Lodamun

[imperialpearl]

Amidst the lack of a defence in depth in the eastern portions of Norwalk, Likatonia’s defensive posture in the region is rapidly crumbling notwithstanding mounting resistance in the western portions of the state. “It is clear from the advance of our force in Eastern Norwalk that when the Likatonian media spoke of “entrenched” and “prepared” forces with supposed prior knowledge of the invasion, that preparedness seems to have only been a state of mind,” DoD Spokesman Colonel Oscar Mcdonald said, during the afternoon brief. Colonel Mcdonald revealed that the DoD’s internal analysis of the Lodamese-Kalistani advance, particularly along the coastline and adjacent to the major towns and urban centres pointed to a lack of competent planning at the hands of Likatonian commanders and their Kundrati advisors. 

Having captured North Bend, Lodamese forces continued their westward advance, albeit with very little neer-peer competition/resistance. Having crossed the North Bend river, both along the coastline and in the foothills south of the city itself, Lodamese commanders have noted that they expected defence in depth by Likatonian and Kundrati forces, given the previously vaunted prowess of the combat formations being fielded by the nations. “I was expecting that once we crossed the North Bend river our advance would slow down because we’d be running in the first layer of what ought to have been a layered defence of Norwalk,” Cpt. Robert Watson, a commander for a M1A1 Connelly main battle tank, remarked. “I mean you read the newspapers and you see how much time these troops were given; the virtue signalling we [Lodamun] did way before the offensive began and one would have thought that it would have transformed itself into a more organised effort.”

“From what I’ve surmised, when we see the Likatonians and their advisors talking about a stalwart defence, it’s mainly of their major urban centres,” Zac Howard, an analyst with the Centre for Geostrategic Policy and Research noted. “As we saw with North Bend, the formidable defence of that city pointed to the openings of a competent defensive tactic at the hands of the Likatonians, however, granted that the city could simply be enveloped and the forces garrisons in bled slowly, there seemed to be no clear, broader strategy to hold back a Lodamese advance.” Since crossing over into Likatonia, armoured and mechanised formations have reported piecemeal resistance, likely as their advance has been along the coastline and between the intervening space between urban centres. “The modus operandi has been, the armoured offensive happens upon a settlement, based on its size the heavy armour continues whilst dismounted mechanised troops sweep the settlement and formally capture them. When they happen upon a major centre, they avoid it entirely and continue their advance in the intervening space. It was our assumption that in this intervening space, we would have crashed into Likatonian defences,” Sgt. Tommy Hawkins, a reconnaissance serviceman noted. 

“We’ve been conducting reconnaissance of the intervening space, the hinterlands and foothills and whilst we have reported some defensive positions, they’ve mainly been formations we could eliminate with a simple air or artillery strike.” Even as fighting continues in North Bend, the Lodamese Marine Corps has noted that it is seeming to gradually progress towards the town’s eventual pacification. “As predicted, we are seemingly the makings of defence in depth as we move deeper into the city. We’ve had to ask a company of main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to wheel back to North Bend from their westward advance because we were having significant trouble dislodging entrenched positions. We did sadly lose a tank crew after they ran over a series of mines, but we are making progress nonetheless,” LtCol Jude Atkinson, a battalion commander attached to the forces currently fighting over North Bend.

With there seemingly being a lack of a defence in depth, Lodamese Commanders have noted that an advance on St. Jackson, by light infantry formations remains the next core objective. In the foothills to the east of the city, Kalistani and Kundrati formations have locked horns as the Kalistani-led advance continues. Lodamese special operations teams are reportedly providing both deep reconnaissance of the region alongside direct action with the hopes that they could eventually find routes for light formations to break out of the salient. As the mountainous terrain ultimately allows wheeled and tracked artillery units to be moved into the area, formations have largely lied on coalition airstrikes to destroy entrenched positions in support of their advance. “We’ve conducted more sorties in the foothills and mountains than we have in advance of the armoured offensive on the coastline,” Cpt. Franklin Peck, an F-16 pilot attached to the light infantry advance east of St. Jackson. 

Four A-10s prior to take off at Sunderwell Air Force Base

The slow-moving A-10 has been the backbone of close air support strikes in the area, even as the fighting begins to morph into that of an insurgency. “Man, the A-10 is fucking awesome. That 30mm cannon is devastating against entrenched formations,” PFC Dominic Barrett exclaimed. Some Lodamese light infantry formations have noted the dangers of moving through the region, especially as they have to keep to the roads to maintain momentum. “It’s like we’re fighting an insurgency here. We’ve had to advance along the road to keep momentum but that comes with its own dangers because it’s the perfect position for an ambush. They’d engage us, we’d respond on kind; call an airstrike in the suspect area; hold for a bit and then continue,” Rhys Wells, a mountaineer attached with a brigade tactical unit of the 1st Mountain Division, recalled. Some 300 Lodamese soldiers were killed last week following a devasting ambush alongside a mountain pass. The ambush, which intelligence forces believe to have been birthed by Kundrati forces, stands as the single deadliest engagement between Lodamese and Kundrati forces since the war’s beginning.

On the logistical side of the advance, both along the coastline and in the mountains/foothills, strategic airlift operations have doubled as a grind builds with the western advance. “I think one way we can gauge whether there is growing resistance is through the scale of the supply missions being undertaken by transport/supply force. Engagements, although still sporadic, are becoming longer,” Colonel Mcdonald commented. Supply missions are still being flown from the Lodamese Armed Forces’ central logistics hub in Cranston, however, there have been rumours that once North Bend has been pacified, a secondary logistics hub could be set up some distances east of the city, thus shortening supply lines between frontline units.