Taras...
Her friend was doing well, the last she heard, but he had similar difficulties in the east. Donetsk and Luhansk were the most fortified territories the Russians still held. Taras was as bogged down as she was. There were also rumors of a new round of mobilizations in Russia. This was going to be a grind, even with their advanced weapons.
"Haven't heard a Dragonlance in a while," she said conversationally. "Perhaps Russian air assets are finally depleted."
"Or perhaps they're holding what they still have back for something," Chernenko said cynically. "They likely have a pretty good idea of our capabilities by now, how close they can get, and so on. Haven't you noticed they've been trying to sneak things in by flying very low? Testing us? Probing? The Russians are no fools, and believe me, I hate to admit that."
Alice could only agree. They even figured out the operational tempo of the Vanguards, launching counterattacks when they were low on fuel. Front line units were issued PTRDs, an old Soviet anti-tank rifle that could absolutely stop a Vanguard with a direct hit. Her troops were definitely not invincible.
"The vehicle situation isn't good either," Alice pointed out. "We need tanks and infantry fighting vehicles and above all trucks. You can never have enough trucks. Trucks carry everything for us. I wonder what our European friends have to say about all this."
Major Chernenko, who was usually willing to speak frankly with her, remained silent.
"What is it?" Alice asked. "What's wrong?"
He took another drag on his cigarette and looked away. The atmosphere in her command post became heavy. "This NATO business makes me feel uneasy," he said carefully. "There are many in my government who wanted to join, you know, thought the Americans were the answer to all of our problems. But now? Now we know the Americans can't be relied on at all, even by their supposed allies. No offense to you or your King."
"None taken," she said easily.
Alice wasn't an expert on geopolitics or diplomacy, but she knew that Hungary was attacked and America did nothing, even though they were obligated to by treaty.
They were on their own now. It must've looked frightening to the rest of the world, but they didn't know about Reka. Only Alice really knew who the Queen was. This was the perfect opportunity for someone like her.
Other European countries were begging for Hungary to protect them; Alice wondered if the Demon Queen had orchestrated the whole thing.
No, she wouldn't have risked Brad, even for a massive political win like this, Alice decided.
If Brad had died, though, there was no way they would be taking prisoners right now.
I wonder what she wants with them. Leverage in negotiations? Peace didn't seem close at all. The last they time they talked, Reka wanted blood.
Alice looked back down at the map. Maybe she was going about this the wrong way. It wasn't necessary to move the front lines to make an impact. Just by her being here, a huge number of Russian soldiers were forced to deploy to maintain their last toehold in Kherson Oblast. Alice could bleed them, keep the pressure up, and put additional stress on Russian logistics and manpower. Her "soldiers" didn't need to sleep. The Russians did.
Constant raids would be the plan, hundreds of little pinpricks, strategically insignificant by themselves, but every little drop of blood she shed would sap Russian strength just a little more. There would be no rest, no reprieve.
It would be a more effective use of the supplies she was getting in any case. Alice's task force didn't have the fuel or the vehicles to sustain a deep penetration of Russian lines, but she didn't need to. The enemy was is no position to counterattack. The initiative was hers.
Nodding firmly to herself, Alice addressed Major Chernenko. "Here's the plan," she said, and they spent the next month implementing it.
As the front line became more static, the supply situation gradually improved. Alice was able to shift from raids to a "bite and hold" approach. The Russians stubbornly contested every little village, spending their fresh conscripts freely.
They really don't care about their own people, Alice thought. She was indirectly responsible for more deaths in the last month than she had seen in her last two lifetimes. How long could the enemy hold out? Her troops came from a factory; the Russians had families. Surely, this could not go on forever.
The steady progress she was making tightened the noose around the Russian strong point at Kalanchak. Soon, the fortress-town would be operationally encircled. It was perfect; the Russians were simply too committed to abandon their position in time to escape. She'd trap many of them in this operation.
"Ah, Major Chernenko, good morning," she greeted him. The Ukrainians had assembled a small staff for her and he acted as her translator. The command post was buzzing with activity as people poured over maps and had small side conversations about this hill, or that farmhouse, the minutia of war.
"Ma'am, I'm afraid you've been relieved," her adjutant reported. "You are recalled to Kyiv immediately."
Alice couldn't believe it! "These next days are critical! We're about to make a major breakthrough here! I can't leave now!"
The Major sighed. "It's above my pay grade, Ma'am. I'll do my best to make sure your Ukrainian replacement doesn't bungle the Kalanchak pocket."
This wouldn't have happened if Reka didn't allow it, Alice knew. The Ukrainians needed them more than they needed the Ukrainians. What could be more important than this?
A government car, which happened to be one of the Chinese electric YBDs that Hungary had been exporting, was waiting for her in the rear. Her driver didn't speak English.
Great...
There was a newly-constructed bridge across the Dnieper and from there it was a long, silent drive to Kyiv.
Kyiv, she observed on arrival, didn't look nearly so grim as it did when she first arrived. People were in high spirits, chatting in cafes and going about their business, seemingly without a care in the world.
I guess the Dragonlances being here means they haven't been hit for a while. Have they already forgotten they're at war?
