Kalistan

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Archive-  War Dispatches  Kalistani Troops push into Delores and East Bolton
Massive Firefight at Edisville, EB halts Southern Advance
Outside Edisville, East Bolton, Occupied Likatonia
May 3, 5613


I Corp, working without Armor or Artillery Support, will likely hold outside of Edisville, just inside the East Bolton Frontier

Over the course of the last month and a half, I Corps, the operational name for the Southern Flank of the two pronged invasion of Likatonia, has accomplished several major things, but word is now coming from the military spokespeople that the Overall Command in Lodamun will call a strategic halt to assess the situation following major victories in North, Central and Southern Likatonia.

The Province of Norwalk has been completely overrun by allied troops, and I Corps has advanced into the eastern frontiers of East Bolton to the town of Edisville.  Reconnaissance reports strong Likatonian troop concentration in the town, and I Corps, who is now operating without Armor and Artillery due to terrain, has begun digging in on the outskirts of the town to prepare for a possible Likatonian counter offensive.  The road from St. Jackson to Edisville ran through the town of Delores, which Kalistani and Lodamese mechanized infantry captured following an eight day battle, that saw the death of the believed last elements of the Kundrati partisan contingent, as well as more than 5,000 Likatonian defenders.  Imperial Forces lost an additional 4,523 troops in the battle that once more saw the near total destruction of the town to defeat the defenders.

Lodamese Troops have also had success in the North, and have advanced to the Norwalk-Madison border as well, ending their drive with a major battle at the coastal town of Saultello.  The heavy armor and artillery also received an assist from Lodamese Air, and a combined Kalistani/Lodamese Naval Bombardment that forced the strongly defended town to surrender on May 2nd.  The assault on Saultello was accomplished with moderate casualties on both sides, but more importantly, more than 6,500 Likatonian fighters are now in the custody of the Lodamese.  Like the Southern Army, The Northern Army has halted its advance for regroupment and analysis.

Some of the reason for the halt may be a behind the scenes negotiation between Lodamese and Likatonian Governments, but at the moment, any rumors of cease fire talks are strictly unconfirmed.  Lodamun has full operational control over the invasion, and will be responsible for any discussions on peace that will be made.  The Kalistani diplomatic apparatus has opted to not participate because their mission in Likatonia, besides supporting Lodamun, is to both kill Kundrati soldiers in Seleya and to pay Likatonia back for their chemical attacks in Kalistan last summer.  Kalistani commanders have stated that their mission objectives in these two arenas are complete, and so Kalistani soldiers will now work specifically to support any remaining Lodamese objectives in the war.

"We have no desire to leave anything in these cities standing," said Colonel Doris Yellen, who commands an infantry battalion in the Southern Army.  "We may have to spare Edisville, unfortunately, because without arty and tanks, going in there would be a meat grinder, but Delores and St. Jackson won't be habitable for a long time."  Colonel Yellen acknowledged significant damage to both civilian infrastructure as well as deliberate depopulation tactics in both cities.  "Our task was to make those towns uninhabitable for a significant length of time.  If we could have depopulated the entire state of Norwalk, we would have.  Unfortunately, there was a lot of places in this territory that we couldn't quite get to."  Details included large scale public executions of any civilians thought to be working with either the Likatonian or Kundrati forces in St. Jackson or Delores, systematic burning and demolition of civilian buildings like homes, schools, churches, grocery stores, government buildings, economic establishments and property, and hospitals, as well as fouling the water supply for both towns and burning surrounding forests to deny the enemy the opportunity to hide nearby, and forcing civilians to relocate west into other parts of Likatonia.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Colonel Yellen, rhetorically.  "In Delores, where the remnant of the Kundrati Partisan Militia was holed up, you had guys running at our forces with live grenades and C4, civilians driving explosive vehicles, people sniping at us from their kids' bedroom windows and from preschools.  We lose good Kalistani and Lodamese Soldiers trying to pussyfoot around and be sensitive to the fact that many of these areas are civilian areas, when the people who live there are shooting at us.  When every window is cover and concealment for a totally hostile and utterly mindless population of drones, the only way to handle that situation is to burn the buildings down around them.  In that situation we're going to burn those cities to the ground every single time, so the enemy can't use them any more.  For anything."

Much of the officially sanctioned actions taken in the cities of St. Jackson, Delores and North Bend could be considered "warcrimes" under international law.  The Colonel herself admitted that.  "  But what's a war crime, really?  If burning a church a war crime?  Is gassing a capital city a war crime?  I suppose it depends on what side of the white phosphorus you are on, doesn't it?  It's better that we fully pacify these areas, for a long time, than to just hand them back to people who still hate Kalistan, and are just waiting for the opportunity to shoot chemical weapons at our cities while we sleep.  We know they have them.  The stocks of chemical weapons that we uncovered in Delores show that the rest of the country is probably completely armed to the teeth with these things, and they have already demonstrated a desire and a capability to use them against us.  So:  try us all if you like.  Point at us and tell us how immoral it is to burn a church where a Kundrati Militia is sniping at our church from the bell tower.  That's totally fine with me, and pretty much every Kalistani Regular I am serving with out here right now.  I'd rather take my chances in front of a jury of my peers than allow Likatonia to ever launch another attack from anywhere in this region ever again."

When asked if the actions of the Kalistanis in Likatonia would hurt the potential for peace, the Colonel echoed a very common sentiment that we heard across the entire front line:  "What potential for Peace?  Likatonia doesn't want peace-  They never have.  The only thing this country understands is violence and slavery, and the only thing that keeps them from attacking us right now is the fact that we are currently in defensive positions and out number them four or five to one, and it would be a complete slaughter.  Let's see if the Lodamese can get a cease fire.  It won't come from us."

So far the number of Kalistani casualties in campaign is over 17,000 in the three major battles that I Corps has fought in, and another 1000-2000 in the Northern Campaign, while Lodamese casualties are over 10,000.  The Kundratis have lost an estimated 28,600 in several battles, including a number of executed prisoners and suicide troops who ended up blowing themselves up while running into Kalistani formations in Delores, and more than 7,800 Likatonians dead and another 9,000 in custody of the Lodamese Military.

When asked how many prisoners Kalistani's have in custody, the Colonel said, without a pause, "Zero."

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