Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

The Lodamese Marine Corps has declared that the city of North Bend, the urban centre which had gripped the attention of commanders and Lodamese citizens of the like, had been completely liberated, with resistance in the city and its environs pacified. Colonel Oliver Perry, the overall commander of the operation to liberate and pacify the city proclaimed victory earlier this morning after Likatonian and Kundrati forces, who had been entrenched in the city’s public library, surrendered to Lodamese forces. The Lodamese and Kalistani flags were raised above the bombshelled building as soldiers relished in the victory. “Our marines have fought valiantly in pacifying resistance in the city. Their methodical advance through the city from the suburbs and into the inner city placed significant pressure on the enemy, whose resolve, although similarly valiant was not enough in the face of starvation and a complete encirclement of their position,” Colonel Perry told reporters. 

There had been numerous attempts by the Likatonia-Kundrati garrison to break out of the city and rendezvous with their forces in St. Jackson, however, the Marine Corps’ capture of the suburbs and the main highway which runs through the city and connects it to Saultello, St. Jackson and Dolores shattered any hope of such a breakout happening. Airstrikes against the city intensified as the Marines expanded their advance into the inner city, with North Bend city hall being seen as a major point in their advance. The building sits on a plateau with a near commanding view of the city below, and it was from this position that Likatonian and Kundrati formations held their own against the Lodamese advance. According to Col Perry, ATGMs, mortars, and armoured vehicles in some instances had been positioned on the plateau with the intent of engaging Lodamese forces as they advanced from the suburbs. “From city hall, they could see almost everything. They could see parts of the suburbs, the main highway and some parts of the inner city. It’s no mistake that it was the temporary command centre for their operations in the city,” Col Perry explained.

The capture and subsequent pacification of North Bend represents the Lodamese invasion forces’ first major victory since the war began. With some 4,000 marines alongside accompanying armoured and air support being committed to the operation to capture the city, which has now been revealed as Operation Pollard, some analysts noted that the city’s pacification was not many of if, but when. Likatonian-Kundrati units had been virtually cut off from resupply lines moving from western Norwalk and into the city itself. Troops largely relied on scouting missions wherein they raided supermarkets, homes and gunstores for supplies and ammunition. It had been proposed that the Lodamese Air Force strike the city’s wastewater treatment plant alongside its only remaining power generating facility, however, such a strike had been rejected by Colonel Perry who noted that although completely disrupting public utilities in the city would be a worthy strategy for bleeding the entrenched forces, the destruction of such assets may be to the disadvantage of Lodamese forces in the future. “I think it is reasonable to conclude that such strikes were not approved as they would have jeopardised our future operations. If it came to it, we may have to use those facilities,” Col Perry explained.

 These sentiments were not, however, shared by Col Perry’s Kalistani counterparts, who noted that in excess of destroying civilian public utility infrastructure in the city, contaminating the city’s water courses would have been the calling card, had they been at the forefront of the assault. “These people deserve no quarter and they would have been given none had we [Kalistan] been responsible for the city’s capture. From poising the water courses to crippling airstrikes on utility infrastructure, life for those fascists both the soldiers and the citizens would have been solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short,” Lt. Jordyn Hernandez, a adjutant attached with Kalistani forces in the city’s suburbs. The battle claimed the lives of some 1560 marines over the past three months, most of which had been either killed in improvised explosions or via direct contact with the enemy.

Elsewhere, along the coastline, armoured units have reported increasing engagements with Likatonian armoured units. Where it has been previously lamented that engagements with the bulk of the Likatonian force had been sporadic, the armoured engagements fly in the face of these earlier assessments. Having advanced a reasonable distance from the North Bend River, Paasat observation and reconnaissance helicopters began to report sightings of Likatonian armoured columns during this deep reconnaissance mission ahead of the Lodamese armoured assault. Frontline units are reporting an interesting phenomenon among their engagements with Likatonian armoured units. Given the fact that Likatonian armoured formations primarily comprised of inadequate tanks and armoured vehicles, the more modern M1A2 and M1A2 Connelly main battle tanks fielded by Lodamese formations are reportedly slicing through these units without much resistance. 

“We were aware that the Likatonians were fielding some really substandard equipment, but it was only when we happened upon the units themselves that I came to realise just how inadequate the formations are,” Cpl Jonathan Jenkins, a gunner for a M1A2 Connelly attached to the armoured offensive. “I can’t tell you the last time we’ve had to engage these tanks with anything beyond MPAT (M830), APFSDS is sort of overkill for those Likatonian tanks.” General Dave Sullivan stated that armoured crews should temperate their scuffs at Likatonian armoured formations, especially given the fact that the nation’s premier armoured forces, those which possess the Kundrati-made Altay II (T-72 MCZ) are yet to be spotted, either via satellite reconnaissance or airborne reconnaissance. Nonetheless, the presence of armoured formations along their western advance has queued Lodamese Commanders onto the ever-increasing nature of Likatonian resistance.