When the car finally stopped, Taras Usyk was there to greet her. The boy she met in a wheat field was a general now, and he looked it. It wasn't just the uniform, either. It was the set of his shoulders, the look in his eyes. In the first time in a long time, Alice noticed someone.
"Come on," he urged her. "Queen Reka is in a meeting with President Yavlinsky right now!"
They ran together into a nondescript building and the guards didn't even blink when they blew right through a checkpoint.
"It seems our Polish friends have come through!" Queen Reka's voice was unmistakable as Alice and Taras entered a private conference room. Yavlinsky and some advisors were there, and of course her mistress' face was on a screen on the wall.
"Ah, dear Alice," Reka greeted her warmly. "Settling in well?"
Alice was momentarily taken aback by her casual tone.
Well, I was literally a bridesmaid at her wedding. I guess we're like friends now?
"Very well, Your Majesty. I was actually about to win a big victory for you right before I was pulled off the line." Alice tried and failed not sounding petulant.
Reka just smiled. "Your aggression does you credit, my noble general, but I have something better in mind for you!"
Yavlinsky said something to Taras in Ukrainian and he translated. "As your Queen says, the Polish have come through. We have enough wheeled and tracked vehicles for a major mechanized offensive, several new Vanguard brigades, and a new purpose built EOD/engineering robot for clearing mines and other obstacles."
That sounded great to Alice. "Where?"
Taras smiled at her. "You did a great job, you know. The Russians have massively concentrated their forces in the occupied section of Kherson Oblast just to try and stop you. They are similarly dug-in in fortified lines in the Donbas, some of which have existed for over ten years at the point. Neither position particularly lends itself to a mobile offensive. My notion was copying your American general Sherman."
Alice thought for a moment. "March to the sea?"
Reka's hands clapping together was audible through the screen. "Just so, dear Alice! With the Russian's so-called 'eye in the sky' we can't conceal our intentions for long, but with most of their host already tied down, they will be helpless when we 'split them down the middle' as my husband likes to say."
"What the Queen means," Taras explained, "is that we will move our mechanized army to Zaporizhia, as quickly and quietly as we can, in bits and pieces, and from there we drive south, all the way to the Black Sea."
Ambitious, Alice thought. "We'd divide the Russians between east and west and sever the land connection to Crimea."
Taras put his hand on her shoulder. "You get it," he said. "We will advance south towards Melitopol together, and from there we'll split into two columns. I will turn east and head for Mariupol, and you will turn west, trapping the same Russians you were fighting but from the other side!"
The thought of the nasty surprise the Russians were about to receive was positively delicious. Alice and Taras immediately started planning the operation together.
They concealed the military buildup in Zaporizhia as best they could, hiding the vehicles and battalions of Vanguards in warehouses and wooded areas, mindful of Russian satellites spotting them. All told, it was another month before they were ready.
On "S-Day" Operation Sherman commenced. Fears of being spotted early ended up being for naught as it appeared they caught the Russians entirely by surprise. Was it incompetence on the part of their intelligence analysts or had Galiban been hacking their satellites? Alice supposed it could've been both.
Any significant Russian formation they came in contact with either rapidly disintegrated or surrendered without a fight. Clearing a path through minefields was the only thing that slowed them down, and the new EOD robots were pretty quick. They reached Melitopol on D+7. Having Taras around really made the "traffic management" part of the job easier.
When Melitopol surrendered to them she and Taras had one last meeting.
"The Russians are finally reacting," he told her. "They're calling this the Zaporizhia Bulge, but not for long. It will be nice to see the Black Sea again. My family used to go down south on holiday," he said wistfully.
Right, this is his land we're fighting for, Alice recognized. "How are you on fuel, ammunition, and so forth?" she asked, trying to keep it professional.
"We planned for much stiffer resistance," he said absentmindedly. "It's been a straight shot so far. The Orcs will make a stand in Mariupol, I'm sure," he said darkly.
Some instinct made Alice put her arm around his shoulder. He didn't pull away. "Take care of yourself, Taras," she said, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.
For just a moment, the blush on his face made the man look like a boy again.
From there, the army split. Her forces pushed south and west in a thunder run to cut off the anticipated Russian retreat from Kherson Oblast into Crimea. Russian resistance stiffened again and Alice heard the sound of Dragonlances firing for the first time in a while.
Chernenko was right about them holding back, not that it will help them.
She pushed herself hard, pursuing the fleeing Russians like an avenging angel, no, a demon! Tired and afraid, the Russians who'd been fighting her so fiercely just gave up, and a cascade of surrenders followed.
Their morale is collapsing.
Alice didn't allow herself to take a break until running into a heavily-mined area forced her hand. Scouts reported a Russian concentration in the village ahead. She planned for a fight, but expected them to surrender like all the others. They were caught in a pincer maneuver, almost completely cut off and hopeless. Nobody would blame them for throwing down their weapons.
The electronics in her command post suddenly cut out. "What the..."
The boom was deafening! Her human staff just stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. Alice stepped outside.
There was a mushroom cloud rising from the village she was planning to take a minute ago!
Not large, she observed. A tactical warhead, most likely.
The Dragonlances were on alert for something like this but nobody expected the Russians to nuke their own people!
More explosions went off in the distance.
Were they trying to block her advance with tactical nukes? The Russians must've been more desperate than she thought.
I hope Taras is okay...